London Gatwick Archives – Page 5 of 6

Iberia launches London Gatwick – Madrid

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Iberia Express Airbus A320 (Image Credit: Iberia Express)

Ever since the marriage of BA and Iberia a little under four years ago, we have often wondered why Iberia has not taken advantage of BA’s distribution and marketing to operate more flights from UK airports to its Madrid hub.

There have been short-lived flights from Glasgow to Madrid, but little more. Now, as part of a significant expansion of Iberia’s short-haul network (which includes the launch of flights from Manchester and Edinburgh to Madrid), Iberia is to launch twice daily flights from London Gatwick to Madrid from Sunday 29 March 2015.

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BA launches Heathrow – Bilbao; Vueling moves Bilbao to Gatwick

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BA Airbus A319 aircraft at London Heathrow (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today announced it is to launch a twice daily service from London Heathrow to Bilbao in the Basque region of Northern Spain.

Bilbao is currently served from London Heathrow by BA’s IAG sibling Vueling. It will move its four weekly flights to London Gatwick.

Flights launch on Sunday 29 March 2015.

BA’s flights will initially operate from Heathrow Terminal 1 and will move to Terminal 3 on Tuesday 30 June 2015.

London Heathrow – Bilbao

Flight BA466 Depart London Heathrow 09:20 – Arrive Bilbao 12:20
Flight BA468 Depart London Heathrow 16:05 – Arrive Bilbao 19:05

Flight BA467 Depart Bilbao 13:05 – Arrive London Heathrow 14:00
Flight BA469 Depart Bilbao 19:40 – Arrive London Heathrow 20:35

Whilst a popular leisure destination in its own right (Bilbao is of course home to a Guggenheim museum) we understand the service has been operated to attract corporate clients in the area to BA’s London network and cargo traffic from the port of Bilbao.

Flights are currently on sale on ba.com

BA relaunches Gatwick – Sharm El Sheikh from September 2015

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London Gatwick Airfield (Image Credit: London Gatwick Airport)

BA will return to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt from mid September 2015.

The airline will initially fly to Sharm El Sheikh initially twice a week on Monday and Thursdays, then increasing to thrice weekly.

This is by no means the first time BA will fly to Sharm El Sheikh. BA’s franchise partner, GB Airways, used to fly there in BA colours until it was acquired by easyJet.

BA then operated a long-haul Boeing 777 a few years ago, but a combination of brutal timings and the Arab Spring led to the route being cancelled in 2011.

BA will fly to Sharm El Sheikh using an Airbus A320, offering EuroTraveller economy and Club Europe business class, so no in-flight entertainment or flat beds in business class.

The good news is that the timings are quite agreeable for in the inbound and outbound flights. This is a typical timetable. The exact timings may vary throughout the season.

Flight BA2560 Depart London Gatwick 09:00 – Arrive Sharm El Sheikh 16:20
Flight BA2561 Depart Sharm El Sheikh 17:10 – Arrive London Gatwick 20:55

Flights are now on sale on ba.com

BA cancels Gatwick – Colombo; Male suspended 28 March – 25 October 2015

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British Airways has today announced it is to cancel its thrice weekly London Gatwick – Colombo service, which operated as an additional leg to its service to Male in the Maldives.

The last flight from London Gatwick will operate on 27 March 2015 and the last inbound flight will operate on 28 March 2015.

The Male service will also be suspended from the above dates until 25 October 2015, operating as a seasonal service only.

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A Tale Of Two Routes: Heathrow To Austin & Chengdu

The relative performance of two BA routes to Austin and Chengdu shows why a third runway Heathrow may not result in more routes to Asia.

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British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (Image Credit: Heathrow)

The owners of Heathrow and Gatwick are currently campaigning for their respective airports to gain an additional runway (a third runway in the case of Heathrow and a second runway in the case of Gatwick) as part of The Airports Commission’s appraisal of the options for additional runway capacity in the South East of England.

The nub of Gatwick’s campaign under the banner “Gatwick Obviously” is that, as well as being able to secure a new runway at much less cost, additional capacity at Gatwick is essential to provide effective competition between Gatwick and Heathrow.

Key to Heathrow’s campaign for a third runway is that additional capacity is essential to secure links between the UK and international growth markets in Asia and elsewhere.

Middle East Conflict: Rebooking options for Tel Aviv flights

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Following recent events in the Middle East, both US and a large number of European airlines had suspended flights to Tel Aviv on the basis of advice from regulators in the US and Europe.

The Federal Aviation Administration in the US and the European Aviation Safety Agency have subsequently changed their guidance.

British Airways continues to fly to Tel Aviv twice daily from London Heathrow. easyJet has resumed flights from London Luton and London Gatwick to Tel Aviv.

BA is allowing passengers booked to fly to Tel Aviv up to 25 July 2014 to rebook on any flight up to 7 August 2014. No refunds are available.

easyJet was also offering passengers the opportunity to rebook that but this seems to have been withdrawn.

BA to move Providenciales from Heathrow to Gatwick

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British Airways is to move its weekly service to Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos Islands from London Heathrow to Gatwick with effect from 29 March 2015.

The route is currently served by a weekly Boeing 767 service via Nassau in The Bahamas. When it moves to London Gatwick it will operate via Antigua, on a Boeing 777-200.

The timetable is:

Flight BA2157 Depart London Gatwick 10:45 Arrive Antigua 14:10
Flight BA2157 Depart Antigua 15:10 Arrive Providenciales 17:05

Flight BA2156 Depart Providenciales 18:35 Arrive Antigua 20:30
Flight BA2156 Depart Antigua 21:40 – Arrive 10:30 (next day)

We’re not sure what was prompted the move. It may simply be a more effective use of capacity. BA will continue to offer three classes of service (World Traveller Economy, World Traveller Plus Premium Economy and Club World Business Class) on the route.

BA launches London Gatwick – Fuerteventura from 13 December 2014

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British Airways will return to the island of Fuerteventura from December of this year, with twice weekly flights from London Gatwick.

Flights operate on a summer seasonal basis to Fuerteventura airport on Wednesday and Saturday.

Flight BA2700 Depart London Gatwick 14:30 – Arrive Fuerteventura 18:50 (Wednesday)
Flight BA2700 Depart London Gatwick 11:40 – Arrive Fuerteventura 16:00 (Saturday)

Flight BA2701 Depart Fuerteventura 19:35 – Arrive London Gatwick 23:45 (Wednesday)
Flight BA2701 Depart Fuerteventura 16:45 – Arrive London Gatwick 20:55 (Saturday)

Two points to note from this:

First, it’s a sign of return of growth by BA to Gatwick after a very long period of contraction in its short-haul network.

Second, it’s also an indication that future short-haul route launches at Gatwick are likely to be longer-range flights for holidaymakers rather than short-haul routes that are well covered by easyJet.

Flights are now on sale on ba.com.

BA giving away free flights at London Victoria

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British Airways is giving away free tickets to destinations from its London Gatwick base in the Caribbean every 15 minutes at London Victoria railway station every day this week until Saturday 10 May 2014.

To be in for a chance to win you have to test your skills on an arcade-style game, with the highest scoring participants in 15 minute intervals winning tickets to the featured destination of the day.

The BA stand is located towards platforms 15-19.

From what we’ve seen the stand is popular, so do be prepared to queue for a short while if travelling to Victoria specifically for this.

Today’s (Friday) destination is Barbados. Wednesday’s destination was Saint Lucia and Thursday’s destination was St Kitts.

Full details of BA’s network at London Gatwick are available here.

easyJet expands at Gatwick whilst BA seeks to regain lost ground

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easyJet posted a good set of financial results last week solidifying its transition from an upstart low cost carrier to a mature pan-European short-haul airline.

The airline also announced a significant expansion at London Gatwick. This has been aided by its acquisition earlier this year of Flybe’s portfolio of slots at Gatwick which now gives easyJet nearly 50% of take off and landing slots at the airport.

New easyJet routes

In addition to recent route launches to cities such as Bergen and Moscow, next year easyJet will launch new routes to Brussels, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Jersey, Newcastle and Strasbourg. The airline will also increase frequencies by one flight a day on routes to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Geneva, Inverness and the Isle of Man.

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