Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

British Airways cuts 15% of its Gatwick short-haul flights for July, and 7% at Heathrow

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

The aeroroutes.com website published an interesting list yesterday of British Airways short haul service cuts for July 2022.

The numbers are huge – far bigger than we imagined.

Flights from Gatwick have been reduced by 14% from this week vs last week, whilst flights from Heathrow have been reduced by 7%.

British Airways European cancellations July 2022

Here is the full analysis from AeroRoutes:

British Airways departures from London Gatwick (last week vs this week and the rest of July):

Alicante 54 to 45
Amsterdam 83 to 60
Antalya 31 to 26
Athens 19 to 17
Bari 27 to 24
Berlin 31 to 28
Bordeaux 58 to 49
Cagliari 31 to 29
Catania 30 to 27
Dalaman 41 to 34
Dubrovnik 31 to 29
Faro 56 to 36
Ibiza 46 to 38
Lanzarote 31 to 28
Madrid 31 to 27
Mahon 31 to 30
Malaga 63 to 43
Malta 31 to 23
Nice 66 to 62
Palma de Mallorca 41 to 28
Tenerife South 35 to 29
Thessaloniki 17 to 14
Venice 34 to 28
Verona 31 to 23

British Airways departures from London Heathrow (last week vs this week and the rest of July):

Aberdeen 136 to 122
Amsterdam 196 to 160
Athens 161 to 145
Barcelona 177 to 162
Basel/Mulhouse 69 to 64
Belfast City 98 to 89
Berlin 158 to 143
Bologna 91 to 84
Brussels 89 to 76
Budapest 96 to 91
Copenhagen 125 to 124
Dusseldorf 81 to 67
Edinburgh 284 to 271
Faro 80 to 77
Frankfurt 123 to 104
Geneva 182 to 161
Glasgow 251 to 245
Gothenburg 69 to 66
Hamburg 101 to 90
Hannover 48 to 45
Istanbul 84 to 81
Jersey 151 to 129
Larnaca 115 to 111
Lisbon 112 to 109
Lyon 75 to 72
Malaga 137 to 128
Manchester 163 to 150
Marseille 96 to 89
Milan Linate 103 to 98
Milan Malpensa 130 to 110
Munich 115 to 98
Naples 88 to 87
Newcastle 126 to 114
Nice 197 to 173
Palma de Mallorca 95 to 90
Paris CDG 190 to 167
Pisa 81 to 79
Prague 114 to 105
Rome 142 to 126
Stockholm Arlanda 110 to 96
Tirana 58 to 56
Toulouse 80 to 78
Valencia 59 to 57
Venice 115 to 109
Vienna 96 to 91
Warsaw 67 to 58
Zurich 104 to 91

The main driver behind these cuts is the lack of available ground staff to handle the aircraft, although the Gatwick changes may also be impacted by crew shortages at the new Euroflyer operation. The actual number of passengers handled will not change hugely, since passengers on cancelled flights will be rebooked.

It isn’t clear if British Airways has notified everyone whose flights have been cancelled. Announcements tend to be drip-fed into the system to manage the demands on call centres.

If you have a British Airways European flight in July you should check ba.com to see if seats are still being sold – if not, look out for a cancellation email. Note that BA will not rebook you until your flight has been officially cancelled, even if it has been pulled from sale.

(EDIT: as per the comments, double check at ba.com/schedules, just in case your flight is not showing because it is 100% full due to other cancellations and rebookings.)

The original analysis is on AeroRoutes here.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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

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

25,000 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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 (117)

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

  • AJA says:
    28 Jun28 June 07:39

    Thanks for this. I just checked and I am pleased to say so far my flights to and from Lisbon are still being sold. The outbound has 4 seats in CE available but at an extraordinary price! There are only 2 flights on sale in either direction so I guess the others have already been culled.

  • James says:
    28 Jun28 June 07:51

    And this is before the strikes !

    Though I do recognise the staff’s gripe.
    Not the rail workers cause mind you.

  • Alan says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:10

    Plus remember BA killed off LGW as a domestic route over the past couple of years so all the short and long haul options from there now useless for non-London departures unless you want to risk a misconnect travelling down via Easyjet (and in the current situation that’s a pretty high risk strategy).

    • Peter K says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:41

      Or you drive and park? Or take the train?

      I’ve done both the above successfully to Gatwick and do not live anywhere near.

    • Richard S says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:52

      There are BA domestic flights to Gatwick from Manchester, Glasgow and Jersey. Admittedly MAN and GLA flights are timed for the bulk of the Longhaul departures/ arrivals..

      • Alan says:
        28 Jun28 June 10:29

        Just back from NYC (MAN-LHR-JFK) and three of the 4 flights cancelled, including both between MAN and LHR. Most done more than 14 days, but final leg done at 44 hrs notice and is one of the ones removed for July, and also gone today, so start date of the cuts seems to be earlier than suggested.
        Somehow doubt BA will agree to pay for the da room at the Sofitel to cover the 12 hrs we would have had in LHR after the overnight from JFK
        Had an hour wait on a bus to get off the flight from JFK, then only one showed for a full 777

  • Nick says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:27

    Slight amendment to Rob’s instructions, it’s best to check ba.com/schedules rather than (or as well as) flight sales. If a flight isn’t being sold it might just be full, in which case it’s highly likely not to be cancelled. Will save an unnecessary phone call.

    • Chas says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:40

      That’s a really useful link – thanks. Great for visualising the schedule and seeing how it changes from day to day.

      • meta says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:26

        And on that link one of my flights shows under the same number, but at four different times. It’s not that accurate either.

        • SteveW says:
          28 Jun28 June 12:42

          Agreed, we’ve already been told that our BGI flight in Aug is going from T3 but it still shows as T5 in the schedules.

          • Chas says:
            28 Jun28 June 18:54

            Looking at the other article published late today, it might be that the schedules is the correct version after all! Big shame though if you were planning a decent lounge crawl….

  • Roberto says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:29

    Looked at my trips and all still being sold.

    However with 11 flights from Malaga to London on many days over the summer holidays there is still a lot chance that there will be further culling to come on some of these bucket and spade routes.

  • Richie says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:30

    I had 3 weeks notice of my LGW cancellation. I obtained a refund and re-booked on easyJet. Did they ignore that bit about only cutting labour costs when there’s no impact on revenues.

  • Tom says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:41

    Hello all, if your flight gets cancelled and you booked using Avios (and a companion voucher) in Club Europe, what happens? Do they just transfer it as an equivalent to an alternate flight with availability, or do they honour the Avios even if no reward seats?

    • Rob says:
      28 Jun28 June 08:42

      You get moved regardless, and then earn Avios and TP back 🙂

      • Phillip says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:03

        Sadly after booking into the next available revenue bucket, BA have been updating bookings back to “U” with no mileage accrual.

        • lcylocal says:
          28 Jun28 June 09:08

          It’s a bit hit and miss. I’ve had both scenarios play out over last few weeks.

          • Phillip says:
            28 Jun28 June 09:54

            Yes, me too. I’ve even had a straight forward redemption done on American’s Aadvantage for a BA flight that credited fully despite being booked in “U”.

        • Rob says:
          28 Jun28 June 09:15

          ‘U’ flights can still earn Avios and TP …..

    • numpty says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:04

      Refuse the offer of a refund and politely ask for a rebooking, they will book you into a revenue fare class to get you seats. As Rob states, it can pay off. If you had a cancelled flight to Asia it pays off very well….

      There are probably a few hard core points collectors trying to guess what flights will be cancelled and trying to book in advance using avios.

      • Phillip says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:56

        I have a LHR-SFO open jaw HND-LHR using 2for1. Both flights cancelled and rebooked in revenue buckets, one BA and one JL. We’ll see what we get.

  • NorthernLass says:
    28 Jun28 June 08:59

    Our MAN-LHR connection on Thursday is currently selling for £619, one way in CE. That must up the value of the avios we used!

    • numpty says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:06

      yeah i tried to book a ticket for GLA – LHR, was offered eco out and CE return. total cost of return ticket was over £500!

    • Brian78 says:
      28 Jun28 June 09:37

      Only if you would have actually paid the £619, otherwise it’s just theoretical “points per avios”

      • Rhys says:
        28 Jun28 June 09:38

        I think Anna was telling a funny 😉

      • Colin MacKinnon says:
        28 Jun28 June 12:15

        A couple of months ago I missed a flight for the first time in 25 years.
        Cash Glasgow/Edinburgh to Heathrow was around £400 one way. But there were still Avios seats! Phew!!

        Was connecting to a separate long haul, and was wondering whether just to bin the £900 long haul tickets. So it was – probably – money saved!!

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.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

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

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

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? EARN POINTS WORTH 10,500 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

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!