British Airways made the first of what will presumably be a number of new Gatwick route announcements yesterday. This is the first such announcement since it purchased Monarch’s take-off and landing slots at the airport in November.
In total, BA will operating 150 additional flights per week from Gatwick this summer compared with 2017.
It is worth noting up front that BA is using Titan Airways to operate some Gatwick services this Summer. These flights are clearly marked at ba.com. It simply does not have enough available aircraft to use the Monarch slots, and this is not helped by the late delivery of the new Airbus NEO aircraft and the need to send the older Heathrow short-haul planes off to be ‘densified’. The plan to take six short-haul Qatar Airways appears to have been dropped.
Titan Airways has covered for British Airways before and is generally seen as OK. You may even get free food and drink in Euro Traveller although that is not confirmed.
New routes announced
The announcement yesterday primarily covered routes which were Monarch’s heartland. The following changes will kick in from the start of the summer timetable on 25th March:
Malaga – increases to 35 from 27 Gatwick flights per week
Alicante – increases to 22 from 14 Gatwick flights per week
Faro – increases to 21 from 17 Gatwick flights per week
Tenerife – increases to 13 from 6 Gatwick flights per week
Madeira – increases to 9 from 6 Gatwick flights per week
Lanzarote – increases to 5 from 3 Gatwick flights per week
The following brand new Gatwick routes will also be launched, although none are new to the BA network:
Gibraltar
Palma
Mahon
BA also claims to have added 400 extra flights on existing routes between 9th February and 24th March, although no breakdown has been provided.
I have not been given the exact times and dates for these new flights. However, they do appear to be bookable now on ba.com for cash or Avios. If you want a peak August flight down to the Med then this is your chance, as the original Avios allocation will have gone months ago.
Expect further announcements in the coming weeks.
PS. If you are flying out of Gatwick this year, here are a few relevant articles – Hampton by Hilton hotel review, Bloc hotel review, how to get a good deal on Gatwick Express, how to get a good deal on Gatwick parking, MyLounge (North) review, No 1 Lounge (North) review, No 1 Lounge (South) review, the new British Airways lounges in Gatwick South review
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for the latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios from current offers and promotions.)
About Head for Points
Qatar may still be in this deal as Titan only have about what – six aircraft ? Perhaps Qatar are in the ‘what if’ plan.
OT – can anyone let me know how long a refund of an avios redemption takes to process? I booked through BA with JAL and have changed my plans.
Thanks all!
IME, the avios show up immediately. The cash takes a couple of days though…
I thought it did last time. But on this occasion I’ve had an email suggesting that my ‘refund’ is being processed. Not sure if this is because it’s with another oneworld carrier rather than with BA themselves.
Call and ask for your Avios back; it should be fairly straightforward.
| “The following brand new Gatwick routes will also be launched…”
Weren’t all of those served for BA by GB Airways in their day?
Gibraltar was, now I think about it – and that under a BA franchise of course.
Palma too.
and Mahon too! The frequencies BA Will be offering after buying the Monarch slots are only back to what GB Airways as a BA franchise was offering 10 years ago! Such a pity BA allowed the GB Airways network to be absorbed by easyJet, they’ve been playing catch up ever since..
When GB went to easyJet, BA operated GIB-LGW for a period in their own name, before switching the route to LHR only.
(GB operated a mix of LGW and LHR (and occasionally regionals) to GIB, as the reallocated their limited LHR slots seasonally)
I so glad to see BA/IAG grow at LGW.
Would be a great opportunity to reinstate the 2 or 3 daily flight to MAN again. Then we can finally easily connect into the rest of the Gatwick network.
Any evening or late afternoon flight from EDI woukd be helpful too. It’s easy enough to get up there, but why does the last southbound leg leave at midday??
Yea, plenty of time to train titan crew for BOB…
Look out for other IAG carriers helping out too…
Anyone recommend hotels in Palma or Majorca? Seems silly not to take advantage of some great priced flights over the summer. I just hate trying to find a 2 bed apartment. I don’t want to be sleeping on a sofa bed (nor the kids).