Airlines

British Airways – Two New Polish Destinations (and one in Romania and Latvia)

I was rather pleased with the press release issued by British Airways today. I’ve been to three of the four cities that they’ve now flying to this summer and very much looking forwards to going back to all three. I haven’t been to Cluj-Napoca, but that’s somewhere I’d very happily go. I’ve booked Gdansk with a Reward Flight Saver, but unfortunately that’s the only one I can fit in as the flights are a bit limited and end in late September. Hopefully though this is the first step towards a greater presence in Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries, and maybe even Ukraine will make an appearance in future years.

Anyway, the press release…..

Tuesday 27 April 2021 – British Airways has today announced four new short-haul routes to Wroclaw (WRO) and Gdansk (GDN) in Poland, Riga (RIX) in Latvia and Cluj-Napoca (CLJ) in Romania.

The routes add breadth to the airline’s schedule and will operate from the beginning of July, running throughout summer. All flights will be served from Heathrow, with Wroclaw operating twice a week, and Gdansk, Riga and Cluj-Napoca operating three times a week. Flights operate on days that work perfectly for those visiting friends and relatives for a long weekend as well as those in search of an exciting city break (full schedule in Notes to Editors).

Return fares start from £83 to Wroclaw, £85 to Gdansk, £94 to Riga, and £95 to Cluj, and customers can book from today via ba.com. Customers benefit from British Airways’ flexible booking policy, offering customers no change fees or a voucher exchange for bookings made for travel before the end of April 2022, giving customers a large variety of options should their plans change.

Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Director of Network and Alliances, said: “It’s great to be launching new routes as we listen to our customers and assess where they want to travel. We know these four new destinations will be popular with people visiting friends and relatives, but they also offer great city breaks, when the time is right, with flights that head out just before the weekend and return on Sunday.”

All flights will be operated by British Airways’ short-haul Airbus fleet.

Wroclaw is known for its beautiful architecture and array of stunning bridges and islands that cross the Odra River. Gdansk, on the Baltic Sea, offers fine museums, a dominating church building and a beautiful old city. Riga, the largest of all three Baltic capital cities, houses a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is known for its Art Nouveau style buildings. Cluj-Napoca, or simply Cluj, is Romania’s second largest city and often described as a cultural hub. British Airways last operated flights to Riga in 2007, and flew briefly to Gdansk between 1999 and the early-2000s. The airline has never served the other two airports.

The flights complement an already strong British Airways network to most of these countries with regular flights scheduled to Krakow and Warsaw in Poland, and Bucharest in Romania.

Alongside today’s new routes, British Airways will also launch a new summer service to Perugia on 28 June. This was due to start in 2020 but was delayed due to the impact of the pandemic.

British Airways has introduced a range of safety measures and partnerships to make the travel experience simple, safe and enjoyable during and after the pandemic. These include partnerships with cleaning brand Dettol, testing providers Randox and Qured, and mobile travel health app VeriFly.

 

ENDS

 

Route Dates operating Days of week Flight number Outbound timings Inbound timings Return from
Wroclaw, Poland, WRO 1 Jul – 26 Sep Thurs, Sun BA5223 0735-1045 1135-1245 £83
Gdansk, Poland, GDN 2 Jul – 26 Sep Wed, Fri, Sun BA5323 1600-1910 2000-2115 £85
Riga, Latvia, RIX 2 Jul – 26 Sep Wed, Fri, Sun BA3801 1500-1940 2030-2115 £94
Cluj-Napoca, Romania, CLJ 2 Jul – 26 Sep Wed, Fri, Sun BA5367 0700-1150 1240-1340 £95