Continental to Cease Gatwick Operations?

[bealine]

Rumours circulating that Continental is to stop flying in/out of London Gatwick at the end of this year substantiated by several CO Business First passengers have allegedly been advised of this by CO reservations - some even advising that they had received letters from "One-Pass" confirming this.

Any news / rumours you have heard would be gratefully appreciated so that poor old Gatwick can prepare itself for another shock!

[WHBM]

I would expect every Gatwick to USA route to be gone over to Heathrow in a year or so, including every one of the US carriers, as they find slots, The only exceptions being the complete leisure routes such as Orlando.

[Skipness One Echo]

It's entirely dependent on getting slots at Heathrow. Remaining LGW US flights :

AA DFW / RDU all three flights to Heathrow as American rejigged some slots

CO Reduced EWR and IAH flights remain to back up Heathrow, CLE unlikely to be worth a Heathrow slot so I assume that would be axed or remain at Gatwick.

DL Still have three flights, 2 x ATL and 1 x CVG, JFK axed.

NW One 757 DTW flight remains, I suspect this will not last but who knows.

US have a PHL B757 service and the A330 to CLT remains.

So as soon as CO x 4 plus DL x 3 plus NW x 1 plus US x 2 = 10 slots become free at Heathrow........

[OltonPete]

bealine

It is on the CO website now but does not mention the Cleveland as either
stopping, staying or transferring. Part of the press release is below, which mentions the Virgin codeshare remaining in tact: -

quote


"Flights to Gatwick Ending from Both New York and Houston
HOUSTON, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced that it will launch a third daily non-stop flight between its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and London's Heathrow Airport, effective Oct. 25, 2008 (eastbound), subject to government approval and slot approval. On the same date, it will discontinue flights to London/Gatwick Airport from both New York and Houston.
Continental will continue to operate two daily flights from Houston to Heathrow in addition to the three daily flights from Liberty to Heathrow.
"Our focus on Heathrow is a response to the changing realities of the marketplace," said Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice president marketing. "Our customers have shown a clear preference for Heathrow, and our main competitors have focused their operations there. We regret the need to end year-round operations at Gatwick, but it is imperative that we remain competitive and continue to meet the needs of our customers."
Continental operates a variety of Boeing jets (777, 767 and 757) on its routes from the U.S. to London, with ground operations at Heathrow Terminal 4. Continental also operates non-stop services from Liberty to Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, as well as Dublin and Shannon -- more cities in the U.K. and Ireland than any other trans-Atlantic airline.
In addition, Continental and Virgin Atlantic Airways codeshare on several Virgin Atlantic-operated flights to London/Heathrow and London/Gatwick."

End of quote

Pete

[Globaliser]

Cleveland is being described as "seasonal" on the CO website, anyway. A quick and dirty search suggested that it ended on 6 September. It's in the schedule for next summer, but time will tell whether CO will operate a single orphan route to LGW for a brief season.

[visioncat]

Clear preference? hmmm. Every LHR-IAH or LHR-EWR flight I've taken this year has been empty. All the LGW have been pretty full. Bah. Very inconvenient for me to fly out of LHR.

[PAXboy]

Friends of mine who live in Horsham will be spitting mad. They have a business in Houston and go back forth several times a year. LHR is a mighty long way to go.

If anyone doubts the long term desire for LHR to remain and expand - this is it. For as long as carriers think their customers want to go from the blasted heath ...

[Seat62K]

I avoid LHR at all costs. It's a pity to see that the airlines have decided that we should have less choice. (Good to see BA starting Gatwick-JFK flights, though. Or should I say re-starting?!:})

[James 1077]

I really don't understand why anyone wants to fly out of Heathrow - given the choice I would always go for Gatwick and be willing to pay extra for it.

[Muizenberg]

Better accessibility via car to LONDON...i.e. West End, CITY, Chelsea, Kensington, SW Surburbs, NW Suburbs, N Suburbs, W Suburbs, Herts., Bucks., many of of Surrey...as hard is it is to swallow this is where much of the leisure/business traffic that use LHR live/work. Have you ever driven via A23 from London to Gatwick?...Give me the A4 any day.

Facilities at LGW have steadily been targeted at Leisure travellers vs. business travellers. The two flag carriers at LGW refit their aircraft with new products many years after their fleets based at LHR.

LGW is no longer a business airport. Gone are the days when BCAL used it as their hub with business routes to IAH/LOS/HKG, etc. Then came 1991 when LHR was opened upto airlines previously serving LGW via default--VS, NZ, KE, CX, EK, NH, etc. Late 90's BA hub without the hub-bub fails, 2008 Openskies treaty...AA, CO say goodbye, US, NW reduce operations.

Gone are the days where people who live in the above areas HAD to travel to LGW for cheap fares (i.e. Dan Air/Air Europe/Charters). STN and LTN have also played their part in LGW's demise, with regards to European traffic. Lower fares and MORE competition at LHR has demised people's willingness to travel to LGW for low fares. If you are a business travel, the BA/VS business class/first class facilities at LHR can't compete with the sad 80's esque facilities at LGW.

Sad but try.

[Skipness One Echo]

In fairness Gatwick isn't exactly quiet and is still bloody busy !() BA and Virgin operate the Beach Fleets from Gatwick and the business focus remains at LHR. BA tried damned hard to make a proper hub at Gatwick but those pesky high yield passengers just flew through Heathrow with someone else. That's the reality, I don't really see BA's LGW-JFK lasting long if the economy takes a downturn.

[Mr @ Spotty M]

Look on the bright side, Continental will be back at LGW in a few years time, when the Open skies treaty is kicked into touch, because the USA will never allow its skies to be open for Europe.

[Skipness One Echo]

That would involve us standing up to the Us and we don't have the balls for that alas :(