British Airways announced a unique proposition in April: entire flights bookable only with Avios, the airline's mileage currency. The initiative has been popular even before the first route takes off in November, with the total destinations going from two to seven. Simple Flying had a chance to sit down with IAG Loyalty's Chief Commercial Officer, Rob McDonald, last month to discuss the initiative, its future, and how it came about.

Seasonal pattern

Looking at BA's winter destinations, the trend is clear: holidays. Sharm El Sheikh is a well-known winter sun destination in November, while Geneva is an excellent spot for skiing and winter sports during the February half-term holidays. IAG Loyalty (IAGL) has noticed this redemption trend as well, and McDonald noted,

"Every single flight on the British Airways network has a guaranteed number of award seats. That said, we know that customers really like some of the most popular destinations on some of the busiest dates, where guaranteed seats are used up very quickly. We decided to invest in that because it was really meaningful for customers to have a really large choice [of seat availability]."

British Airways added five more popular destinations to its network in May, once again targeted at those looking for winter sun during the April Easter break. The new routes include London to Las Palmas, Lanzarote, Barcelona, Nice, and Tenerife. We've covered the detailed schedules and Avios pricing in an earlier piece. According to McDonald, Tenerife has been particularly popular, and a quick search shows that only one reward seat remains at the time of writing.

While selling 12 Avios seats on peak award dates isn't hard, selling 160+ is a more significant challenge. However, with over 10 million members, many based in the UK, British Airways and IAG Loyalty have found good traction for their flights. The first route is scheduled for 3rd November, but could there be more beyond early 2024?

More routes coming?

British Airways isn't the only airline offering points-only flights, oneworld partner Qantas offers similar flights, including one from Sydney to Tokyo Haneda in May. We posed the question of where the Avios-only flights could go next and if long-haul routes to cities in the US, another huge holiday destination for Brits, could be on the cards. On this, McDonald didn't give away much and only said,

"It's in the plan, so watch this space."

Photo: Fasttailwind I Shutterstock

The airline and IAGL are likely looking to see the performance of the first round of flights before committing to long-haul routes or even further destinations within Europe and North Africa. The pricing dynamics of a long-haul flight are quite different, so it will be interesting to see which routes are selected for such a mission.

For now, holidaymakers sitting on plenty of Avios will be happy to know they can go on a week-long holiday over half-term breaks with plenty of reward seat availability.

What do you think about Avios-only flights? Do you think British Airways will expand the initiative? Let us know in the comments!