BA's "ghost flights"

[bambbbam2]

From
'Green' BA flying empty 'ghost planes' across the Atlantic | the Daily Mail

"British Airways is flying dozens of empty planes across the Atlantic because it has no cabin crew to staff them.


Each one pumps out thousands of tons of CO2, in some cases almost 70 times the average adult's annual carbon footprint.


The ghost services have been flying between Britain, Canada and the U.S. over the past two weeks.


Critics claim they are not cancelled because the company fears it might lose valuable take-off and landing slots at Heathrow and Gatwick.


But it is a severe embarrassment for a company which has trumpeted its green credentials in a high-profile advertising campaign - and which has just announced a substantial rise in the fuel surcharges it levies on passengers."

 

[oz_mark]

I am pretty sure this has come up before (but it may have been another airline). I also remember that while it may not have had passengers, the flights still had cargo.

 

[SeaWolf]

Yes, I've heard of this happening before, BMED was doing it to keep its slots:
BBC NEWS | UK | Green anger at 'ghost flights'
the difference here though was that BMED was only flying the plane to Cardiff, 125miles away, not across the Atlantic. Surely you'd think the BA would find a closer airport so it doesn't have to burn all that fuel.

 

[NM]

I think you might find that these flights may have been quite quite profitable for BA. Its amazing how much they cane make from belly full of freight when there are no passengers to feed/process or cabin crew to pay.

 

[Mal]

I don't see BA having freight only flights as an environment disaster or anything similar.

Must have been a slow news day in the UK.