Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways considers quitting Gatwick airport permanently – report

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

According to a report in The Telegraph, British Airways is considering leaving London Gatwick for good.

A review has reportedly been launched into the mechanics of concentrating all mainline flights at Heathrow.

Why? What a surprise – it’s the slots.

British Airways leaving Gatwick Airport

The Telegraph says that the order has come from parent company IAG – possibly implying that British Airways management is not in favour – which is paranoid about the long term impact of losing take-off and landing slots at Heathrow.

As we have covered many times on Head for Points since covid appeared, an airline has to use an airport slot on 80% of dates. If it fails to do so, the slot is automatically forfeited and made available to any other airline which wants it.

There are two slot ‘seasons’, Winter and Summer, with switchover dates in late March and late October. There are separate slot pools for each season.

Since Spring 2020, the slot rules have been suspended. With some caveats, British Airways can run as few flights as it wants at present with no risk of having the slots taken away.

At some point, possibly next Spring but almost certainly in Autumn 2022, this waiver will end.

Without a waiver, British Airways will have to start running its full pre-covid schedule or it will start to forfeit slots. This simply isn’t possible – with the retirement of the Boeing 747 fleet, I doubt it has enough aircraft to do so, even if it wanted to.

Moving British Airways flights from Gatwick to Heathrow is the easiest – and probably only – way to ensure that the airline keeps its full slot portfolio.

Luis Gallego, chief executive of IAG, reportedly told analysts last month that:

“Gatwick is an important decision that we need to take as a group. It’s true that we have the issue with the slots.

“Gatwick has some strategic value, but we need to be competitive there. This crisis is going to change the profile … of the demand. So we are analysing the different options.”

The Telegraph article is here (paywall).

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (107)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Greenpen says:
    20 Jun20 June 10:44

    I have flown on Qatar and Turkish a few times from Gatwick as the price has been much cheaper than the same airline, with the same onward connecting flight, from Heathrow. However, it is much more difficult to get to from the Midlands.

    Nice Gatwick BA lounge, with the Business better than the first!

    • John says:
      20 Jun20 June 11:20

      Usually only cheaper by £15 or so because of the lower airport fees levied.

      • ChrisC says:
        20 Jun20 June 18:36

        Don’t know about long haul but for a SH to AMS Next March the UK airport fees are

        LGW – £ 15.33
        LHR – £ 17.77
        LCY – £ 37.73

    • Sam G says:
      20 Jun20 June 16:38

      Turkish is often quite a bit cheaper than from Heathrow & if you want a business miles ticket then often Gatwick has availability and not Heathrow. But usually you can get a long haul seat out of LHR vs a recliner out of Gatwick

  • The cyclist says:
    20 Jun20 June 11:10

    BA leaving LGW, It would be a real pain in the butt if this goes ahead, however I’m sure that competitors will slide in and plug any slots that become available.

  • Terri says:
    20 Jun20 June 11:11

    Just a few years ago I flew BMI from Birmingham to Jersey and then BA Jersey to Gatwick to catch an Orlando flight. Also got a great fare in PE from Jersey. It was less stress than the M25 and took not much longer from home as BHX almost on doorstep. So I will say hurray if BA ditch LGW.

    • John says:
      20 Jun20 June 11:22

      Avoiding APD by starting in Jersey helped.

      What does that have to do with ditching LGW? It might still be cheaper to fly BHX-JER and then a BA ticket where you connect in LHR.

      • Dubious says:
        20 Jun20 June 13:36

        I think the point is that Gatwick is hard or troublesome to reach by ground transport from many parts of the Midlands.

        I’ve done something in the other direction. I’ve flown LGW-NQY-MAN and LGW-JER-DSA before now for similar reasons.

        • tony says:
          20 Jun20 June 18:39

          Utter tosh, sorry. Bedford-Gatwick, direct train, under 2hrs. Leicester-Gatwick, one change at St Pancras, 2hrs 10 mins. Sheffield-Gatwick, 3hrs one change at St Pancras. Birmingham-Gatwick, 3hrs 10 mins via Reading and so on. All of which avoid the underground.

          If you want to kid yourself you’re better off with 2 x 1hr flights and an unprotected connection to achieve the same then good for you, but please don’t just BS folk…

          • Dubious says:
            21 Jun21 June 01:35

            The LGW-NQY-MAN flights were on one ticket and given that I was travelling for work on a Sunday and was going to be spending the night at an airport hotel in MAN prior to my Monday morning meeting (at MAN) it meant I turned the journey into a mini day trip (longish connection in NQY) as well as avoiding any replacement bus services affecting the Sunday services on the rails.

            The LGW-JER-DSA route was admittedly more for the opportunity/novelty to fly into DSA than an avoidance of the trains (I took a train home) but the point being made here is when you compare timings, costs and hassle it can actually works out more appealing to take these odd routings (albeit less environmentally friendly).

          • Economist_Nearby1 says:
            21 Jun21 June 21:08

            You would have to be completely bonkers to want to travel from Birmingham, Leicester or Sheffield to Gatwick by train. I think I’d rather not travel at all.

          • Rob says:
            21 Jun21 June 23:25

            Easier than Heathrow by train from those cities.

  • Peter says:
    20 Jun20 June 11:30

    That’s great news, finally more Wizzair flights for much better prices without having to collect any points.

  • Mike says:
    20 Jun20 June 12:17

    For various reasons some leisure travellers cannot countenance being forced to use Heathrow if they wish to fly to European destinations using BA. At least we can now swop all our Avios points refunded for cancelled flights to Nectar and cease using Amex, if and when the time comes.

  • Itsme says:
    20 Jun20 June 12:25

    Wizz in the south, easyJet in the north terminal. Healthy competition.

  • Dan says:
    20 Jun20 June 13:44

    Sad times. Used to live and work in Brighton and with the Gatwick express, I was able to get to the airport within 25 mins. Useful for visits up to Glasgow every fortnight to see family and also other weekend breaks within BA’s Gatwick European network – also with a nice lounge. Helped me get my Silver status pretty much 2 years ago.

    Having said that, now that I no longer live in Brighton, having a lot of these routes consolidated to LHR would still suit me with a far superior airport experience. LGW during June – September was pretty rammed with people, heading off to their annual beach break

  • Pete says:
    20 Jun20 June 13:58

    Fairly irrelevant for the three quarters of the population that London Airways abandoned years ago.

    • Andrew says:
      20 Jun20 June 18:17

      So who are they then?

      On a normal Friday night, you can’t miss the Scottish accents at Heathrow.

    • Bagoly says:
      20 Jun20 June 18:20

      Does it not increase the number of connections possible at LHR, if coming from NCL, MAN, GLA?

    • bafan says:
      20 Jun20 June 18:26

      *Yawn*. BA are more popular than ever. Every time they try anything outside of LHR it seems to flop so unless they are supposed to operate loss making routes to satisfy the provincial types then there isn’t much they can do.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!