GATWICK

[jdcg]

That probably means the end of the seasonal Adria flight. Who knows - maybe the STN Ezy flight will be withdrawn as they become ever more marginalised there

[davidjohnson6]

Aeroflot to fly daily to Moscow from Gatwick from 15-Nov-2016

[wallp]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

Aeroflot to fly daily to Moscow from Gatwick from 15-Nov-2016

Presumably this isn't picking up the old EZY route - I thought that could only go to a British airline under the bilateral arrangements?

[AvGeek1]

Here is the schedule:

SU2588 SVO1315 – 1430LGW 320 x7
SU2588 SVO1330 – 1445LGW 320 7

SU2589 LGW1610 – 2250SVO 320 x7
SU2589 LGW1700 – 2340SVO 320 7

This is quite late to announce the launch of a flight I would have thought, but nice to see the Moscow link back at Gatwick and with the Russian flag carrier!

[Ph1l1pncl]

I think the bilateral is that only two airlines form each country can operate routes between UK and Russia, for the UK that is BA and Easyjet and Russia Aeroflot and Transaero, since Transaero has ceased flying I'm not sure if another airline has been appointed on the Russian side. I don't believe the agreement affects particular airports the airlines can fly from.

[BAladdy]

BA have begun to make changes to there planned S17 LGW Schedule. So far the following changes have been made.

Route Suspension

Bodrum - Will be suspended for S17. Flights had been planned to operate 2 x weekly

Frequency Increase

Kingston - Frequency will increase from 3 to 4 x weekly from 26MAR17. Flights will now operate on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun. Compared to Mon, Tue and Thu during S16.

Orlando - Frequency will increase from 13 to 14 x weekly from 30MAR17

Punta Cana - Will increase from 2 to 3 x weekly from 28MAR17

Tirana - Will increase from 6 to 7 x weekly from 29MAY17 to 25SEP17

Season Extension

Larnaca - Will operate 3 x weekly from 29APR17 to 28OCT17. Flights only operated 16JUL to 04SEP during S16


Further Changes are Highly Likely in the coming months

[vctenderness]

I know a lot of people who are no longer BA fans due to the sudden suspension of BJV. Many had already made plans and booked to be told cancelled.

I understand the reasoning as currently Turkey is becoming toxic as a holiday destination.

[canberra97]

I shouldn't imagine that a lot or a few people who are no longer BA fans due to the sudden suspension of BJV will have any major impact on the airline!

[vctenderness]

...well nor did I!

[Boeing737-8]

With Hong Kong airlines having recruitments fairs at LGW could this be a return. The airline will be getting some a350's soon.

[canberra97]

I can't see Hong Kong Airlines making a return to LGW especially considering Cathay Pacific now fly from HKG to LGW.

[AvGeek1]

Does anyone think that easyJet would ever think about reinstating the LGW-DME flight? Although the situation in Russia hasn't help, even though easyJet ended LGW-DME, loads were still quite full and yield must have been good as fared always seemed quite steep as I had been monitoring them for some time. So I wonder why they stopped the service, were they just predicting that it would go wrong. With the collapse of Transaero as well, a low cost carrier would be welcome in the LON-MOW market.

Also with only two new routes planned for 2017 from LGW (Ljubljana and La Palma), do you think easyJet has some more routes under their sleeve?

[AerRyan]

The Russian market is still contracting, so no I see no room.

[LGWAlan]

And on top of this Aeroflot have also announced and will be shortly starting a SVO-LGW.
So - no - I can't see EZY going back on any of the LGW-Moscow airports, however much the spotters want it.

[adfly]

Long Haul W16/17

With all the discussion about Gatwick's long haul flights recently I thought I put together a summary for W16/17, let me know of any corrections etc...

Air Transat

Toronto - 7 weekly 313
Vancouver - 2 weekly 332

British Airways

Antigua - 7 weekly 772
Barbados - 12-14 weekly 772
Bermuda - 5 weekly 772
Cancun - 3 weekly 772
Cape Town (New!) - 3 weekly 772
Grenada - 2 weekly 772 (via UVF)
Kingston - 3 weekly 772
Lima - 2 weekly 772
Male - 3 weekly 772
Mauritius - 3 weekly 772
New York JFK - 7 weekly 772
Orlando - 7 weekly 772
Port of Spain - 5 weekly 772 (via UVF)
Providenciales - 2 weekly 772 (via ANU)
Punta Cana - 2 weekly 772
St Kitts - 2 weekly 772 (via ANU)
St Lucia - 7 weekly 772
San Jose de Costa Rica - 3 weekly 772
Tampa - 6 weekly 772
Tobago - 2 weekly 772 (via ANU)

Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong - 4 weekly 359

Emirates

Dubai - 21 weekly 388

Med-View Airline

Lagos - 4 weekly 763

Norwegian Long Haul

Boston - 4 weekly 789
Fort Lauderdale - 3 weekly 789
Las Vegas (New!) - 2 weekly 789
Los Angeles - 5 weekly 789
New York JFK - 7 weekly 789
Oakland - 3 weekly 789
Orlando - 1 weekly 789
San Juan - 2 weekly 789

Thomas Cook Airlines

Banjul - 2-4 weekly 321
Cancun - 2 weekly 332
Cape Town (New!) - 3 weekly 332
Goa - 1-3 weekly 332
Holguin - 1 weekly 332
Sal - 1 weekly 321

Thomson Airways

Barbados - 1-3 weekly 787
Boa Vista - 3 weekly 752
Cancun - 4 weekly 787
Colombo (New!) - 1 weekly 787
Dubai Al Maktoum - 1 weekly 787
Goa - 1 weekly 787
Liberia - 1 weekly 787
Mauritius - 1 weekly 787
Montego Bay - 3-4 weekly 787
Phuket - 1 weekly 787
Puerto Plata - 1 weekly 787
Puerto Vallarta - 1 weekly 787
Punta Cana - 2 weekly 787
Sal - 4 weekly 752
Varadero - 1 weekly 787

Tianjin Airlines

Chongqing - 2 weekly 332
Tianjin - 2 weekly 332 (via CKG)

Virgin Atlantic Airways

Antigua - 4 weekly 333
Barbados - 7 weekly 333/744 (4/3)
Cancun - 1-2 weekly 744
Grenada - 2 weekly 333 (via UVF)
Havana - 3 weekly 744
Las Vegas - 4-6 weekly 744
Montego Bay - 3 weekly 744
Orlando - 7-11 weekly 744
St Lucia - 5 weekly 333
Tobago - 2 weekly 333 (via UVF)

Westjet

Calgary - 3 weekly 763
Toronto - 7 weekly 763

Summary

Average weekly departures = 220-236
Average daily departures = 31-34

[Trash 'n' Navs]

So only 11 long-haul destinations are daily? Really?

[Skipness One Echo]

You're double counting BA and VS, a fair amount of their flights are double drops.

[Deep and fast]

Easy should be made to relinquish the route licence if they aren't operating it.
Aeroflot to LGW is a bonus, but it flies to SVO which is not so good. VKO or DME would have given a little more flexibility.
I personally think EASY was over stretched this summer and took a view to cut this route in advance as there was better bucks to be had elsewhere as opposed to the route being unviable.

[edi_local]

SVO is the main SU hub is it not? Surely of all the Moscow airports that is the best one for SU to serve from LGW as it allows the bulk of thier network to be accessed for those not just going to Moscow.

A low cost carrier to Russia would be good, but I feel it is better for S7 to take the mantle from Transaero as at least they can offer connections either end, through oneworld. easyJet were a good choice on paper, but is it the right product for Russia? It is a route which even BA, in their race to match easyJet, still offer an enhanced in flight product on and treat it as a full service "medium haul" flight. What other carrier could take the route over from the UK end I don't know.

[goldeneye]

BA are launching FLL, 4 x weekly starting in July.

BA2169 LGW0925 – 1345FLL 777 x135
BA2168 FLL1700 – 0630+1LGW 777 x135

Source