I’d be concerned too if my competition was flying empty aircraft at below cost and killing yields for me too. It’s insane to throw even more capacity at a (likely) loss making route as one enters the NORTH ATLANTIC WINTER. In a price sensitive market they can’t even fill what they’re offering now!
Btw no one is claiming there is no demand for long haul at Gatwick. However being so close to Heathrow means Gatwick suffers bleed of market share. LHR and LGW do not operate in isolation. Given the “big boys” already have to offer good value down the back on LHR-JFK given the glut of frequency to support the business traveller, I would suggest trying to beat that on price without a C/J class to cross subsidise, is commercial suicide.
One of the biggest complaints on the MAN thread is BA MAN-LHR-JFK flights are too cheap because they offer “too many flights” and MAN direct to US suffers from capacity dumping by LHR!