British Airways drops four short-haul routes – and Glasgow to Gatwick closing?

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Another four short-haul routes seem to be have been axed from the Summer 2025 British Airways schedule.

It doesn’t seem to be much more than the usual tweaking although it is of course very frustrating for anyone with a booking.

The biggest issue is the potential closure of Gatwick to Glasgow.

Heathrow cancellations

From Heathrow, two routes have disappeared from ba.com for Summer 2025:

Kos, Greece

Pula, Croatia

It’s not a major disaster for travellers to Kos, because the route is also operated by BA Euroflyer from Gatwick.

I’m not sure what rebooking options have been given for Pula. A search for Pula on ba.com now brings up a BA flight to Zagreb followed by a long wait (I saw a day with a seven hour layover!) for a connection on Croatia Airlines. Unfortunately, on some days the Croatia Airlines flight has a stopover in Zadar which turns it into a lengthy trip.

Gatwick cancellations

Two Greek routes have also disappeared from Gatwick:

Mykonos

Santorini

Both of these routes are also flown from Heathrow so there should not be any major disruption for passengers.

Is Glasgow to Gatwick being cancelled?

It is possible that the British Airways route from Glasgow to Gatwick is being considered for cancellation.

There are no dates that I could find after 22nd March where seats from Gatwick to Glasgow are available for less than £264 one way in Euro Traveller.

This is usually what we see when a route is being considered for cancellation, because it puts people off booking without having to remove the flight from the booking system. Let’s see.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

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

TimM says:

24 Dec24 December 06:06

The consolidation of the Greek routes appears to be a trend of BA yielding to the low-cost operators and focussing on their more profitable long-haul business.
- Adam says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 08:36
  
  Long haul with small planes?
  - TimM says:
    
    24 Dec24 December 08:44
    
    Well yes that is another trend, e.g. the A321 XLR, but I imagine IAG will be transferring some short-haul planes to their other airlines that are run a lower-cost operation, or just selling them.
- Dubious says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 14:45
  
  I saw the introduction of those Greek routes a post-COVID-19 response to capture revenge travel and the growth of BA Holidays. I wouldn’t be surprised if that demand has now waned.
Martin says:

24 Dec24 December 06:17

Cancellations or amendments seem to happen on the 19th December..
For the last 5 years, Antalya flights from Gatwick have wither have days changed it the times massively changed..
5 years in a row, we’ve been screwed over on December the 19th..
At least this year it’s only a time change from 7am departure to a 3pm departure.
At least the same day, however we’ve lost the 1st day at the resort..
So still an extra cost..
I hate BA.
If it wasn’t for Avios, I would never fly them.
- gumshoe says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 06:43
  
  And yet you do fly them. So they win.
- Paul says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 07:41
  
  The best of both worlds is avoid BA but fly oneworld. I haven’t flown BA long haul for 7 years yet have a gold card. I burn the Avios on BA ShortHaul which reminds me every time why I am right to avoid paying them for long haul travel.
  Still, given today’s headline in the FT, BA won’t care. A record breaking festive period expected and aviation booming. 800 flights on Christmas Day alone in U.K., , almost 50% more than a decade ago.
  I find that rather sad as it also means 50% more people having to spend the day away from family at work. As a former airline employee, working Christmas Day, especially Christmas night, was ghastly!
  - meta says:
    
    24 Dec24 December 08:00
    
    Same here. There are options both for Avios and other miles.
  - 1958 says:
    
    24 Dec24 December 08:12
    
    The proportion of the UK’s population that identifies as “Christian” has fallen dramatically in recent years. Hence, a lot of people would be happy to work “a Christmas shift” for a 50% premium, or similar.
    It’s sad for those who don’t want to work, but hopefully there are not too many in this category.
    - Charles Martel says:
      
      24 Dec24 December 08:17
      
      Most atheists and agnostics will celebrate Christmas in some way. Its those identifying as following other religions that will probably avoid it altogether.
      - Andy says:
        
        24 Dec24 December 09:21
        
        Before the Church co-opted it Christmas was a pagan festival so why shouldn’t atheists and agnostics enjoy it!
    - CJD says:
      
      24 Dec24 December 12:20
      
      I don’t identify as Christian and would not work Christmas under any circumstances.
- @mkcol says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 08:37
  
  The definition of a fool is someone who does the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
  - Nick says:
    
    24 Dec24 December 09:11
    
    VERY broad exaggeration but there’s an unofficial agreement at Heathrow that those who prefer to celebrate (for example) Passover or Eid can have it off if they work Christmas (or vice versa). All voluntary but it does work… one of the benefits that diversity has brought to Britain. Cabin crew and pilots have always accepted that they might have to work Christmas – and there’s a mechanism for bringing family with them on those trips if they want to.
    - Rob says:
      
      24 Dec24 December 09:46
      
      I suspect a lot of people these days are fine working on Christmas Day (as indeed will I be, as we publish Boxing Day). Unless you have kids or grandkids under 10 there’s nothing about it that you can’t move to another day.
      
      It’s surprising how many shops in London are open now on Christmas Day, not just in Chinatown / Edgware Road / Whitechapel and other key areas with a high non-Christian population. The Pret and Starbucks at SouthKen are usually open, as is Pret on Kings Road.
      - Danny says:
        
        24 Dec24 December 14:12
        
        Regardless, large shops are banned from opening.
      - Iain says:
        
        24 Dec24 December 22:53
        
        I love that Rob regards Pret as an indicator. Of anything. Merry Christmas!
BJ says:

24 Dec24 December 06:17

If your logic is correct they must have been considering cancelling Heathrow to Edinburgh for some time already 🙂
- Michael says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 06:32
  
  👏🏻
- apbj says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 08:27
  
  Indeed!
Lorraine says:

24 Dec24 December 06:34

Not great for those of us in Scotland with family in Florida. It was annoying when they cancelled EDI-LGW, but if GLA-LGW is being cancelled too…
Hal says:

24 Dec24 December 06:50

I’ve been asking about that Glasgow to Gatwick route for some time as I want to add a business class feeder flight to a Gatwick long haul booking. There is no business availability after the 29th march. Connecting via Heathrow and then onto Gatwick would be a real pain.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 07:31
  
  Even to LHR from central Scotland we go down the day before. Just solves any irrops worries, where domestics bear the brunt of cancellations.
  
  Or take a lo-co to MAD.
Terry says:

24 Dec24 December 06:58

Lots of rejigging and cutting back of Salzburg flights as well because I had most of mine from May onwards cancelled yesterday.
- Ready to Fly says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 08:46
  
  LHR KUL flights resume from 1 April 2025. As far as I know, they have not announced any further delays to this route (as of now….. )
Auryn says:

24 Dec24 December 07:16

Our London Heathrow – Kuala Lumpur flights for April 2025 have been cancelled too. Has the route been axed before it even started?
- Rob says:
  
  24 Dec24 December 08:22
  
  Pushed back 6 months due to lack of functioning 787s.
Ron says:

24 Dec24 December 07:27

A lot of people use the Glasgow/Gatwick route when connecting long haul. That would be a disaster stopping the Gatwick flight. I often thought they would increase frequency again as they did have pre COVID with lots more services to Gatwick