If VS are one of the airlines blocking slots (mentioned on post #517 by Rog747 on the Virgin thread).they have told staff they do not intend to return here ,this should not be allowed surely?

Virgin at Gatwick is gone - Staff told VS will never go back there. No jobs offered elsewhere so they said.

Even so would Virgin's slots not be a bit sub-optimal timings for Wizz? BA short-haul on the other hand?

VS
 

If a VS return to LGW has indeed been written off, then why are they still holding onto their slot portfolio if they never intend to use it?

precisely ...or BA for that matter,it sadly sounds like shorthaul may not return ..love that to be wrong though

I second that, only time will tell I guess. BA would be shooting themselves in the foot if they did pull short haul permanently from LGW, effectively opening pandoras box for the likes of EZY, W6 and perhaps even FR. These are slots that BA would never be able to recover if they did lose them to other airlines, so I'm suspecting that they will be holding onto their slots for now.

Also, what is the picture looking like at LGW in terms of airline resumptions? From my knowledge, QR have just reinstated operations to DOH, EK reinstates in October once daily A380, but what about the other long haulers?

I have just read on a local group that EK ..one flight a day ,Will not resume till 25/10 😥was 1/10 ,,Air China ..Shanghai flight 4 a week that went to LHR is not returning anywhen soon

Think when parts of USA ,Australia and NZ open borders ,things may begin to look up ,really hope so for associated jobs here

I suspect EK will be pushed back again. I saw a website yesterday with a comprehensive list globally of where is open for travel and it’s stark just how narrow the list is. It broadens slightly if on business, and a little more than that for emergency/compassionate reasons. But most of the world is closed off. With that in mind there is little point EK doing much flying because there is hardly any of their network left to fly people to on any scale.

Westjet back today from Calgary ...another small improvement here x

Excellent news, great seeing them back at LGW! Wonder who will be next?

Hoping EK ....but may have quite a wait x

Hoping so as well... Does anyone know if CX plan on returning to Gatwick? I recently spoke to someone in their London office, and he said and I quote, "Gatwick is a very good route for Cathay", so hopefully this is a promising sign. Always did love seeing their A350 at Gatwick, and its a good alternative to LHR for many of us.

Looking on CX web page ,it looks like LGW to HKG is bookable from 25/10 .....that is the day EK are quoted as returning here with one😥daily flight as well
No others that I know of in the pipeline x

Will Cathay really launch LGW when LHR remains once daily with a slot holding of FIVE daily pairs?
I suspect many of these routes on sale are intended to hoover up any business and consolidate nearer the date.

My thoughts exactly, yet it looks as though all 5 LHR flights (CX252, 238, 250, 256, 254) will be reinstated from the end of October onwards, in addition to the once daily LGW (CX354). Of course, things may yet change between now and October, given the fluidity of the situation, but fingers crossed it won't be too long before we see Cathay back at Gatwick. I can't see them giving up the route indefinitely.

Sadly, any airline showing a full pre COVID schedule for October has just not got around to consolidating yet.

Wizz air and LGW
 

Wizz air are reportedly keen on expanding their LGW base from 1 to a 20 aircraft operation within the next year or so. BA et al. need to seriously watch out for this. What are the realistic chances of this actually coming to fruition?

Source: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/wizz-ai...treat/45989468

I think BA might be happy with that to be honest if they can offload their slots to Wizz and consolidate entirely in to Heathrow.

Would they really allow that to happen though? They already made that mistake once before not long after 9/11 when they de-hubbed LGW in favour of LHR consolidation/expansion, and as such, lost many of their passengers to EZY. Prior to COVID, BA had been re-establishing themselves as number 2 at LGW, and got their hands on the former Monarch slots, beating off EZY, W6 and FR. BA understand that LHR will not be empty forever, and will quickly fill back up again before long, hence why I could see the argument for consolidation there. However, they are also aware that expansion out of LHR will be limited once the market recovers, especially once other airlines begin reinstating operations there. Given this, it makes no sense for BA to retract from LGW, as this will provide opportunities for expansion further down the line once the worst of covid passes. For instance, they may decide to shift more of the "leisure" routes back to LGW to free up slots at LHR for other opportunities. They are all too aware of what happened when they scaled back last time, so I suspect they will be keen to hold onto their slots just to be on the safe side.

The question is how do they do that? They can't expect the exemptions to last for ever, Wizz would seem to have a strong case if the current holders just hang on to their slots but don't use them, just to deny them entry to the market.

Very good question. I suspect LGW will quickly be pressuring BA to make a definite decision as to whether or not they intend to use the slots in the short term. Same goes to VS (they haven't formally given up their slots yet to my knowledge)