British Airways to return to London Stansted airport in 2024

As I mentioned in our other article today, Sean Doyle, Chairman and CEO of British Airways, invited us round to his lounge for Christmas drinks on Monday night.

Not the lounge of his house – the Arrivals Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5.

The second surprise announcement – on top of the ‘Avios only’ Dubai flight covered in our other article – was the relaunch of flights from London Stansted.

This is very much a ‘toe in the water’ for now.

Where will British Airways fly from Stansted?

BA will launch three routes for summer 2024:

• Florence
• Ibiza
• Nice

All three routes will be operated by BA Cityflyer and will commence on 18th May.

Flight times are as following:

Florence

• On Sundays, BA7017 departs Stansted at 07:55 and arrives in Florence at 11:10
• On Saturdays, BA7016 departs Florence at 16:15 and arrives in Stansted at 17:30

Ibiza

• On Sundays, BA7309 departs Stansted at 15:00 and arrives in Ibiza at 18:25
• On Saturdays, BA7308 departs Ibiza at 11:35 and arrives in Stansted at 13:05

Nice

• On Sundays, BA2333 departs Stansted at 09:35 and arrives in Nice at 11:35
• On Saturdays, BA2332 departs Nice at 11:20 and arrives in Stansted at 12:20

Flights will be on Embraer 190 aircraft. These have 2×2 seating in both Club Europe and Euro Traveller.

It will be interesting to see how the Escape lounge at Stansted copes with the extra influx. Our last review of the lounge is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (May 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:

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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