British Airways will launch a brand-new route to the German city of Cologne.

The airline has announced it will be adding a new four-per-week service from Gatwick Airport to the winter break hotspot, located on both sides of the Rhine, from November 16, 2018.

Cologne (Köln), Germany’s fourth largest city, offers a plethora of attractions led by its famous cathedral whose filigree twin spires dominate the skyline.

Known for its art, history and architecture, visitors can immerse themselves in the avant-garde before enjoying a dish of the local speciality Himmel un Ääd, mashed potato with apple sauce and sausage. For those with a sweeter tooth, a trip to the famous chocolate museum is a must before spending the evening at one of the many beer halls experiencing the liberal Rhinelander spirit, or soaking up the party atmosphere in one of the countless bars or restaurants. No other German city has as many pubs per capita.

The highlight of the Cologne calendar is the six-day street carnival known as “Crazy Days”. Normal life is suspended in Cologne as the city celebrates in a colourful spectacle of eclectic costumes, dancing, sequins, parades and parties where more than one million revellers take to the streets for the largest carnival in Europe.

During the winter season customers will be able to fly direct for the first time with British Airways, with services taking off on Mondays, Thursdays. Fridays and Sundays; offering holidaymakers the perfect excuse to visit one of the seven Christmas markets.

The addition of the Cologne route follows the introduction of the London Gatwick to Las Vegas flight which operates thrice-weekly all year round.

The airline is also increasing the number of flights it operates to other firm-favourite city break destinations from Gatwick this winter, with more flights to Palma de Mallorca, Turin, Lanzarote, Malaga and Geneva.

Travellers wanting to head further afield this winter have a new destination: the South African city of Durban with the start of a direct service from Heathrow Terminal 5.

From October 29 holidaymakers will be able to surf their heart out along the Golden Mile, explore the lush green garden province and enjoy golden sun kissed beaches with three direct flights a week to the spectacular South African city.

From British Airways: It’s back! After the success of last year’s safety video Chabuddy G returns with a star-studded sequel in partnership with Comic Relief!

You can see the new video on board from late July on short haul routes and beginning of August on long haul routes.

British Airways has released its Gender Pay Gap figures. The airline’s statistics show that the median hourly pay difference between men and women is 10 percent, compared to the national average of 18.1 percent*.

The airline’s median bonus pay difference is -19 percent, which, using this calculation, means that the bonus pay gap favours women.

Of British Airways’ workforce 46 percent of employees are female and 54 per cent are male.  The airline employs women in many areas that traditionally have been male-dominated, including pilots, engineering and roles within the ramp team, such as baggage handling and aircraft loading.

British Airways recognises there is more work to do on gender pay balance; one area of focus is its pilots, who attract high levels of pay and are overwhelmingly male.  When pilots are excluded from the calculations, the pay gap favours women by one per cent.

British Airways has been recruiting female pilots for more than 30 years and the percentage of female flight crew at the airline is six per cent, double the national average of around three to four per cent. The airline recognises that there is a gender imbalance within its pilot community and is working to address this in part through greater visibility of its female pilots to inspire the next generation.

British Airways employees including female pilots visit schools, colleges and recruitment events to inspire girls and women to take up a career in aviation, and to enter roles in engineering and flight operations. Female role models are used in recruitment campaigns and media activity. The airline will continue to recruit female managers into a new mentoring programme.

Earlier this month, to celebrate International Women’s Day, British Airways invited school girls to take part in an all-female operated flight, highlighting the airline’s female flight planners, ground staff, baggage handlers, flight dispatchers, engineers and pilots. More than 60 British Airways female staff took part in the event. The video can be watched here.

British Airways confirmed that pay for the majority of its workforce, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, airport workers and call handlers is collectively agreed, so therefore men and women receive the same pay for these roles.

Maria da Cunha, British Airways’ Director of People and Legal said: “We are pleased with the progress that we are making in encouraging diversity within our organisation, but we’re not complacent – we know that there is work to do to encourage more women into STEM roles, and specifically into our pilot community. We are fully committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the customers we serve and to promote an inclusive and collaborative culture.”

The full report can be read here.

*Source: Office for National Statistics

• Equal pay is when men and women performing equal work receive equal pay, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
• Gender pay gap refers to the difference between men’s and women’s average earnings across the organisation, expressed as a percentage of men’s earnings. The gender pay gap in the UK is 18.1 percent.
• All colleagues at British Airways are enrolled into the organisation’s corporate bonus scheme. The median bonus pay gap (-19 percent) favours women.
• British Airways has four subsidiaries which employ more than 250 people – BA Cityflyer, British Airways Holidays, British Airways Maintenance, Cardiff (BAMC) and Gatwick Ground Services. These will be reporting their figures separately, but when these figures are added to British Airways’ figures, the median hourly pay gap drops from 10 per cent to nine percent.

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