Besides flights to Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, China link will be strengthened by services to Chengdu from September

British Airways (BA) will continue to make investments in China and other countries in Asia as it strives to tap in the enormous market potential created by business and leisure travelers in these aviation markets.

"BA is committed to grow its presence in China and (the rest of) Asia," BA's Regional General Manager for Greater China and the Philippines Tracy Dedman tells China Daily. "After our parent company International Airlines Group (IAG)'s acquisition of bmi, IAG promised to use the slots to expand its footprint in Asia. We are already starting to see concrete results."

The airline will launch its thrice-weekly direct service to Chengdu this September. In December 2012, it resumed its Seoul-London long-haul services. The non-stop route is served by the long-range Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with First, Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy class.

BA's aim is to lure more business and leisure travelers in China and other Asian countries with enhanced connectivity.

"We are bringing more Chinese travelers to our global destination networksthrough the London hub," Dedman says. "We will provide network schedules that are matter to our Chinese customers."

BA will make the travel experience as seamless for Chinese passengers as possible. For example, the night flight from Hong Kong enables travelers to start their first business day in London early in the morning.

It currently operates 14 flights per week between Hong Kong and London. Regarding the Chinese mainland, it flies from Beijing seven times a week and six times a week from Shanghai. The Chengdu flights in September will be an addition.

Passengers from other second-tier mainland cities can connect to the four destinations through the BA's partner airlines. In fact, Willie Walsh, IAG's group CEO said that by the end of the decade, BA may add more four to five Chinese cities to its destinations.

From London, Chinese travelers can make onward connections to 35 European countries, 21 African countries and four countries in North America.

The carrier also has several UK destinations, such as Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Jersey, this enables more destination connections for Chinese passengers.

In addition to improving network connectivity, BA is targeting to enrich the total travel experience for travelers. In September 2011 it announced a 5 billion pound ($7.82 billion) investment programme over the next five years to be spent on aircraft, product, service and catering enhancements.

Regarding aircraft enhancement, BA is set to receive three A380 and four Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts in 2013. Further deliveries will take place over the next five years. BA is set to be the first European airline to operate both aircraft types.

The services provided by the airport terminal, along with the in-flight services, are part of the total travel experience. BA together with Spain's flagship airline Iberia holds the exclusive right to the new Heathrow Terminal 5 which provides excellent departure, arrival and transit services.

The carrier is upgrading the technology to enhance customer services. For instance, the new registration service offers customers using ba.com a simple registration option during the booking process, so they can save their personal details to make future bookings easier and quicker. BA's automatic check-in allows customers to be checked in automatically, assigned a seat and they will receive their boarding pass electronically, saving them the time and effort of going through traditional check-in.

The 3,600 BA pilots have been equipped with iPads to provide better, more personalized and efficient service through giving more accurate and timely flight information to passengers.

BA has launched the World Traveller Plus, a premium economy class to tap the growing market demand for more space and privacy in air travel.

As part of the 5 billion pound investment programme, BA has invested 110 million pound in the World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabins. The new generation cabins with new seats and a state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system will be fitted on all of the new long haul aircraft including the new super fuel efficient Boeing 777-300ER.

BA is also the first UK airline to introduce the extended in-flight entertainment system (from the moment the travelers reach their seats till they arrive at their destination).

"These are just some of the new products that offer added-value to our customers," Dedman says. "We are always reviewing them so that we can offer the right product and services."

Since UK remains a very popular choice for children of Hong Kong to study in, BA also offers Skyflyer Solo service, a tailor-made flight service for students and children under the age of 18 and are unaccompanied by parents. A member of staff will take care of the child throughout their journey, until they are collected by the nominated adult at the arriving airport, or by the transferring airline if applicable.

BA's student tickets offer double baggage allowance of two bags up to 23 kilograms each for every flight. Their tickets are also valid for travel anytime over 12 months.

BA, the subsidiary company of the IAG, covers more than 150 destinations in 75 countries and carries approximately 36 million passengers around the world every year.

(China Daily 02/22/2013 page1)