British Airways increases minimum connection times at London Heathrow

Stress levels at Heathrow Terminal 5 are expected to reduce… but some British Airways passengers will have to wait much longer for connections.

The airline will increase the minimum connection time (MCT) at Heathrow from one hour to 75 minutes, to reduce the risk (and commercial cost) of missing onward flights.

By lengthening connections, the airline hopes fewer passengers will end up stranded or have their reservations changed.

However, it will mean longer journey times for passengers connecting at the hub, putting the flag carrier at a commercial disadvantage compared to its European rivals. For example, it is now three times longer than Vienna Airport’s MCT for passengers connecting between Star Alliance flights.

Passengers from Nice bound for Los Angeles will no longer be able to reach California at lunchtime via London. Until January 8, travelers on the first flight from the south of France had 65 minutes to connect with British Airways, which departed at 10:10 a.m., arriving at 1:25 p.m. Although it is still possible to arrive at lunchtime with KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Air France via Paris, the first “legal” connection on BA arrives in Los Angeles at 4:10 p.m.

From Berlin, a passenger wishing to connect on the afternoon British Airways flight to Miami must leave the German capital 70 minutes earlier than before.

A British Airways spokesperson said: “Following customer feedback, we are increasing the minimum connection time for some of our flights through Heathrow T5.

“This will give customers more time to make their next flight and reduce the risk of missing their next service, which we know is incredibly frustrating.”

Connections between terminals 3 and 5, which require a bus connection lasting about 10 minutes, maintain the current minimum of 90 minutes.

British Airways says passengers who made reservations before the change and have connections of less than 75 minutes have been contacted and offered alternative connections.

Terminal 5 opened almost 16 years ago as the solution to British Airways’ major structural problem: most intercontinental flights used Terminal 4, while Terminal 1 served domestic flights and most European flights. The connections between the two were strained.

The new £2.5bn structure to the west of the airfield was the solution. After some initial industrial-scale problems, Terminal 5 is now working well for British Airways and its sister airline, Iberia.

The change was first picked up by frequent flyer website Head for Points, whose editor, Rob Burgess, said: “British Airways has been very public about its desire to reduce plane delays at Heathrow and ensure passengers in transit they do not get trapped. at Flight Connections is a help.

“However, it would make more sense to address the root of the problem at Heathrow, rather than simply imposing longer connection times. “When Zurich can guarantee a connection in 40 minutes and Frankfurt in 45 minutes, BA simply becomes less attractive to transit passengers.”

The minimum connection times for international flights of British Airways’ European competitors (and Heathrow) are now significantly shorter:

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and other airlines with connecting traffic at Heathrow face another threat to their transit business: the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA).

The new permit is required by all non-British or Irish passengers flying to the UK, even if they simply wish to spend two hours between flights.

At other major aviation hubs outside the US, passengers transferring from one international flight to another only need valid documentation for their final destination.