Last Updated: 20 Feb 2024
British Airways, like all major airlines, has been revising its international flight schedules in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The latest of these changes affects its flights from London to the South American cities of Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.
Schedule alterations are an inevitable consequence of the global fall in demand for air travel. Whilst many timetable changes will be temporary, airlines like BA have also been looking at ways to make their operations more efficient. The COVID-19 crisis has undoubtedly cast a cloud over the whole travel industry. But there might be a silver lining to that cloud when it comes to the longer-term impact of aviation. Expensive fossil fuels are both bad for the environment and an airline’s bottom line. So British Airways is increasing its support for research into more sustainable fuels and maximising its use of more modern, fuel-efficient jets. Now it appears to be bringing back a fuel-saving measure which used to be more common: Multi-stop flights.
From March 28th 2021, BA is replacing its direct flight, from London Heathrow Airport to Buenos Aires, with a new service that stops for an hour in Sao Paulo. Fuel efficient Airbus A350 jets will operate the route. Flight BA247 will leave Heathrow (LHR) at 10.25 pm and arrive at Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport (GRU) eleven hours and forty-five minutes later, at 6.10 am local time, the next day. After an hour in Brazil, BA247 departs again for Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), landing three hours later at 10.05 am.
The return flight, BA246, is scheduled to follow a similar flight plan. It leaves Buenos Aires at 11.50 am, arriving in Sao Paulo at 2.30 pm after two hours, forty minutes flight. An hour later, at 3.30 pm local time, BA246 sets off on the eleven hours, twenty-five minutes journey back to Heathrow, landing at 6.55 am.
By combining, what were previously two separate flights, BA requires fewer aircraft in rotation, and fewer crew hours and can lower both its fuel bill and its environmental footprint.
BA Stopover Flights
Stopovers were a common element of international airline schedules in the distant past when aircraft had far shorter operational ranges. They briefly came back into fashion during the 1970s fuel crisis and again through the early 90’s recession. However, since the 1960s, most big airlines have either favoured a hub and spoke model or a point-to-point network, with the latter becoming dominant in recent years.
BA has avoided operating many multi-stop flights. Its London to Sydney route features a refuelling stop in Singapore and unlike the new South American schedule, each leg can be booked separately.
Earlier this year BA cancelled its business class flights, from London City Airport (LCY) to New York (JFK), via Ireland’s Shannon Airport. That route famously turned operational limitations into a selling point: The Airbus A318 was the largest aircraft BA could operate from London City, but it couldn’t carry enough fuel to make it to New York. So the service stopped in Shannon, taking advantage of the Irish airport’s US Immigration desks and allowing passengers to clear US Customs whilst the plane refuelled. The occupants of its 32 business class seats could then fly into JFK as domestic passengers. Sadly, demand was already waning before the pandemic put paid to the flight’s future.
Now, it will be interesting to see if the new Latin American route is a short-term fix or the start of a new trend for long-haul stopover flights from London.
How Many Avios Points Do I Need To Fly To Buenos Aires?
Reward Flight Finder allows you to search for Avios redemption flight availability, across all cabin classes, to every BA destination. Currently, there is good availability for BA reward flights to Buenos Aires from April 2021 onwards. If you can’t find an available reward flight, on the date you want, you can also set up a free alert, to be notified if award seats become available.
Currently, an economy class (World Traveller) reward flight, from London to Buenos Aires, can be redeemed for 22,750 Avios off-peak, 35,000 Avios at peak times. Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) will set you back 45,500 Avios on off-peak days, 70,000 on a peak rate day. Business Class (Club World) is 87,500 Avios off-peak, 105,000 peak.
The rates quoted are for a one-way ticket points redemption and taxes and surcharges will be payable.