People have been reporting that they are receiving notifications of downgrades from Club Europe to EuroTraveller on British Airways flights. This is happening on three routes out of Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland.
The reason given is that Club Europe is no longer available on those services. All European BA flights offer business class, and removing it from these routes is interesting to say the least.
Three Routes Missing Club Europe
Each flight is from Belfast City to other regional cities within the UK. These are the domestic routes serving Glasgow, Exeter and Leeds Bradford in Scotland and England.
Club Europe was introduced on all British Airways domestic routes from 1 April 2017, so it is surprising to see it being removed from selected routes. There must be a reason and it appears there is.
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- No more curtain separating the cabin on these flights!
Apparently it is a combination of logistical issues – which would presumably mean the catering – and the very short flight times. Considering that Belfast City to Glasgow has a block time of 40 minutes, I would be surprised anyone could actually eat the food let alone be served it!
That being said, Exeter is 1 hour and 10 minutes which should be ample, while Leeds Bradford is 55 minutes, so sort of in between. Hopefully the people being impacted by this are getting refunded appropriately.
Overall Thoughts
It curious that these three routes have been chosen. All are operated by BA CityFlyer, who in my experience have extremely excellent crews, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.
Either way, those short domestic flights have no Club Europe for the foreseeable future. I’ll be interested to see if it is restored or if this is the new normal.
Have you been impacted by a downgrade from Club Europe to EuroTraveller on one of the three routes out of Belfast City? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons.
What’s old is new again. Ozark Airlines used to have a “Wine Cellar In The Sky” service on any flight over 1 hour scheduled time. In addition to the regular service there was also the wine service which included an airline sized bottle of wine with cheese and crackers. The flight attendants threatened “action” if the service wasn’t extended to a 90 minute or greater flight, which for Ozark at the time eliminated more than a few routings. I was too young to indulge in the wine at the time (early 80’s) but my Mom liked the wine basket, and… Read more »
Interesting service – I think a lot of people would like this concept today. Wine and cheese is still quite popular and I can see it working even on a 1 hour flight, though it would be tight. A pretty cool thing that Ozark did there. Thanks for the info – fascinating stuff!!
Dreadful – let’s hope this is a temporary measure – there is plenty of time to complete a service
I would think there would be on the flight to Exeter and Leeds Bradford if you hurry, but Glasgow would be a stretch. Yes, fingers crossed it’s just temporary! Thanks for the comment.