Originally Posted by
JSCL
I think BA might be happy with that to be honest if they can offload their slots to Wizz and consolidate entirely in to Heathrow.
Would they really allow that to happen though? They already made that mistake once before not long after 9/11 when they de-hubbed LGW in favour of LHR consolidation/expansion, and as such, lost many of their passengers to EZY. Prior to COVID, BA had been re-establishing themselves as number 2 at LGW, and got their hands on the former Monarch slots, beating off EZY, W6 and FR. BA understand that LHR will not be empty forever, and will quickly fill back up again before long, hence why I could see the argument for consolidation there. However, they are also aware that expansion out of LHR will be limited once the market recovers, especially once other airlines begin reinstating operations there. Given this, it makes no sense for BA to retract from LGW, as this will provide opportunities for expansion further down the line once the worst of covid passes. For instance, they may decide to shift more of the "leisure" routes back to LGW to free up slots at LHR for other opportunities. They are all too aware of what happened when they scaled back last time, so I suspect they will be keen to hold onto their slots just to be on the safe side.