Gatwick-2

[SWBKCB]

Being reported elsewhere that the Gatwick flights are a series of five Government charters.

[kcockayne]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Being reported elsewhere that the Gatwick flights are a series of five Government charters.

Interesting - as it tends to support the idea that they do have some sort of effective strategy ! I will give them the benefit of the doubt on the subject of their “thinking”.

[adfly]

easyJet are restarting a very limited operation from 15/06:

Belfast - 5 weekly (no Weds/Fri)
Edinburgh - 7 weekly
Glasgow - 7 weekly
Inverness - 4 weekly (no Tues/Thurs/Sat)
Isle of Man - 4 weekly (no Tues/Thurs/Sat)
Nice - 3 weekly (Mon/Fri/Sun)

[inOban]

I think that this is actually a further two weeks delay. AIRC they had flights from the 1st on the website last week.

[JSCL]

The Isle of Man flights won't happen unless the borders here open, which I doubt by then.

[Sharklet_321]

Originally Posted by inOban

I think that this is actually a further two weeks delay. AIRC they had flights from the 1st on the website last week.

Absolutely - and yet again the media are too dumb enough to realise this.

[racedo]

Have a few friends furloughed from Gatwick and one said he was told he may be back in August................... he has 25 yrs in and figures he will be made redundant.

[The96er]

Originally Posted by racedo

Have a few friends furloughed from Gatwick and one said he was told he may be back in August................... he has 25 yrs in and figures he will be made redundant.

Expect mass redundencies in the Ground handling business around late Sep/Oct with MAN and LGW expected to be amongst the worst hit.

[JW95]

EZY LGW operations

With EasyJet set to recommence flights out of LGW soon, do we know if they are temporarily being relocated to the South Terminal, given the North is closed and no announcement has been given as to when it will be reopening?

[True Blue]

I see Warsaw appears in the Lgw arrivals/departures for Wizzair. Is this a new route to be announced? There is also a Wizzair arrival at 10.10am W69003. It has been there a number of days, no destination showing. Is this the start of Wizzair picking up slots at times other than evenings?

[Blue-Shamrock 89]

Originally Posted by JW95

With EasyJet set to recommence flights out of LGW soon, do we know if they are temporarily being relocated to the South Terminal, given the North is closed and no announcement has been given as to when it will be reopening?

I heard a whisper that the North will reopen and the South will close temporarily. But like I said it’s just a rumour from someone I know who works there. Not sure if it’s confirmed

[strawberry Ribena]

Originally Posted by Blue-Shamrock 89

I heard a whisper that the North will reopen and the South will close temporarily. But like I said it’s just a rumour from someone I know who works there. Not sure if it’s confirmed

my mate who also works there has said the same. We both can’t work out how that’s saving money as the transit or a bus would need to be in operation.

[dastocks]

Originally Posted by strawberry Ribena

my mate who also works there has said the same. We both can’t work out how that’s saving money as the transit or a bus would need to be in operation.

The Transit, along with all the other mechanical systems in the terminal(s), probably needs to be switched on and operated every now and then just to keep things working. I don't know for a fact, but it may well be that the potential bill for deactivating systems for a long period and then reactivating them in the future means it makes sense to simply use the terminal for a short period. It would also justify retaining a minimum level of staff on hand for when business picks up again. I assume the Transit operation is largely automatic; it's not as though they have to pay drivers.

[lfc84]

easyjet probably dictated which terminal opens

[JW95]

Originally Posted by lfc84

easyjet probably dictated which terminal opens

I suppose it is not all that surprising news really, given that EZY are the first major airline (to my knowledge) to announce their restart to LGW operations, and given that their base/bag drop is already set up and ready to go in North, it makes sense to reopen the North terminal rather than temporarily move down to the South and set up temporary facilities there and increase costs? It will also be very interesting to see which airline swoops on the now former VS bag drop/check in area in zone A and their club lounge, as I can't see this remaining unused should VS be absent from LGW in the long term (which seems likely)

Also, do we know when other long haul carriers are set to restart from LGW? (E.g. CX?)

[strawberry Ribena]

Anyone with access to the airport community app notice a smartwings 738 going all the way to Colombo tonight? 🥴

[davidjohnson6]

How much would it cost LGW to operate the North terminal (ie power up all systems, staffing, etc... beyond what's needed on a purely skeleton/mothball basis) versus the cost of Easyjet temporarily relocating to the South terminal ?

Heathrow still seems to keep T3 and T4 closed, and Easyjet will likely operate only 30% of flights this summer

[SamYeager]

Perhaps this also allows LGW to have a free hand as far as cleansing and reorganising the South terminal to cope better with social distancing and possibly testing?

[strawberry Ribena]

Originally Posted by JW95

Also, do we know when other long haul carriers are set to restart from LGW? (E.g. CX?)

just using the airlines own booking system this is what I can find.

Aer Lingus 20 July
Air Baltic shows flights are bookable next week (11th June) but we’ll see!
Air Europa 15 July
Air Arabia 01 August
Air transat 02 July
Air Malta 01 September
Aurigny 01 September
China Airlines 04 July
Cathay Pacific 02 August
Emirates 01 August (1 flight a day, 3x daily 01 September)
Iberia express 30 August
Tap Portugal 01 September
Jazeera 02 July
Rwandair 02 July
Turkish airlines 01 July 2x IST 1x AYT 1x BJV
Rossiya 01 August
Westjet 06 July

[dastocks]

There may be opportunities to save time and money on upgrade/refurbishment projects if contractors can work without the terminal operational. One large project that is supposed to be in progress now is the station upgrade, which involves changes to the South Terminal car park access. Is this going ahead?