BRITISHAirways is set to increase the profile of its subsidiary carriers this winter by handing over the operation of some of its key routes.
From October 30, Deutsche BA is to operate Gatwick flights to Rome and Frankfurt, while Cityflyer is to operate Gatwick services to Hanover.
Deutsche BA will operate one service a day to Rome and Frankfurt out of BA’s usual double-daily and thrice-daily frequencies respectively.
BA is axing its double-daily Hanover route from Heathrow and switching the service to Gatwick for Cityflyer to operate as a thrice-daily flight.
BAcompleted its £75m buyout of Cityflyer earlier this month. BA’s decision to use Cityflyer signals its intention to reduce its own short-haul flights to concentrate on more profitable routes (Travel Weekly October 11).
Deutsche BA, which offers the same service as BA but with different Club Europe seats, is to also increase flights on its current Gatwick-Hamburg service from two to three per day at the end of the month. Gatwick-Munich services are to stay at three a day.
A spokeswoman for the German airline said the move by BA was in line with its policy of using subsidiary airlines more effectively and follows on from allowing Deutsche BA to operate usual BA routes during summer 1998.
Deutsche BA chief executive Carl Michel is moving to BA’s Waterside headquarters at Heathrow to head up the new commercial unit.
The German airline has been involved in a fierce fight for passengers in the domestic German market with Lufthansa.
Qantas has also recognised the importance of German services to BA and its partners and is planning to start codesharing on BA flights this winter to Berlin and Hamburg from Heathrow.
Elsewhere in Europe, BA is to codeshare with Lauda Air on 14 weekly Gatwick-Vienna services from October 31. BA will operate 10 and Lauda four.
Meanwhile, BA and Qantas are combining marketing, ticketing and telephone sales departments in Hong Kong. The move, which will be completed, by April will lead to some redundancies.
BA, which owns 25% of Qantas, already shares services with the Australian carrier in Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.