London Gatwick Archives – Page 3 of 6

Norwegian launches Gatwick – Las Vegas from Monday 31 October 2016

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Norwegian Air Shuttle continues its rapid expansion at London Gatwick with the launch of new direct flights to Las Vegas.

The airline will fly to Las Vegas twice weekly (Monday & Thursday) from Monday 31 October 2016.

This will be Norwegian’s 8th long-haul route from London Gatwick after New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco – Oakland, Boston, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Puerto Rico.

Norwegian will be competing against direct flights by Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick and British Airways from London Heathrow.

On that note, the very rapid growth by Norwegian is not going unnoticed by either British Airways nor Virgin Atlantic. We have already seen British Airways reinstate its London Gatwick – New York JFK route as an apparent competitive response. We would not be surprised to see further activity by either airlines which both depend very heavily on transatlantic traffic for profitability.

Flights are on sale now at Norwegian.com and an initial scan of fares shows return trips being available for less than £399.

London Gatwick – Las Vegas

Flight DY7107 Depart London Gatwick 12:10 – Arrive Las Vegas 16:00 (Monday, Thursday)

Las Vegas – London Gatwick

Flight DY7108 Depart Las Vegas 18:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 10:50

British Airways Launches Seasonal Gatwick – Cape Town

British Airways is operating a winter seasonal route from London Gatwick to Cape Town, to complement existing flights from Heathrow.

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British Airways Boeing 777 at London Gatwick

British Airways is to launch a winter seasonal service from London Gatwick to Cape Town in South Africa from Thursday 24 November 2016.

Flights will operate three times a week and will complement the airline’s existing twice daily service from London Heathrow. It will also compete directly against Thomas Cook’s new service to Cape Town from London Gatwick which runs from 15 December 2016 to the weekend of Saturday 25/Sunday 26 March 2017. The seasonal service is currently scheduled to return from mid November 2017 to late March 2018. However, this may change depending on the commercial performance of the route.

BA flights will be operated using a three class Boeing 777 aircraft which will offer Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy.

This new route also adds to a growing portfolio of long-haul routes from London Gatwick which includes Norwegian’s long-haul flights to the USA and Cathay Pacific’s new service to Hong Kong from 2 September 2016.

BA itself is launching flights from London Gatwick to Costa Rica on 27 April 2016 and Peru on 4 May 2016. BA also returns to New York JFK from London Gatwick on 1 May.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

London Gatwick – Cape Town (Winter 2016)

Flight BA2065 Depart London Gatwick 18:00 – Arrive Cape Town 07:50 (Mon, Thurs, Sat)
Flight BA2064 Depart Cape Town 19:10 – Arrive London Gatwick 05:05 (Tue, Fri, Sun)

Vueling Launches Gatwick – Santiago de Compostela

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Vueling Airbus A320 (Image Credit: Vueling)

Vueling continues its steady, if slightly haphazard, expansion in the UK with the launch of a new route from London Gatwick to Santiago de Compostela, the capital of northwest Spain’s Galicia region. The route operates from Wednesday 30 March 2016.

The airline will fly to Santiago de Compostela Airport from London Gatwick’s South Terminal three times a week.

Flights are on sale now at Vueling.com

Flight VY7389 Depart London Gatwick 20:30 – Arrive Santiago de Compostela 23:30 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Flight VY7388 Depart Santiago de Compostela 18:35 – Arrive London Gatwick 19:40 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

On other days, indirect routings are available via Vueling’s hub in Barcelona.

Vueling has a growing presence in the UK, and specifically London, albeit without a natural base.

From London Gatwick, Vueling also flies to Barcelona, Bilbao, Paris (Charles de Gaulle), Rome-Fiumicino, and Florence. From Heathrow, Vueling flies to La Coruña and Barcelona. This summer, Vueling will also fly from London Luton to Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Vueling is part of International Airlines Group with British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus. Vueling’s flights to Santiago de Compostela can also be booked as codeshares with BA and Iberia.

Update January 2018: Vueling will suspend this route from Friday 23 March 2018. easyJet will fly the route on Wednesday and Saturday from Wednesday 28 March 2018.

Cathay Pacific to launch London Gatwick – Hong Kong from 2 September 2016

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Cathay Pacific A350-900 Business Class (Image Credit: Cathay Pacific)

After months of speculation, Cathay Pacific has today officially confirmed that it is to launch a four times weekly flight from London Gatwick to Hong Kong from Friday 2 September 2016.

The flight will be operated with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in a three class (business, premium economy and economy) configuration.

Cathay Pacific will continue to fly between London Heathrow and Hong Kong five times daily.

It is something of a coup for London Gatwick airport to attract an airline with an existing presence at London Heathrow as the trend in recent years has been for long-haul airlines to move routes from Gatwick to Heathrow as and when slots become available.

This route also adds to a growing portfolio of Cathay Pacific destinations in Europe with Manchester, Düsseldorf and Madrid being recent additions. It also represents a significant investment by Cathay Pacific in London which is also currently renovating and expanding its London Heathrow first and business class lounges.

Flights are on sale now at Cathay Pacific.

London Gatwick – Hong Kong

Flight CX354 Depart London Gatwick 11:15 – Arrive Hong Kong 06:55

Hong Kong – London Gatwick

Flight CX343 Depart Hong Kong 00:45 – Arrive London Gatwick 05:55

(Flight times may vary by season.)

Aer Lingus & BA now codesharing on transatlantic routes

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Aer Lingus and British Airways continue to extend co-operation with each other under the umbrella of their parent company International Airlines Group.

The two airlines are now codesharing on each other’s transatlantic flights between London, Dublin, Shannon and the USA.

This means that Aer Lingus flights from Shannon to Boston and New York JFK and from Dublin to Boston, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, Orlando and San Francisco can be booked under a BA flight number on ba.com

Codeshares can be booked whether connecting from London or starting your journey in Dublin or Shannon.

The main benefit of this arrangement is that members of the British Airways Executive Club can earn Avios points and Executuve Club tier points in the same manner as a British Airways flight.

All passengers also benefit from US Customs & Immigration pre-clearance in Dublin and Shannon and connections are available from London Gatwick for those who would prefer to avoid London Heathrow.

Similarly, the Aer Lingus code has been placed on all BA transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick, giving Aer Lingus passengers access to a more extensive route network.

It’s also worth noting that codesharing does not apply to BA routes to Canada and Central & South America.

Furthermore, a date has not yet been set for Aer Lingus to join the transatlantic joint-venture with American Airlines which is subject to commercial negotiation and regulatory approval.

Nor has a date been set for Aer Lingus to rejoin the Oneworld alliance.

Thomas Cook launches winter seasonal Gatwick – Cape Town

Cape Town in South Africa has long been a very popular destination for Britons seeking winter sun.

However, direct flight options between London and Cape Town have in the past year become limited to British Airways following the withdrawal of Virgin Atlantic’s seasonal route and the previous suspension by South African Airways.

Thomas Cook has now entered the market with the launch of a three times weekly flight between London Gatwick and Cape Town.

The flight will operate for three months from 15 December 2016 to 20 March 2017.

Flights will be operated using Airbus A330 aircraft in a two class economy and premium configuration.

The flight times have not yet been published.

This route adds to a growing portfolio of long-haul leisure routes at London Gatwick with Norwegian’s expanding transatlantic network and WestJet and Air Canada Rouge due to launch flights to Canada from London Gatwick next year.

BA suspends London Gatwick – Las Vegas from Sunday 25 April 2016

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London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)

Launched in late 2009 when the airline was still reeling from the impact of the global financial crisis, British Airways’ daily service from London Heathrow to Las Vegas was an instant success with capacity quickly added through an aircraft upgrade and, more recently an additional three times weekly service from London Gatwick.

The service from London Gatwick has now been suspended, with the last return flight operating on Sunday 25 April 2016. BA will continue to fly to Vegas at least once a day from London Heathrow.

Ostensibly, the route suspension is to allow the airline to launch a flight from London Gatwick to New York JFK from Sunday 1 May 2016.

Affected passengers should receive a notice of cancellation shortly and passengers will be accommodated on BA’s service from London Heathrow which operates up to 11 times weekly.

British Airways Reinstates London Gatwick – New York JFK

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New York Skyline (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

British Airways is to relaunch a daily service from London Gatwick to New York JFK from Sunday 1 May 2016.

The airline last flew between the two airports for a short period in 2008-2009 and the service was then ostensibly a “slot-sitting” exercise pending the launch of BA’s London City – New York JFK service.

The route will be operated with a three class Boeing 777-200 aircraft with Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy and World Traveller economy cabins.

BA will be competing head on against Norwegian Air Shuttle which has a growing transatlantic network at London Gatwick including routes such as Boston, Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles.

The flight is being accommodated by the cancellation of BA’s thrice weekly London Gatwick – Las Vegas service and frequency adjustments on other routes.

The route will also be bookable as a codeshare with American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair.

Passsengers should also be aware that from January 2016 BA will have limited lounge facilities at Gatwick as its lounges will be closed pending its move to the South terminal in November 2016.

Flights are on sale now at ba.com

London Gatwick – New York JFK

Flight BA2273 Depart London Gatwick 16:40 – Arrive New York JFK 19:30

Flight BA2272 Depart New York JFK 22:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 10:00

WestJet confirms transatlantic routes from London Gatwick

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WestJet Boeing 767 aircraft (Image Credit: WestJet)

Canadian airline WestJet has today confirmed it is to launch summer seasonal direct flights from London Gatwick to no less than six Canadian cities: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, St John’s, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Flights will operate from the week beginning Monday 4 May 2015 to the end of October 2015.

Flights to Vancouver will operate six times weekly, Edmonton will operate twice weekly, Calgary five times weekly and Winnipeg once weekly. Flights to Toronto and St. John’s will both operate once daily.

In total, this represents 28 return trips from London Gatwick total each week.

This represents a significant expansion in capacity between London and Canada, and significant competition to British Airways and Air Canada from London Heathrow and Air Canada Rouge and Air Transat from London Gatwick. This, combined with the expansion of Norwegian at London Gatwick means that the airport is carving out a niche for low cost transatlantic travel.

In the case of Winnipeg, WestJet’s service will also be the only direct route between the city and London.

All London flights, with the exception of flights to St John’s, will be operated by one of WestJet’s four Boeing 767-300ERW extended range aircraft.

Each Boeing 767 seats 262 passengers. The main economy cabin has 238 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration. Passengers in the main cabin will be offered complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic drinks and the option to purchase hot meals. The cabin does not also feature seat back in flight entertainment. Instead, the aircraft will be equipped with WestJet Connect, the airline’s inflight entertainment and wireless connectivity system which can stream entertainment to your smartphone/tablet. Passengers are also offered one complimentary checked bag. However, seat selection fees will apply.

The aircraft will include a “Plus” premium cabin with 24 seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and complimentary hot meals.

Flights are on sale now and to mark the launch, WestJet is offering special introductory fares which it claims are the lowest on the market for bookings made by Wednesday 16 September for travel between 6 May 2015 to 28 June 2015.

British Airways Launches London Gatwick – Lima

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Hot on the heels of the announcement of a new route from London Gatwick to Costa Rica, BA is to launch another new long haul route from Gatwick to Lima (Jorge Chávez International Airport) in Peru.

The route launches on Wednesday 4 May 2016. Flights will initially operate three times weekly, departing on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The route will be operated with a three class, Club World business class, World Traveller Plus premium economy, World Traveller economy, Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

This will be the only current direct route between London and Peru. BA’s IAG sibling Iberia also flies to Peru from Madrid and passengers will be able “mix and match” direct and indirect flights operated by both airlines.

Flights are now on sale now at ba.com

London Gatwick – Lima

Flight BA2239 Depart London Gatwick 13:50 – Arrive Lima 20:25 (Weds)
Flight BA2238 Depart Lima 21:55 – Arrive London Gatwick 16:15 (Weds)

Flight BA2239 Depart London Gatwick 11:55 – Arrive Lima 18:30 (Fri, Sun)
Flight BA2238 Depart Lima 20:00 – Arrive London Gatwick 14:20 (Fri, Sun)

Flights will operate twice weekly, on Wednesday and Sunday, from 30 October 2016:

Flight BA2239 Depart London Gatwick 10:15 – Arrive Lima 17:55 (Weds, Sun)
Flight BA2238 Depart Lima 19:25 – Arrive London Gatwick 12:35 (Weds, Sun)

Update: This route is now suspended.