After months-long grounding due to the regional conflict, British Airways quietly resumed its London Heathrow – Tel Aviv route on 5 April. And while we’re thrilled to see the route back on the map, we couldn’t help but notice something… tiny.
BA is now running the route with its Airbus A321neo, a neat little narrowbody more commonly spotted shuttling to Madrid or Milan, not usually pulling 2,233-mile legs to the Middle East. Pre-war, BA deployed its long-haul widebodies on this route, giving passengers lie-flats and a bit more breathing room. Now? It’s all slimline seats and “hope you like elbows.”
Meanwhile, EL AL is still flexing, flying daily from Heathrow with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner, proving that you can show up to a 5-hour flight dressed for business.
In This Post
Here’s how BA’s new schedule stacks up:
- BA404: Departs LHR at 9:15pm, touches down in TLV at 4:20am
- BA405: Wheels up from TLV at 6:30am back at LHR by 10:00am
Both directions are blocked for just over 5 hours, which is really pushing the definition of “medium-haul” when you’re packed into a narrowbody.
A Missed Opportunity?
A beefier aircraft seems like a no-brainer with Passover and the spring travel rush around the corner. A larger jet could better handle demand, offer more premium seats (read: revenue), and avoid the A320 vibe of a “school trip to Kraków.”
Sure, the A320neo is efficient and cute, but for a route like this, it feels like showing up to a wedding in trainers. Technically, it’s fine. Just… why?
Keep the Miles Rolling:
Craving a cabin that isn’t elbow-to-elbow? You might want to peek at what EL AL’s Dreamliner is serving up: more room, more style, more “I actually enjoyed that.”
4 comments
I assume this is “Euro Business” with super high YQ charges as well?
I love it when people have no idea what they are saying but simply ramble on
ndon to tel aviv
21:15 london (heathrow)
Airline: British Airways
Aircraft: BA0404 (Airbus A321 Neo)
Depart london: Terminal 5, Monday 14 April, 21:15
Arrive tel aviv: Terminal 3, Tuesday 15 April, 04:20
Duration: 5 hr(s) 5 min(s)
Economy selling class: Q
Business selling class: R
04:20 tel aviv (tel aviv)+1d
Taxes, fees and carrier charges for the entire journey are per adult and are included in the prices above.
AS YOU CAN SEE AT LEAST FOR THE 1ST 2 WEEKS THEY ARE FLYING b IS USINGA a-321NEO NOT TEH 320, 2 THEY ARE FLYING ONLY AT NIGHT FROM lhr AND NOT THE MORNING FLIGHT FORM THE 1STB 2 WEEKS
i SUGGEST YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE POSTING MADE UP INFO
Ahh my apology, we got the flight numbers and timings wrong,
Other that that all the above reflects correctly!
As this is supposed to be a travel site idk how or why you’re surprised by this or can’t work out why.
BA announced 6 weeks or so ago that they were switching out aircraft BA’s media centre put a presser out on it. It was covered in hfp and tlfl to name just a couple.
BA release seats for sale at +352 days. That means they’re selling a product that far out which comes with an expectation of that product. Aircraft go tech but when that happens the carrier replaces a wide body for a wide body and likewise for narrow bodies baring incredibly rare incidents. This also means that operations have to. Block out an airframe upto 352 in
Advance. Which means once they’ve all been assigned they’re done. Numerous airlines have suspended service, PLANNED to reinstate then had to push it agai. That means they’ve had a 787 ( more seats, more revenue) not flying it’s assigned route, not making as much money and effectively becoming part of the contingency fleet. Yes it’s been used but the routes it’s most efficient on already have their airframes assigned. The route has always been an outlier for the type anyway as for an airline like BA and their route network it was never being used the most efficiently..
It baffles me how none of this was known to you and how it’s surprising.