British Airways to Introduce Group Boarding Process in January
British Airways will implement a new boarding process later this month, the airline said.
The change was announced in November 2017 with a planned start date of mid December but BA postpone the change to lessen the likelihood of confusion during the busy holiday travel period.
Passengers will be assigned one of five groups, although there will be variances based on whether the flight is long-haul or short-haul.
“This method has been used all around the world by many airlines and aligns BA with partners American Airlines and Iberia. Group boarding simplifies the process, making it easier for customers to understand the boarding sequence at the gate,” the airline said in publication Up to Speed.
On short-haul flights, Group 1 will comprise business-class, oneworld Emerald, and Executive Club Gold passengers, while Group 2 will cover oneworld Sapphire and Executive Club Silver. Group 3 will include oneworld Ruby and Executive Club Bronze. Group 4 will cover coach passengers and Group 5 will be for those paying the cheapest fare, Hand Baggage Only.
On long-haul flights, Group 1 will be comprised of first-class, oneworld Emerald, and Executive Club Gold passengers, while Group 2 will cover business-class, oneworld Sapphire, and Executive Club Silver passengers. Group 3 will include oneworld Ruby and Executive Club Bronze as well as premium economy passengers. Finally, Groups 4 and 5 will be for those in coach although the airline did not specify what the criteria for assigning passengers to one of these two groups would be.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
