London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)
British Airways is to launch a new direct route from London Gatwick to San Jose (airport code SJO), Costa Rica from Wednesday 4 May 2016.
Flights will initially operate twice weekly, increasing to three times a week from the end of October 2016:
Flights will be operated with a three class Boeing 777 aircraft (world Traveller economy, World Traveller Plus premium economy and Club World business class) and are on sale now at ba.com
This will be the only direct service between London and Costa Rica. BA’s IAG sibling Iberia also flies to San Jose daily from Madrid, and bookings can combine flights on the two airlines. For the avoidance of any doubt, BA does not currently fly direct to San Jose, California (airport code SJC).
London Gatwick – San Jose, Costa Rica
Flight BA2137 Depart London Gatwick 11:55 Arrive San Jose 15:45 (Weds)
Flight BA2137 Depart London Gatwick 11:00 Arrive San Jose 14:50 (Sat)
Flight BA2136 Depart San Jose 17:15 Arrive London Gatwick 10:30 (Weds)
Flight BA2136 Depart San Jose 16:20 Arrive London Gatwick 09:35 (Sat)
Valencia is BA’s fifteenth Spanish destination with flights already operating to Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Granada, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Menorca, Seville and Tenerife from a combination of London Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports.
BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)
BA has recently announced a number of schedule changes to some of its short-haul routes from London Heathrow and Gatwick:
London Heathrow – Gothenburg
From 25 October 2015, BA will add a year round third daily flight on this route which will operate at the following times until 27 March 2016:
Flight BA802 Depart London Heathrow 19:15 – Arrive Gothenburg 22:15
Flight BA803 Depart Gothenburg 08:00 – Arrive London Heathrow 09:15
This is what’s known as a “night stop” which means it is timed for an early morning departure from Gothenburg.
London Gatwick – Bodrum
This twice weekly, summer seasonal, route to Bodrum in Turkey will now end on Monday 19 October 2015, instead of Monday 2 November 2015, as was planned.
This means that flights BA2566 and BA2567 are cancelled on 22, 26, 29 October and 2 November. Alternative flights to Dalaman and Istanbul, with no onward connections, are available for affected passengers.
London Gatwick – Dubrovnik
The Monday departure from London Gatwick to Dubrovnik in Croatia will be cancelled from 26 October 2015 (flights BA2678 and BA2679).
BA will continue operate the route on other days. However, the Friday departure will also be cancelled between 8 January 2016 and 5 February 2016.
London Gatwick – Nice
BA will reduce its frequency on this route from 14 to 12 flights a week from 22 November 2015. Flights BA2622 and BA2623 will be cancelled on Wednesdays and Sundays.
It is likely that there will be further schedule and route announcements over the next couple of months in advance of the launch of the Winter timetable on 25 October 2015.
Norwegian has today announced it is to launch a new route from London Gatwick to Boston from May 2016.
The exact launch date and timetable are to be confirmed, but flights will operate four times weekly.
This is the fourth North American route for Norwegian from London Gatwick after New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale.
The airline will also fly to Puerto Rico from November 2015.
This news will be welcomed by London Gatwick as it is the first time in many years Boston has been served by the airport.
Norwegian has stated in the Financial Times that it has ambitions to serve many more long haul destinations from the UK beyond the Americas and to Africa and Asia.
WestJet Boeing 767 aircraft (Image Credit: WestJet)
Canadian airline WestJet has announced it is to launch transatlantic services to Canada from London Gatwick in spring 2016.
The airline has yet to confirm which routes will be served (though Toronto seems an obvious choice) or any scheduling, pricing and product information, other than to say flights will be operated by Boeing 767-300 aircraft.
This will be welcome news for London Gatwick which has lost a number of transatlantic airlines to Heathrow over the past few years. It will undoubtedly use this as a case for a second runway at Gatwick.
London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)
British Airways is to launch a new route from London Gatwick to Vienna from 17 September 2015.
BA will fly from London Gatwick to Vienna daily, except Saturdays. The service will reduce to four weekly from the start of the winter timetable from late October 2015.
To complete the list, here’s a list of long-haul Gatwick routes that operate with and without a first class cabin.
It’s a relatively easy list to compile. BA’s routes from Gatwick are operated exclusively with either three or four class Boeing 777 aircraft.
Whilst a first class cabin is not sold on all routes, there is the possibility that a four class aircraft may be operated on a route on some days with no first class cabin on sale, with the normal Club World business class service provided to passengers seated in the first class cabin.
London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)
British Airways today, 19 January 2015, confirmed that is to move its entire London Gatwick operation from the North terminal to the South terminal at an as yet unspecified date in November 2016.
The purpose of the move is to allow easyJet to consolidate its London Gatwick operation in the North terminal.
BA will benefit from an upgraded check-in area and a new lounge facility for eligible passengers. BA has confirmed that a new lounge for eligible customers will be constructed in the North terminal.
As BA’s London Gatwick operation involves approximately 60 departures a day, we expect the move will take place in phases.
Perhaps what is more significant are easyJet’s ambitions once it consolidates operations in one terminal.
easyJet currently has 45% of departure and arrival slots at Gatwick, compared to just 16% for BA. Ten years ago, BA had 30% of departure and arrival slots, and easyJet had 13%.
easyJet has made a number of moves in recent years to move it closer to the traditional full service carrier model, such as offering allocated seating and fast track ground facilities.
The one thing easyJet doesn’t do is interline with other airlines (this is where an airline will transfer your bag to another airline’s flight on a connecting ticket). Nor does it codeshare with other airlines. Nor does it offer connections.
Currently, a passenger wishing to fly from say, Edinburgh to Tel Aviv via Gatwick would have to “self-connect” and buy two separate tickets (and hope for the best if things go wrong!).
If easyJet was to move to a traditional “hub” model offering connections and codeshares with other airlines, this could radically change its position in the market and that of London Gatwick. There is certainly precedent for a low cost carrier to do this, as Vueling does at its hub in Barcelona.
This would of course add cost and complexity to easyJet’s operation (which it may be keen to avoid) but connecting traffic could support many more routes from Gatwick.
One other point of note is that Aer Lingus, currently a takeover target for BA’s parent company International Airlines Group, also operates in the South terminal and a consolidation of operations may allow for greater co-operation between BA and Aer Lingus at Gatwick.
London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)
Norwegian Air Shuttle has announced a new short-haul route from London Gatwick. It will fly to the Greek island of Kefalonia from Saturday 18 April 2015.
The new route operates once a week, on Saturdays.
Here are the flight times:
Flight DY2910 Depart London Gatwick 10:15 – Arrive Kefalonia 15:30
Flight DY2911 Depart Kefalonia 16:10 Arrive London Gatwick 17:20
The airline since moved its London – Larnaca route to London Stansted. The European Commission today ruled that financial support received by the airline was deemed to be state aid and had to be repaid.
Cyprus Air has confirmed that it has now ceased operations after nearly 70 years’ flying.
When airlines do go out of business, it is standard practice for other airlines to offer assistance to stranded passengers and those with future bookings. This usually takes the form of offering seats at special fares or for the price paid for the original ticket, known as “rescue fares”.
Ryanair Rescue Fares
Ryanair has confirmed it is offering rescue fares from €49.99 on the following routes: Athens – Paphos; Thessaloniki – Paphos; and London Stansted – Paphos.
British Airways Rescue Fares
British Airways flies to Larnaca from London Heathrow (Terminal 5) and Gatwick (North Terminal). BA is offering a special fare for travel up to the end of January 2015. This can only be booked via a BA call centre or at a BA ticket desk at Gatwick, Heathrow and Larnaca airports.
easyJet also flies to Larnaca from Gatwick. We should hear in the coming days if it is willing to offer assistance to stranded passengers.
