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Old 19th Mar 2023, 07:55
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Originally Posted by SWBKCB
UKNi?
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Legitimate contraction.

GB doesn’t include Northern Ireland

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Old 19th Mar 2023, 08:10
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Originally Posted by Rutan16
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Legitimate contraction.

GB doesn’t include Northern Ireland
Isn't it covered by the UK bit? GBNi would be a appropriate contraction.
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Old 19th Mar 2023, 09:31
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Originally Posted by SWBKCB
Isn't it covered by the UK bit? GBNi would be a appropriate contraction.
This is correct.
UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

GBNI is also the correct abbreviation (and is used as the reg on one of the Titan A321s used by the Government).

UKNI is a new conformity marking for products placed on the market in Northern Ireland which have undergone mandatory third-party conformity assessment by a body based in the UK. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-ukni-marking

but UKNI is not a recognised way of abbreviating the country.

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Old 19th Mar 2023, 13:02
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So Air China has the new route(PEK) on sale via it's website, but only if you do a search for London. If you specify Lgw it doesn't appear.
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Old 19th Mar 2023, 21:43
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Next long-haul airline coming to LGW

My guess (apart from Air Asia X as already rumoured) is as follows:

Riyadh Air - if this new airline, which as of now exists on paper only, wants to turn its vision to become a challenger to global super connectors EK and QR based out of Riyadh, it won't be able to realise this ambition unless it starts flying to "secondary" cities and airports (in cities served by multiple airports such as London and New York). So, I wouldn't be surprised them announcing a LGW-RUH route. Realistically, however, I expect this to be a medium-term ambition to be realised over a 1-2 year time frame. In the initial phase to be set in motion later this year, I would expect SV to transfer its existing routes like its 3× daily LHR-RUH service to be transferred to Riyadh Air as this is probably easiest to achieve under existing bilateral restrictions, taking into account as well that the LH's and AF-KL's of this world, which never pass up an opportunity to blame EK (and QR) for all their woes (incl. self-inflicted wounds) are unlikely to be delighted at having to face even more competition for their bread-and-butter 6th freedom traffic.

Staying on the topic of more super connectors coming to LGW, I wouldn't be surprised to see AI launch a daily LGW-DEL service within a similar timeframe as I anticipate for Riyadh Air as there is talk that AI wants to turn DEL into its (and India's) first genuine global hub airport (with full support from the Indian government, who is very keen on this). After all, they have to put the 500 or so aircraft they recently ordeed from Airbus and Boeing to good use. Should AI succeed in its ambitious transformation plan under Campbell Wilson's stewardship and go down the EK / QR / TK global super connector route, I would also expect them to build up frequencies on LGW-DEL over time to at least 2 daily round-trips to maximise connecting opportunities and transfer traffic flows at their DEL hub, just as EK has done on LGW-DXB over the past 20 years (and like QR seems to be doing now in partnership with its oneworld alliance partner BA). The interesting question here is, should AI choose to go down that route, when they'll have the mother of all bust-ups with their Star Alliance partner LH, which doesn't like the idea of its hubs at FRA and MUC being bypassed, especially by a partner-turned-rival from within its own alliance, as was the case when TK decided a few years back to turn itself into a global super connector, with its connections at IST quickly surpassing anything LH could offer via FRA / MUC. On a different but related note re potential future expansion of AI at LGW, I can envisage AI launching a daily LGW-BLR service in the not too distant future given that BLR is the Indian equivalent of Silicon Valley (sometimes locally referred to as Silicon Plateau as the city sits on a plateau of approx 900 m above sea level in the Deccan region of southern India), with a large number of natives working in many of the towns and cities in the LGW catchment, who regularly "commute" between LGW and BLR, currently mostly on EK via DXB or (to a lesser extent) BA / QR via DOH.

United - Given that Z0 has just announced a while raft of transatlantic routes to the US, incl. to the UA hub at IAD, it wouldn't surprise me at all if UA announces a daily seasonal LGW-IAD summer service next year and possibly a daily LGW-EWR summer seasonal service as well as a competitive response (the latter especially should Z0 decide to double its own frequency on LGW-JFK to 2 daily round-trips next summer. Initially, I would expect such UA services to be operated with already very long-in-the-tooth 757s, but then quickly to transition to a A321LR, possibly as soon as summer 2025 (should these routes prove to be successful). On a similar note, I'm also expecting DL to launch a daily LGW-BOS summer seasonal service (in addition to its daily LGW-JFK service launching on April 10) to compete wth B6's daily (year-round) LGW-BOS service (in addition to LGW-JFK), probably initially using 757s as well (which could also be used in winter in place of the larger 767 used in summer, thus turning it into a year-round route). As well, I expect BA at some point to revive a daily, year-round LGW-MIA service as a competitive response to Z0 entering the South Florida - UK market via FLL.

Azul - This airline, which this year is launching a 3x or 4x ORY-VCP year-rojķservice, may wish to complement this with a similar VCP-LGW service, possibly starting in summer 2024.

Qantas - provided that QF wants to keep its daily LON-SIN-SYD service following the launch of the first-ever all-year round, daily non-stop LHR-SYD and LHR-MEL services from winter 2025-'26 (for which QF probably needs the LHR slots currently used by the one-stop LHR-SYD A380 service), this service could be transferred to LGW, probably using a 787-9 instead of an A380, operating from the North Terminal, where QF premium passengers, who still prefer the one-stop option, can make use of the EK lounge.

Originally Posted by Sotonsean
This announcement by Saudia is totally unexpected and I'm personally surprised by it. But non the less a very welcome addition to LGW and it's ever growing long haul network and airline portfolio.

JED-LGW is initially scheduled to be seasonal but hopefully it won't take long until it's a year round route.

Summer 2023 is shaping up to be a great year for LGW regarding long haul expansion. For the first time in many years LGW has quite a few new long haul routes starting in just a short time frame. The list looks impressive and these include the following.

AIR INDIA

Ahmedabad (begins 28 March)
Amritsar (begins 27 March)
Goa (begins 26 March)
Kochi (begins 26 March)

BRITISH AIRWAYS

Aruba (begins 26 March)
Georgetown-Cheddi Jagan (begins 26 March)
Vancouver (begins 19 May)

DELTA AIR LINES

New York JFK (begins 10 April)

NORSE ATLANTIC AIRWAYS

Boston (begins 02 September)
Fort Lauderdale (begins 26 May)
Los Angeles (begins 30 June)
Orlando (begins 25 May)
San Francisco (begins 01 July)
Washington-Dulles (begins 01 June)

SAUDIA
Jeddah (begins 01 June)

I wonder what the next long haul airline will be in announcing LGW?

A few months ago it was mentioned in the aviation media and other related sources that Air Asia X were going to resume service to LGW from Kuala Lumpur via Dubai. I wonder if Air Asia X are still considering resuming the route?

​​​​​​
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 13:31
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Future airlines to LGW

This may sound like a long shot, but would Garuda be willing to take another look at LGW? Historically, they have had a long history with LGW, originally serving Gatwick from the early 80s up until the early 2000s with the 747, and then again most recently with the 77W between 2014 and 2015 to CGK via AMS. I read somewhere on Airliners Net that the switch to LHR in 2016 did very little (if any) benefit to GA before their eventual withdrawal in 2020, and that Garuda may have possibly been better suited to LGW, possibly to DPS instead of CGK, owing to the fact that Bali has become a popular tourist hotspot and a good route for leisure traffic. There has also been the argument that the 77W was simply the wrong aircraft for GA at the time, mainly being too big. However, perhaps a smaller aircraft, such as the A330-800 or -900 would be better suited if they decided to re-enter the London market?

The other one I was thinking of is Hong Kong Airlines, who of course served LGW with their all-business class A330 in 2012. I think, pre-pandemic, they had expressed interest in potentially relaunching London with their new A350s, but the pandemic and subsequent shutdown of HKG put those plans on hold. Plus the fact that CX had already re-introduced LGW in 2016. I wonder if the HKG route will be reintroduced again from LGW?
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 13:45
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Originally Posted by FlyGatwick
My guess (apart from Air Asia X as already rumoured) is as follows:

Riyadh Air - if this new airline, which as of now exists on paper only, wants to turn its vision to become a challenger to global super connectors EK and QR based out of Riyadh, it won't be able to realise this ambition unless it starts flying to "secondary" cities and airports (in cities served by multiple airports such as London and New York). So, I wouldn't be surprised them announcing a LGW-RUH route. Realistically, however, I expect this to be a medium-term ambition to be realised over a 1-2 year time frame. In the initial phase to be set in motion later this year, I would expect SV to transfer its existing routes like its 3× daily LHR-RUH service to be transferred to Riyadh Air as this is probably easiest to achieve under existing bilateral restrictions, taking into account as well that the LH's and AF-KL's of this world, which never pass up an opportunity to blame EK (and QR) for all their woes (incl. self-inflicted wounds) are unlikely to be delighted at having to face even more competition for their bread-and-butter 6th freedom traffic.

Staying on the topic of more super connectors coming to LGW, I wouldn't be surprised to see AI launch a daily LGW-DEL service within a similar timeframe as I anticipate for Riyadh Air as there is talk that AI wants to turn DEL into its (and India's) first genuine global hub airport (with full support from the Indian government, who is very keen on this). After all, they have to put the 500 or so aircraft they recently ordeed from Airbus and Boeing to good use. Should AI succeed in its ambitious transformation plan under Campbell Wilson's stewardship and go down the EK / QR / TK global super connector route, I would also expect them to build up frequencies on LGW-DEL over time to at least 2 daily round-trips to maximise connecting opportunities and transfer traffic flows at their DEL hub, just as EK has done on LGW-DXB over the past 20 years (and like QR seems to be doing now in partnership with its oneworld alliance partner BA). The interesting question here is, should AI choose to go down that route, when they'll have the mother of all bust-ups with their Star Alliance partner LH, which doesn't like the idea of its hubs at FRA and MUC being bypassed, especially by a partner-turned-rival from within its own alliance, as was the case when TK decided a few years back to turn itself into a global super connector, with its connections at IST quickly surpassing anything LH could offer via FRA / MUC. On a different but related note re potential future expansion of AI at LGW, I can envisage AI launching a daily LGW-BLR service in the not too distant future given that BLR is the Indian equivalent of Silicon Valley (sometimes locally referred to as Silicon Plateau as the city sits on a plateau of approx 900 m above sea level in the Deccan region of southern India), with a large number of natives working in many of the towns and cities in the LGW catchment, who regularly "commute" between LGW and BLR, currently mostly on EK via DXB or (to a lesser extent) BA / QR via DOH.

United - Given that Z0 has just announced a while raft of transatlantic routes to the US, incl. to the UA hub at IAD, it wouldn't surprise me at all if UA announces a daily seasonal LGW-IAD summer service next year and possibly a daily LGW-EWR summer seasonal service as well as a competitive response (the latter especially should Z0 decide to double its own frequency on LGW-JFK to 2 daily round-trips next summer. Initially, I would expect such UA services to be operated with already very long-in-the-tooth 757s, but then quickly to transition to a A321LR, possibly as soon as summer 2025 (should these routes prove to be successful). On a similar note, I'm also expecting DL to launch a daily LGW-BOS summer seasonal service (in addition to its daily LGW-JFK service launching on April 10) to compete wth B6's daily (year-round) LGW-BOS service (in addition to LGW-JFK), probably initially using 757s as well (which could also be used in winter in place of the larger 767 used in summer, thus turning it into a year-round route). As well, I expect BA at some point to revive a daily, year-round LGW-MIA service as a competitive response to Z0 entering the South Florida - UK market via FLL.

Azul - This airline, which this year is launching a 3x or 4x ORY-VCP year-rojķservice, may wish to complement this with a similar VCP-LGW service, possibly starting in summer 2024.

Qantas - provided that QF wants to keep its daily LON-SIN-SYD service following the launch of the first-ever all-year round, daily non-stop LHR-SYD and LHR-MEL services from winter 2025-'26 (for which QF probably needs the LHR slots currently used by the one-stop LHR-SYD A380 service), this service could be transferred to LGW, probably using a 787-9 instead of an A380, operating from the North Terminal, where QF premium passengers, who still prefer the one-stop option, can make use of the EK lounge.
Welcome to PPRUNE! This is a very interesting list of possible airlines you have flagged up here. I think that with the ongoing (indefinite?) delays with the 3rd runway at LHR, my guess is that we will begin to see more route announcements long-haul-wise from LGW soon, as there will come a point (perhaps already?) where LHR simply cannot accommodate anything further - we have already begun to see evidence of this with Air India splitting operations between LHR and LGW.

Qantas would be a very interesting one. I don't think they've served LGW before? With 'project sunrise' on the horizon starting 2025, they may have no choice but to relocate the existing 1-stop service to Sydney via Singapore to LGW in order to dedicate their LHR slot portfolio to the more non-stop London-Australia services. Of course there is the argument that a move to LGW may prove more costly to QF, due to the need to set up a new London station, recruit ground staff/handling contracts etc. They may even just decide to ditch the LON-SIN route entirely in favour of an all non-stop London-Australia service. In the past, QF use to fly to Australia from LHR via BKK and HKG, and later, DXB. Now, only SIN remains.

Air India - completely second your comments RE. their future expansion at LGW. With the enormous aircraft order they've just placed, I can see them launching an LGW-DEL service further down the line that supplements the existing LHR service.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 13:49
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Originally Posted by JW95
This may sound like a long shot, but would Garuda be willing to take another look at LGW? Historically, they have had a long history with LGW, originally serving Gatwick from the early 80s up until the early 2000s with the 747, and then again most recently with the 77W between 2014 and 2015 to CGK via AMS. I read somewhere on Airliners Net that the switch to LHR in 2016 did very little (if any) benefit to GA before their eventual withdrawal in 2020, and that Garuda may have possibly been better suited to LGW, possibly to DPS instead of CGK, owing to the fact that Bali has become a popular tourist hotspot and a good route for leisure traffic. There has also been the argument that the 77W was simply the wrong aircraft for GA at the time, mainly being too big. However, perhaps a smaller aircraft, such as the A330-800 or -900 would be better suited if they decided to re-enter the London market?

The other one I was thinking of is Hong Kong Airlines, who of course served LGW with their all-business class A330 in 2012. I think, pre-pandemic, they had expressed interest in potentially relaunching London with their new A350s, but the pandemic and subsequent shutdown of HKG put those plans on hold. Plus the fact that CX had already re-introduced LGW in 2016. I wonder if the HKG route will be reintroduced again from LGW?
Hong Kong is going to take years to get back to pre-pandemic travel, business travel may not return to the previous highs given what happened politically and how many people have left. The London direct market in 2019 had Virgin x1, BA x 2 and Cathay x 5 out of LHR and a CX A359 out of Gatters. So 9 daily flights, I think Cathay will consolidate at LHR as I am not even sure there's going to be enough traffic to fill those 5 slots without adding another rotation to another London airport. Almost anyone who wants LGW-HKG direct would also make the trip to LHR if that was the other option, so they're not risking market share overall IMHO. Oasis also tried LGW-HKG on the B744 but the relative weakness vs. Cathay killed them. As for Hong Kong airlines, they're at death's door, so again, sadly, not sure flying to the UK is a priority for them.
Garuda remains a basket case, did their London ops ever make money post the ME3 becoming so big? Emirates just offers more options and higher frequency. They'd always be willing to look at London again but I'd be 99% sure it'd lose money for them, and that's on them, not the airport served.
It will be interesting to see how Air India do at LGW considering just how Indian the local population around LHR is !
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 14:02
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Originally Posted by Skipness One Foxtrot
Hong Kong is going to take years to get back to pre-pandemic travel, business travel may not return to the previous highs given what happened politically and how many people have left. The London direct market in 2019 had Virgin x1, BA x 2 and Cathay x 5 out of LHR and a CX A359 out of Gatters. So 9 daily flights, I think Cathay will consolidate at LHR as I am not even sure there's going to be enough traffic to fill those 5 slots without adding another rotation to another London airport. Almost anyone who wants LGW-HKG direct would also make the trip to LHR if that was the other option, so they're not risking market share overall IMHO. Oasis also tried LGW-HKG on the B744 but the relative weakness vs. Cathay killed them. As for Hong Kong airlines, they're at death's door, so again, sadly, not sure flying to the UK is a priority for them.

Garuda remains a basket case, did their London ops ever make money post the ME3 becoming so big? Emirates just offers more options and higher frequency. They'd always be willing to look at London again but I'd be 99% sure it'd lose money for them, and that's on them, not the airport served.
You're absolutely right, It really is a shame RE. Hong Kong though, as the route had been working well for Cathay. I am aware that they are increasing frequency substantially from LHR come April to revert back up to 5-daily as was previously, however my feeling is that CX will first plan to gradually revert back to an all-77W LHR operation first before LGW is re-opened with the A359. I hope that CX will be back at LGW at some point; certainly it will be interesting to watch this space further down the line as far as Cathay's capacity and network recovery is concerned. Currently, they are targeting 100% pre-pandemic capacity by 2024.

RE Garuda Indonesia - the operation was a mess that progressively got worse with the move to LHR (e.g. multiple route suspensions, route changes from CGK to DPS, stopovers in SIN then later, Medan). I got the feeling that they couldn't really decide on how to make London work for them long term.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 14:10
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I believe Qantas still hold four slot pairs at LHR. There's no chance of them starting LGW. I can't see them ditching LHR-SIN either - there's enough local traffic at both ends, as well as connections to BNE. LHR-SYD is also going to have awkward timings due to the curfews at either end, so there would be plenty of passengers who will stick with the current one stop service with it's present timings.

UA maybe, DL to BOS maybe. Riyadh Air possibly. GA no chance, HK Airlines no chance, Azul no chance. African routes by previously mentioned "national" airlines far more likely.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 15:00
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Gatwick new routes

Qantas and United going to Gatwick for me is highly unlikely, although a week ago I would have said it was very unlikely for air Mauritius to consolidate all its London operations at Gatwick.

Looking into the future then. The next airlines most likely to start operations are air Asia, china eastern, china southern, air Tanzania and Latam. All the national carriers for African nations are highly likely too. Azul Brazil airlines, cathay pacific I think are also likely.

azul Brazil asked for slots at Heathrow for this summer but didn’t get any so I’m guessing they will ask for slots at Gatwick too. Turkmenistan airlines asking for slots is likely.

onto British airways then. I believe they will expand quite a bit in the next year, possibly announcing destinations like Abu Dhabi, Lima, Bogotá etc. short haul possibly places in Tunisia, Egypt, Germany.

I’m the next 6 months I think we will see china eastern, air Asia, china southern introduce flights after that who knows probably an African carrier.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 17:10
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Going to suggest a likely Saudi carrier and it’s neither Flynas returning again or Riyadh Air ( Gatwick is not the demographic that carrier is seeking to fill) no it yet another Saudi state owned carrier in the quiet throws of being set up . That is Neom Air.

Gatwick fits perfectly with the tourist demographic Neom is being set up to address.

Saudia already drop a weekly Jeddah flight into Neom enroute I believe and that authority could readily be ceded over .

The Saudi state airline authorities are working on scenario’ s to change the structures away from Saudia which will form the core services from Jeddah including religious related tourist flights.
Riyadh is projected as the centre for business and indeed a stab at a potential hub and spoke operation.
Neom is the epicentre to drive uptake in wealthy more general tourism ( albeit from an Islamic perspective)





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Old 20th Mar 2023, 17:27
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the 2nd carrier in three days has transferred operations from Heathrow to Gatwick. Sky express introducing new daily route to Athens from April 1st which will replace the Heathrow route. Very insane what’s been happening this last week.
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 21:31
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Originally Posted by Travel24
the 2nd carrier in three days has transferred operations from Heathrow to Gatwick. Sky express introducing new daily route to Athens from April 1st which will replace the Heathrow route. Very insane what’s been happening this last week.
Considering the beating LGW took during the height of the pandemic, this past week has been pretty extraordinary for Gatwick with new airlines coming in - no doubt Stewart Wingate must be feeling very pleased right now! I hope this will continue
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Old 20th Mar 2023, 23:15
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Originally Posted by JW95
Considering the beating LGW took during the height of the pandemic, this past week has been pretty extraordinary for Gatwick with new airlines coming in - no doubt Stewart Wingate must be feeling very pleased right now! I hope this will continue
I couldn't agree more, what a week it's been.

Although it was a totally different era to today but the last time Gatwick Airport secured so many new long haul scheduled airlines and destinations in such a short time was between April and August 1980 which for information purposes including the following.

Air Florida...Miami
Air Tanzania...Dar Es Salaam
Air Zimbabwe...Harare
Cathay Pacific Airways...Hong Kong
Garuda Indonesian...Jakarta
Northwest Orient...Minneapolis-Saint Paul
Pan Am...Houston
Philippine Airlines...Manila
Sierra Leone Airways...Freetown
Trans World Airways...New York-JFK
Uganda Airlines...Entebbe
World Airways...Boston

The summer of 1981 was also a fairly good year for Gatwick in gaining new long haul airlines and destinations, which included the following.

Air Florida...Tampa
​​​​​​CAAC...Beijing
Northwest Orient...Boston (route licence transferred from World Airways)
Western Airlines...Anchorage, Denver, Honolulu
World Airways...Baltimore
Yemenia...Sanaa
​​​​

The summer of 1980 was my all time favourite period whilst regularly visiting the long but not forgotten viewing gallery at Gatwick. I can still remember that view so clearly especially when looking back at photos of Gatwick from that period.
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 01:45
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Originally Posted by Travel24
the 2nd carrier in three days has transferred operations from Heathrow to Gatwick. Sky express introducing new daily route to Athens from April 1st which will replace the Heathrow route. Very insane what’s been happening this last week.
Did they ever have their own LHR slots?
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 12:16
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Originally Posted by Travel24
Qantas and United going to Gatwick for me is highly unlikely, although a week ago I would have said it was very unlikely for air Mauritius to consolidate all its London operations at Gatwick.

Looking into the future then. The next airlines most likely to start operations are air Asia, china eastern, china southern, air Tanzania and Latam. All the national carriers for African nations are highly likely too. Azul Brazil airlines, cathay pacific I think are also likely.

azul Brazil asked for slots at Heathrow for this summer but didn’t get any so I’m guessing they will ask for slots at Gatwick too. Turkmenistan airlines asking for slots is likely.

onto British airways then. I believe they will expand quite a bit in the next year, possibly announcing destinations like Abu Dhabi, Lima, Bogotá etc. short haul possibly places in Tunisia, Egypt, Germany.

I’m the next 6 months I think we will see china eastern, air Asia, china southern introduce flights after that who knows probably an African carrier.
As far as US airlines are concerned, I'm also doubtful about United, considering their desire to keep everything centralised at LHR, as they have done so for many years, even long before the Bermuda agreement of 2008. They are also unique in the sense that unlike American Airlines, Continental et al., they have never operated scheduled to/from LGW, although I think they previously ran limited charters from Gatwick in the 1980s (I stand corrected). The only way I see them remotely considering LGW will depend on what happens with JetBlue's long term operation at LGW, and whether this expands. They may, say, decide to launch LGW as a competitive response to JetBlue with their A321-NEO. What I think would be more likely is a more competitive response from BA, similar to what they did at the height of Norwegian's operation at Gatwick. Plus, they have indicated that they are now focusing more on LGW than LHR in terms of growth. Sadly, I do not see a situation where American is likely to reinstate LGW, as they were quick to leave Gatwick in 2008, and haven't flown from here since

RE. British Airways, I'm very interested to see what they will have planned for long haul at LGW going forwards, particularly as more 777s are allocated here from LHR. Bangkok has previously been highlighted as a potential route from LGW, which was of course historically served for many years from Heathrow. Have they actually terminated Bangkok completely or just suspended it?
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 14:40
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I think the obsession with long haul isn't helpful, it will drive you to despair if you follow the medium term trends at LGW.

Saudia offering the Gatwick market the joys of the most Islamic and driest nation on Earth is interesting to say the least but they're new to this game and are trying to build an Emirates sized behemoth from the ground up.
Air India is on a funded strategic growth mission and has massively boosted frequency to London rather than capacity, they're still B787-8 focussed rather than the B77W as they offer more secondary point to point rather than the old BOM and DEL hub stops. Traditionally they've always flown to LHR as their market was literally local to the airport, I'd bet that as part of that funded expansion, they'd be actively looking for more LHR slots in the medium term.
Rumour has it that Air China is at Gatwick only until they can reopen LHR-PEK if and when BA relaunch as per the bilateral.
Air Mauritius moved because they can't afford the charging structure anymore (they're close to insolvent) and Sky Express never had their own slots so far as I can see, ISTBC.
I reckon the best bet for stable long haul growth is Norse, as they may have the same business model as their failed predecessor but they're not carrying a debt mountain like Norwegian.
Organic growth at BA long haul is also on a sound footing I would say. Bangkok has been dropped alas, but maybe one day a LGW fit?
I say this as a former frequent user of LGW when North was painted blue and the facilities were world class and better than LHR, I have a great attachment to Gatters but medium term market trends will break your heart 9 times out of 10. There's no loyalty in business.
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 15:06
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I checked Air China for 10th June. They have flights showing to Pek for both Lgw and Lhr. And that is the position to end of October as far as I can see. So are they keeping both?
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Old 21st Mar 2023, 15:06
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The difference between what airlines seem to be doing now and before is vast. I get what your saying about Air China, however I believe they will switch to Gatwick- Shanghai when British Airways starts Beijing again. With Air India they have also left out major cities such as Bangalore, Kolkata etc so when or if air india get more slots at Heathrow they might introduce these at Gatwick. Saudia asked for 2 daily flights from Gatwick this summer and only got 1 daily so I think they could be permanently at Gatwick.

With Air Mauritius, yes the airport charges are too high and they didn't get enough slots, however they would never have transferred their London operations if airlines like delta etc didn't announce flights here. With Sky Express transferring from Heathrow to Gatwick, yes they were leasing a slot however they are doing exactly the same at Gatwick.

I know its not longhaul but Lufthansa starting flights at Gatwick is massive especially when its to its core base Frankfurt. Now I mentioned this a few days ago, but airlines likely to announce operations in the next six months I believe.

China Eastern- Shanghai. They hold more slots at Gatwick than Heathrow.
Air Asia- Kuala Lumpar
Air Tanzania- Dar es Salaam
China Southern- Wuhan

These might not happen but I would say at least two of these will. Other Airlines that might- LATAM, Azul, Uganda Airlines, Ghana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air Zimbabwe, Star Air, Air Senegal.
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