I have flown this route 4 times in the past week, all flights rammed. Judging by the prices I paid, BA are doing very well out of NCL at the moment.
BA has issues with having to use the newly acquired slots at LGW (and lets be honest they can make more money out of LGW in the summer holidays) and as a result is clearly having to move the fleet around - ABZ and CDG had similar cuts. The 15:30 flight appears to have suffered as a result (which is not much hardship as the 16:30 is still running), the two morning, the late afternoon and evening flights are still in the schedule.
Number of fights a week (NCL-LHR)
(summer 18 timetable from next week): 32, 32, 35, 35, 33, 34, 37 (this is first week of Sep), 36, 38, 37, 39, 39, 39, 39
(winter 18/19 timetable): 34, 33, 34, 34, 32, 28, 32, 26 (xmas week), 28 (new years week), 27, 25, 28, 27, 27, 29, 34, 29, 34, 34, 33, 34
(summer 19 timetable): 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39, 39 (end June)
Observations:
- NCL has obviously lost some flights over the summer holiday period and gets them back in September.
- As previously announced, BA cut some flights from the winter timetable (41 to 34 flights a week).
- January and early February see fewer flights but this is normal, reflecting reduced demand.
- The summer timetable clearly has not yet been finalised as it is showing a constant 39 flights a week.
Let's see how things develop.