Gatwick-3
Chinese carriers
Air China are to remain flying daily between Shanghai PVG and London Gatwick.
From the 01 May 2024 to the 26 October 2024 Air China will replace the current A330-200 on Shanghai PVG to London Gatwick with a A350-900.
It was originally expected that Air China would reduce Shanghai PVG from daily to four weekly.
Air China will resume daily Beijing DAX to London Gatwick on the 01 June 2023 flying daily with an A330-300
China Eastern from the 01 March 2024 will replace the A333-200 on their daily Shanghai PVG to London Gatwick route with a Boeing 777-300ER.
Credit to aeroroutes.com
From the 01 May 2024 to the 26 October 2024 Air China will replace the current A330-200 on Shanghai PVG to London Gatwick with a A350-900.
It was originally expected that Air China would reduce Shanghai PVG from daily to four weekly.
Air China will resume daily Beijing DAX to London Gatwick on the 01 June 2023 flying daily with an A330-300
China Eastern from the 01 March 2024 will replace the A333-200 on their daily Shanghai PVG to London Gatwick route with a Boeing 777-300ER.
Credit to aeroroutes.com
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ITA seem to be closing their Heathrow - Rome FCO route on 30 March 2024. From 31 March 2024, their website shows nothing available on LHR-FCO. Opening a Gatwick - Rome FCO route might be related
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Interesting, wonder why they're closing LHR? Also, if the LHR route closes at the end of March, I wonder why LGW isn't starting until 3 months afterwards? I've just checked their website and LGW-FCO seems to be running just once daily. At this rate, I predict they will struggle against the multiple daily frequencies flown by EZY, Wizz and VY.
ITA are adding flights at LCY from 31 March 2024. The flights from 1 June are probably related to the large number of people who go to Italy for leisure over the summer.
Have a Google about ITA, Heathrow slots and the name of a large airline based in the UAE that was heavily involved with Alitalia, the precursor of ITA
Have a Google about ITA, Heathrow slots and the name of a large airline based in the UAE that was heavily involved with Alitalia, the precursor of ITA
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I don’t fully know if all the flights are on the system yet. They don’t even have Gatwick on the search bar yet. I think maybe they will be available after 31 march but we will see. They wanted double daily on the slots so we shall see.
Use "London, (LON)" to search on the ITA website
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They are also confirmed on sky-scanner. Thanks for the information I found that earlier. The flights aren’t listed after some time in early October or late September so let’s hope they extend it to all year.
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ITA Airways LGW-FCO as of 1 June 2024
What will be the frequency of the new ITA Airways LGW-FCO service? The interim ACL NS 2024 LGW slot report listed them as having secured slots for 2 daily rotations.
What aircraft type[s] will they be using? A220s / 320s / 321s?
Anyway, the good news for LGW just seems to continue, which is a good thing.
If LGW-FCO comes at the expense of LHR-FCO as previously suggested in this thread, then what will happen to the slots ITA will vacate at LHR? Will they use them to increase their LHR-LIN frequency? Another question I've got in this connection is: Who owns ITA's LHR slots? Is it Etihad? (I seem to remember having read that Etihad had acquired ownership of ITA's predecessor Alitalia's LHR slots as collateral for the money they'd lent the now defunct former Italian flag carrier.
Reverting to the most asked question in relation to LGW, who's next, my prediction is:
MIAT Mongolian as the UK-Mongolia bilateral has just been renewed and MIAT has gone public with adding scheduled service to LON being on their horizon, likely to be helped by the fact that MIAT is currently in the process of becoming a oneworld affiliate or associate (can't remember what exactly their lowest level of airline membership is called) being sponsored by Cathay. While IMHO we're unlikely to it happen this year, MIAT could be making its LGW debut next year, hopefully with their new 787s.
Another interesting new airline to have at LGW would be the new, up-market Taiwanese long-haul FSC Starlux (reportedly founded by the same top management team who had founded highly acclaimed Eva Air decades ago). While this airline is at the moment focused on building up its presence in the US, according to an article featuring in Airways magazine fairly recently, the airline seems to be genuinely interested in establishing a footprint in Europe as well, with both LON and PAR likely to be among its initial batch of destinations. Given the slot situation at LHR, IMHO I believe there is a good chance of seeing this airline's A350A-900s at LGW, possibly from as early as 2025. If this were to happen, it would be another major coup for LGW (of the same importance as attracting Singapore Airlines to the airport and - hopefully - getting Cathay to resume its pre-Covid LGW-HKG service).
What aircraft type[s] will they be using? A220s / 320s / 321s?
Anyway, the good news for LGW just seems to continue, which is a good thing.
If LGW-FCO comes at the expense of LHR-FCO as previously suggested in this thread, then what will happen to the slots ITA will vacate at LHR? Will they use them to increase their LHR-LIN frequency? Another question I've got in this connection is: Who owns ITA's LHR slots? Is it Etihad? (I seem to remember having read that Etihad had acquired ownership of ITA's predecessor Alitalia's LHR slots as collateral for the money they'd lent the now defunct former Italian flag carrier.
Reverting to the most asked question in relation to LGW, who's next, my prediction is:
MIAT Mongolian as the UK-Mongolia bilateral has just been renewed and MIAT has gone public with adding scheduled service to LON being on their horizon, likely to be helped by the fact that MIAT is currently in the process of becoming a oneworld affiliate or associate (can't remember what exactly their lowest level of airline membership is called) being sponsored by Cathay. While IMHO we're unlikely to it happen this year, MIAT could be making its LGW debut next year, hopefully with their new 787s.
Another interesting new airline to have at LGW would be the new, up-market Taiwanese long-haul FSC Starlux (reportedly founded by the same top management team who had founded highly acclaimed Eva Air decades ago). While this airline is at the moment focused on building up its presence in the US, according to an article featuring in Airways magazine fairly recently, the airline seems to be genuinely interested in establishing a footprint in Europe as well, with both LON and PAR likely to be among its initial batch of destinations. Given the slot situation at LHR, IMHO I believe there is a good chance of seeing this airline's A350A-900s at LGW, possibly from as early as 2025. If this were to happen, it would be another major coup for LGW (of the same importance as attracting Singapore Airlines to the airport and - hopefully - getting Cathay to resume its pre-Covid LGW-HKG service).
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People have laughed at my suggestions on here. I am training to be a pilot at the moment. Anyway Very interesting to here your predictions with miat and starlux.
i believe the next will be taag and air peace. Then maybe etihad or azul in Brazil. I also believe air Tanzania later this year.
having seen what’s been going on at Gatwick in the last year nothing at this stage is impossible.
also with ita I don’t think they actually had any Heathrow slots to start off with which is why they are having to find another London airport.
i believe the next will be taag and air peace. Then maybe etihad or azul in Brazil. I also believe air Tanzania later this year.
having seen what’s been going on at Gatwick in the last year nothing at this stage is impossible.
also with ita I don’t think they actually had any Heathrow slots to start off with which is why they are having to find another London airport.
It's a shame to see ITA Airways leave London Heathrow. Although it's a completely different airline to it's predecessor. Alitalia the predecessor to ITA Airways once had a sizeable operation to London Heathrow from various Italian destinations. During the eighties and nineties London Heathrow would see numerous daily flights with Alitalia from Bologna, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Pisa, Rome, Turin and Venice with a mixture of aircraft such as the Airbus A300, A319, A320, A321, Boeing 727, MD-83 and even the odd DC-10-30.
There was always a couple of aircraft from Alitalia at the former Terminal 2 gates during that period in time. I remember on one occasion when looking from the former Queens Building viewing area seeing five Alitalia aircraft at former Terminal 2 at the same time. During the late nineties the secondary Italian airports were transferred to London Gatwick leaving just the Milan and Rome flights remaining at London Heathrow. With those two final destinations set to cease, the long history of Alitalia will soon be over at London Heathrow.
There was always a couple of aircraft from Alitalia at the former Terminal 2 gates during that period in time. I remember on one occasion when looking from the former Queens Building viewing area seeing five Alitalia aircraft at former Terminal 2 at the same time. During the late nineties the secondary Italian airports were transferred to London Gatwick leaving just the Milan and Rome flights remaining at London Heathrow. With those two final destinations set to cease, the long history of Alitalia will soon be over at London Heathrow.
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As per SeanM1997 ITA hoped to gain slots for summer 2024 but weren't able to do so hence the move, so id suggest it is only temporary until they can regain slots at Heathrow in the future
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I had thought that with Lhr obviously now full that the comments re Lgw being the waiting room for Lhr slots would now come to an end. I was wrong.
Barring a major airline exiting Lhr, or collapsing or a new runway, where will all the slots appear from for all those in the waiting room at Lgw?
Barring a major airline exiting Lhr, or collapsing or a new runway, where will all the slots appear from for all those in the waiting room at Lgw?
Aegean Airlines, Air Algerie, Air Serbia, Bulgaria Air, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, KM Malta, Middle East Airlines, Tunisair - I'm looking at you
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The ITA flights only seem to operate 1st June to 30th Sept, once daily. They were awarded slots for 2 daily, so what happens to those slots? Returned or is there more services to be added?
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Non-Oneworld airlines based in or near Europe who currently fly to Heathrow and which do not have a major hub with plenty of long-haul flights to feed. Some of these airlines (if they are not already in trouble) will admit to themselves how difficult it is to compete against the LCC onslaught or come to a stage where they urgently need to convert some family silver into cash and eventually sell their slots to carriers wanting to fly long-haul to LHR.
Aegean Airlines, Air Algerie, Air Serbia, Bulgaria Air, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, KM Malta, Middle East Airlines, Tunisair - I'm looking at you
Aegean Airlines, Air Algerie, Air Serbia, Bulgaria Air, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, KM Malta, Middle East Airlines, Tunisair - I'm looking at you
I think the Maltese Gov wouldn’t let KM lose the slot at LHR. It’s always been protected by them.
Didn’t Air Algerie and Tunisair both lose some slots already for not keeping to schedule enough?
Eurowings stays within the LH group so it might be transferred to another if they need it more but I doubt it. They also bring transfer traffic to other Star Alliance carriers.
With the SAS partnership with AF/KL we could eventually see some rationalisation of slots within that group. KL flying E190s could easily end and send those pax via CPH instead.
I had thought that with Lhr obviously now full that the comments re Lgw being the waiting room for Lhr slots would now come to an end. I was wrong.
Barring a major airline exiting Lhr, or collapsing or a new runway, where will all the slots appear from for all those in the waiting room at Lgw?
Barring a major airline exiting Lhr, or collapsing or a new runway, where will all the slots appear from for all those in the waiting room at Lgw?
That said, LGW is back in a much better place.