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Any news on China Airlines - London to Taipei service returning to Gatwick?
Not heard any news about Scoot pulling out, but nothing on their website from London is bookable.
I guess it was always inevitable, the long haul routes would be harder to restore than the European ones, and carriers would be focusing on restoring capacity to LHR before LGW, which acts more as an overflow.
Not heard any news about Scoot pulling out, but nothing on their website from London is bookable.
I guess it was always inevitable, the long haul routes would be harder to restore than the European ones, and carriers would be focusing on restoring capacity to LHR before LGW, which acts more as an overflow.
RE. China Airlines- Gatwick is still listing them as operating from the South Terminal when it reopens. I thought they hadn't been granted S22 slots at LHR?
It is a shame though. LGW had a really nice and diverse mix of long haul pre 2020/pandemic, and it's very sad seeing how reduced it has become, as LGW has become a great airport under GIP ownership. Granted, we've had some new entrants (JetBlue, Scoot) and BA are building their LGW operation back up again to similar pre-Covid levels, but at the same time, the airport has undoubtably lost a large chunk (Virgin Atlantic- although rumoured to be returning- Cathay Pacific, Air China, China Eastern, Rwandair, Norwegian). I am hopeful that the airport will be able to work hard to attract some of this back, and hopefully LGW long-haul can be rebuilt.
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According to the following press release, Norse Atlantic have secured x2 six-weekly slot pairs at LGW; routes are yet to be confirmed, but flights are expected to take-off later in the summer.
According to the following press release, Norse Atlantic have secured x2 six-weekly slot pairs at LGW; routes are yet to be confirmed, but flights are expected to take-off later in the summer.
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Qatar Airways resumes Doha from 5th June with daily B788
https://www.qatarairways.com/en/pres...Press-releases
https://www.qatarairways.com/en/pres...Press-releases
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4 TUI ACMI aircraft will also operate from the South Terminal this summer, so now we have both EZY and TUI split between the two. Not sure why they haven’t just moved TUI to the South, especially with all the widebody stands that have been vacated by Norwegian available for the 787s.
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Maybe TUI do not want to go. Previously the 4 aircraft TUI wet leased from Norwegian during summers up to 2019 also operated from South so no real change. Those so called spare stands will be well used by the increased presence of Wizzair, EasyJet and Vueling. I don’t think they have to be used only by wide bodies.
Last edited by vectisman; 19th Mar 2022 at 08:39.
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Maybe TUI do not want to go. Previously the 4 aircraft TUI wet leased from Norwegian during summers up to 2019 also operated from South so no real change. Those so called stands will be well used by the increased presence of Wizzair, EasyJet and Vueling. I don’t think they have to be used only by wide bodies.
And no they don’t have to be used by widebodies. But only one widebody stand on Pier 2 has the ability to be split for use by two narrow bodies. The majority of the North Terminal stands can be.
This also causes problems with early long haul arrivals into North requiring two morning departures to have vacated their stands instead of just one.
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The airport is not at capacity by a long way since the pandemic. TUI have operated from North for many years. As I said the ACMI based aircraft for TUI have been based in South before so no real issue. You are seeing an issue where there is really nothing to see. With 79 based aircraft it is no wonder EasyJet have to split their operation in the same way as BA has to at Heathrow between terminals 3 and 5.
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I also think the split for EasyJet is due to the pattern of their operating ‘waves’ . These cause certain bulges during the day. To some extent TUI compliment them with longer average sector lengths and several long hauls a day. (a bit like Virgin did up to 2019)
In South most but not all BA long hauls will be gone by about 1400 which leaves capacity there.
In South most but not all BA long hauls will be gone by about 1400 which leaves capacity there.
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All that aside I am looking forward to BA short haul returning in a more meaningful way and the re-opening of South Terminal in general. Also hoping to be able to I use the BA lounge again.
Overall it should be a positive summer for Gatwick which it needs after two awful years.
Best wishes to all the staff both old and new atGatwick in whatever capacity they work both for the months ahead.
Overall it should be a positive summer for Gatwick which it needs after two awful years.
Best wishes to all the staff both old and new atGatwick in whatever capacity they work both for the months ahead.
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The airport is not at capacity by a long way since the pandemic. TUI have operated from North for many years. As I said the ACMI based aircraft for TUI have been based in South before so no real issue. You are seeing an issue where there is really nothing to see. With 79 based aircraft it is no wonder EasyJet have to split their operation in the same way as BA has to at Heathrow between terminals 3 and 5.
The difference before was that the TUI Norwegian flights were Norwegian flights with Norwegian flight numbers operating out the same terminal as every other Norwegian flight. Now they’re TUI flights, with TUI flight numbers split between two different terminals. TUI re-number these flights with BY5/BAL flight numbers, which causes all sorts of operational issues with flight planning and ATC. And as there are very few, if any, destinations that’ll be solely operated by ACMI, there is the inconvenience and confusion to passengers departing from one terminal and returning to another.
TUI and EZY have almost identical wave patterns out of LGW, so instead of having 12 EZY/TOM aircraft based at South, you’d have 13 TOM aircraft instead.
If it’s “finding a problem where there isn’t one”, why were BA and VS forced to go through the rigmarole of swapping terminals, including moving their own business class lounges, to allow EZY to operate under one roof before?
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I’m sorry but the Norwegian aircraft that operated for TUI used the flights designator BY. Agreed they operated from South as did all Norwegian flights. BA and VS swapped terminals because the VS pattern complimented the EZY pattern. Also at the time the BA short haul wave had expanded significantly up to 2017.
You know for certain that passengers will departing from on terminal and arriving at another? I suspect that most holidaymakers will be on 7 or 14 night trips in peak summer. Even if terminals are different it’s not that much of a bother at Gatwick.
When the initial swap took place on 2017 EasyJet had 19 fewer aircraft based at Gatwick.
You know for certain that passengers will departing from on terminal and arriving at another? I suspect that most holidaymakers will be on 7 or 14 night trips in peak summer. Even if terminals are different it’s not that much of a bother at Gatwick.
When the initial swap took place on 2017 EasyJet had 19 fewer aircraft based at Gatwick.
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I’m sorry but the Norwegian aircraft that operated for TUI used the flights designator BY. Agreed they operated from South as did all Norwegian flights. BA and VS swapped terminals because the VS pattern complimented the EZY pattern. Also at the time the BA short haul wave had expanded significantly up to 2017.
You know for certain that passengers will departing from on terminal and arriving at another? I suspect that most holidaymakers will be on 7 or 14 night trips in peak summer. Even if terminals are different it’s not that much of a bother at Gatwick.
When the initial swap took place on 2017 EasyJet had 19 fewer aircraft based at Gatwick.
You know for certain that passengers will departing from on terminal and arriving at another? I suspect that most holidaymakers will be on 7 or 14 night trips in peak summer. Even if terminals are different it’s not that much of a bother at Gatwick.
When the initial swap took place on 2017 EasyJet had 19 fewer aircraft based at Gatwick.
Not sure what the point of this back and forth is. TUI will have 9 short haul aircraft based in the North that start and finish the day there. easyJet will have 8 aircraft based at the South that will start and finish the day there. Neither TUI or easy will want a split operation. Not saying there isn’t a reason why they didn’t just move TUI across, I’m just intrigued to know what it is.
4 TUI ACMI aircraft will also operate from the South Terminal this summer, so now we have both EZY and TUI split between the two. Not sure why they haven’t just moved TUI to the South, especially with all the widebody stands that have been vacated by Norwegian available for the 787s.
