British Airways gains 86 weekly Heathrow slots from Flybe – what happens next?
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Back in April 2021, the ‘new’ Flybe Mark 2 picked up 86 weekly Heathrow slots (43 pairs) from British Airways.
These were to be used initially for flights to Aberdeen and Edinburgh, although that later changed.
Last week, with Flybe Mark 2 dead and buried, these slots returned to British Airways. Let’s look at what may happen next.
It’s a long story ….
This is one of the longest sagas in UK aviation. It has been running since 2012 and shows no sign of being concluded for good at any time soon.
The story behind all this goes back to the acquisition of bmi British Midland by British Airways. The European Commission insisted that British Airways release a number of Heathrow slot pairs to any competitor which wished to begin services on selected routes where bmi competed with British Airways at Heathrow.
The routes with competition concerns were:
- Aberdeen
- Edinburgh
- Nice
- Cairo
- Riyadh
- Moscow
Little Red, Virgin Atlantic’s short haul airline, was the first airline to ask for – and receive – slots. It used them to fly to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Little Red also flew to Manchester but this used spare Virgin Atlantic slots.
When Little Red folded in 2014, the slots returned to British Airways.
The slots were then requested by Flybe Mark 1, again for use on Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
There were two carrots in the rules for whichever airline came in:
- after one full year of operation, the airline could ask for additional slots from British Airways which could be used on ANY European short haul route as long as not all of the 12 daily slot pairs to be divested had been allocated (this is how Flybe Mark 1 got slots for some of its other Heathrow services)
- after three full years of operation, the airline could stop serving cities on the prescribed list (ie Edinburgh and Aberdeen, in Flybe’s case) and start serving other European destinations instead
It looks like the second point above had kicked in, because some of the slots returned had been most recently allocated to Newquay, Amsterdam, Newcastle and Belfast. This would imply that the one year and three year clocks had not reset when Flybe Mark 1 went bankrupt and Flybe Mark 2 took on the slots.
It is not fully clear what happens now.
The agreement between IAG and the European Commission is here. I cannot see any obvious reference to it ‘timing out’.
Can another airline still request these 43 weekly slots from British Airways to fly to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Nice, Cairo, Riyadh or Moscow? Or, 11 years on, is this finally over with British Airways finally allowed to keep the slots and use them for whatever it wants (and pocket an attractive windfall, given their value)?
It also isn’t clear how the ‘use it or lose it’ rule will be applied here. Even if BA starts flying each slot between now and the end of the Winter season in late March, will they hit the 80% utilisation target to avoid it being forfeited? With no Flybe flights for the last three weeks, the slots have been unused for over 10% of the current flying season and who knows if Flybe had been running them all at 100% capacity before that?
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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
Will in SJC 
James Baxter 
The Original David 
Ken 
BA Flyer IHG Stayer 
Steve 
Neil 
Charles Martel 
MT 
John G 
Matarredondaaa 
Startupflyer 
Stevek1 
ECR 
Andrew Beaumont 
Stuart 
Richie 
SamG 
Dan 
jjoohhnn 
vlcnc 
Comments (89)