British Airways Launches Route To The Seychelles – Book Business Class Awards ASAP

a fish and coral under water

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British Airways has been keeping its route planners busy over the past year with new routes to Toronto and  Las Vegas out of London Gatwick, flights to Oakland, flights to Ft. Lauderdale and even a new route to Nashville. Now the airline has turned its sights away from the US (at least temporarily) as it announces a new route to the Indian Ocean.

British Airways New Seychelles Route

From 24 March 2018 British Airways will operate a bi-weekly service between London Heathrow and the Seychelles on the following schedule:

BA63 LHR 17:00 – 07:10+1 day SEZ (Wed & Sat)
BA62 SEZ 09:00 – 16:20 LHR (Thu & Sun)

Flying time is a little over 10 hours with a time difference between London and the Seychelles of 3 hours.

Here’s what BA had to say about its newest route:

The Seychelles is one of the most beautiful places on earth and we’re delighted to be adding this collection of islands to our extensive route network. Customers can now get into ‘holiday mode’ even earlier with British Airways’ direct flights from London taking 10 hours, instead of over 13 hours with a connection in the Middle East.  As one of the leading luxury holiday destinations, the Seychelles offers customers a wide range of accommodation and activities in stunning natural surroundings.

a beach with palm trees and a hutImage courtesy of British Airways

The “connection in the Middle East” the airline refers to is in Doha courtesy of Qatar Airways which is the other oneworld option for travelers looking to visit the Seychelles.

British Airways will be operating the route using one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners so which will be the better option, Qatar Airways or BA?

British Airways 787-9 Dreamliner

While the press release doesn’t mention which aircraft British Airways plans to use on the route the booking platform shows a 787 Dreamliner. Add to that the fact that BA is selling First Class on this route and that narrows it down to a 787-9 Dreamliner (BA doesn’t have First Class on the 787-8).

a screenshot of a flight ticket

The British Airways 787-9 Dreamliner offers the following cabin configurations:

  • 8 First Class seats
  • 42 Club World seats (Business Class)
  • 39 World Traveller Plus seats (Premium Economy)
  • 127 World Traveller seats (Economy Class)

While I can’t say I’ve tried it out, the First Class cabin in the 787 looks nicer than BA’s A380 First Class cabin or the 747 First Class cabin I tried out last year.

British Airways First Class 787-9 DreamlinerImage courtesy of British Airways

The Club World Cabin is still overly dense and still doesn’t offer all-aisle access for all passengers and you can expect the same ying-yang seating as you get in other Club World cabins.

a plane with seats and people in the backgroundBritish Airways Club World

As already mentioned, the other option for travelers looking to fly between the UK and the Seychelles is Qatar Airways.

Ordinarily I’d be saying that I’d happily take a layover in Doha if it meant flying in a nice Qatar Airways Business Class cabin instead of British Airways Club World…but this time things are different.

Between London and Doha you would be flying in the fantastic Qatar Airways Dreamliner in which the seats and service are both considerably better than you’ll find on BA….

a seat in a planeQatar Airways 787 Business Class

….but for the Doha – Seychelles leg you would be flying in a Qatar Airways A319 which doesn’t offer true lie-flat seating in Business Class. That’s unimpressive.

Considering flight leg between Doha and the Seychelles is between 5 and 6 hours in length I’d stick with the non-stop route with BA and put up with the mediocrity of Club World.

Pricing & Awards

Per British Airways, return fares start from £699 in World Traveller,  £999 in World Traveller Plus, £2499 in Club World and from £3499 for First Class.

At the time of writing not all classes of fare may have yet been loaded but the Premium Cabin fares I’m seeing are considerably higher than that.

scuba divers under waterImage courtesy of British Airways

British Airways has this advice for anyone looking for a deal:

The cheapest time to visit the Seychelles is during the shoulder months of April and May and October and November – like all tropical places, rain is inevitable – but that doesn’t make Seychelles holidays any less enchanting. You can be assured of short, sharp rain bursts, where the sun shines the rest of the time. The driest weather is between June and September, when the waters are warm and crystal clear – perfect for swimming, snorkelling and diving, but prices rise accordingly.

British Airways guarantees that it will release at least 2 Business Class seats on every flight so, as this route has just be loaded in the past few hours, award availability should be plentiful right now….

a screenshot of a computer

….but don’t procrastinate for too long as the awards will disappear very, very quickly.


 

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