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Bits: BA adds three new short haul routes, how to check British Airways lounge loads

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News in brief:

British Airways adds three new short haul routes

BA announced three new routes to Europe yesterday. Because flights have only just been loaded to ba.com, Avios availability should be wide open, even at peak periods.

The first new route is from Gatwick to Rabat in Morocco, image below.

Rabat becomes BA’s third route to Morocco after Marrakech and Agadir (Casablanca is handled by oneworld partner Royal Air Maroc). Flights will start on 5th November and operate every Wednesday and Saturday.

Gatwick will also see the launch of flights to Graz in Austria.

There are currently no flights from any London airport on any airline to Graz, so BA is filling a gap. It becomes the fourth Austrian route after Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck.

The route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 21st November.

Finally, London City Airport will see the launch of flights to Madrid.

There will be 11 flights per week, taking the total number of BA services across all airports to 44 per week. This excludes the multiple Iberia flights.

Flights will begin on 1st December.

All three routes will operate year-round. These are not ‘winter only’ services.

British Airways launches flights to Rabat

Check how busy the British Airways Heathrow lounges are

Back in 2022, we posted a link to a handy tool. Whilst it keeps getting flagged in our forum we haven’t mentioned it for three years in an article.

Via this link you can see the current passenger volumes in the British Airways lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5. A screenshot is below, taken at 5pm on Tuesday.

Check how busy the British Airways Heathrow lounges are

Given how far apart the Galleries North and Galleries South lounges are, it could come in useful when deciding which way to go. I doubt many people can face the walk from North to South, or vice versa, if they arrive in one and find it busy.

It is also a reminder that, if your flight departs from the 5B or 5C satellites, the Galleries lounge in Terminal 5B is virtually certain to be quieter than those in the main terminal.

You can check the lounge loads here.

Thanks to Matthias for the reminder.

Comments (57)

  • Inman says:

    Rabat is an interesting choice. Its not really a resort city, not really a big city and not a transit hub. And you can get from Casablanca to Rabat in less than an hour by the TGV Al Boraq train or 1 1/2 hours by car.
    I would have thought Tangier would have been a better option.

  • The Original Nick says:

    @tony, I was told last month at the desk that the system wasn’t working. It was showing 0/5 but it was rammed.

    • The real Swiss Tony says:

      Interesting. I was through on the evening of June 15th. Only Club South showed 0/5 – the others were populated. Had a word with one of the floor manager types and they said they were aware but made out it had only just happened.

  • RussellH says:

    Graz is a brilliant place – Austria’s 2nd city and much more important to Austria than Salzburg and Innsbruck. But yes, still largely off the mass tourism trail.

    • NorthernLass says:

      I went on a school exchange to Graz in the mid-80s! I recall it was very pretty, with alpine-type houses. Isn’t it also Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home town 😂

      • NorthernLass says:

        Our German teacher was obsessed with all things Austrian, so all the school trips went there instead of Germany!

      • RussellH says:

        I think you are right about Schwarzenegger. But not really a reason to visit.
        I do not recall any reference to him any any of the leaflets picked up while there.

  • Nick says:

    I’m still waiting for Tunis to open up, defiantly a market there as 2 Tunisian airlines offer direct flights to London just about everyday all year round

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