British Airways has trimmed its US and European flight schedule “to match reduced demand” owing to the ongoing global coronavirus crisis.
BA will consolidate a number of flights over 16-28 March, including its Heathrow-JFK route, as well as short-haul flights to mainland Europe.
“We will be contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible,” said BA.
BA is also be offering full refunds, or the option to book onto flights at a later date.
It has also pledged to waive its change fee, giving customers the option to delay any travel booked for the next two weeks; the change will apply to new bookings from Tuesday (3 March) through Monday 16 March.
BA said its “book with confidence” policy covered all routes and changes right up to departure, although any date differences will still be payable by passengers.
Andrew Brem, BA chief commercial officer, said: “As some customers may choose to change or delay their travel plans at the moment, it’s important we offer them greater flexibility.
“By waiving our change fee our customers can have the added confidence to book a trip with British Airways that suits them.”
It comes after Ryanair on Monday (2 March) said it was cutting up to 25% of its short-haul flight programme, with a particular focus on flights to and from Italy owing to a “significant drop in bookings” for late March through early April.
BA will cancel 12 Heathrow-New York JFK flights (17-28 March); 171 short-haul roundtrips from Heathrow to Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland (17-28 March); seven short-haul roundtrips from Gatwick to Italy, France and Albania (16-25 March); and 26 short-haul roundtrips from London City to Germany and Italy (17-28 March).
“Customers on cancelled services will be offered the option of a full refund, rebook to a later date or rebook on other carriers where possible,” BA added.
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