Isn't this just another case (a la FlyBe) of making the same mistakes as the previous incarnation, with likely a similar result?

Norse aren't affected by the Dreamliner issues that plagued Norwegian, and fares a lot higher.

Possible new route with Dan Air (the Romanian one, formerly called Just Us Air, not the British one from the 1980s) to Brasov in Romania from June 2023
https://boardingpass.ro/dan-air-va-o...in-iunie-2023/

Wish I had known before I booked planes/trains to Brașov via Bucharest for this summer and my name is Dan!

Wait for Wizzair to crush this.

If Wizz are still in business by then. Being made to pull their finger out re refunding punters is causing them serious financial issues apparently

New Saudia route
 

LGW-JED 6 weekly 01 June- daily from August.

courtesy of SeanM on twitter

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?

​​​​​​

Air China to return to LGW
 

More good news for Gatwick- Air China is to reinstate LGW-PEK (Beijing Capital) service from next month initially at 4/weekly before rising to daily from mid April using the A333.

Source: AeroRoutes

Really glad to see LGW making great progress at rebuilding its pre-Covid long haul network. I'm wondering if CX will be next to announce its return to LGW?

How is Gatwick doing overall in restoring long-haul against their 2019 peak? Still behind?

​​​​​​If Air China are opening up LGW, what happened to their 4 x daily LHR slots?
Same with Cathay, be surprised to see LGW opened when they have 5 slot pairs of their own at LHR and they're not all being used.

Regarding Cathay- I suspect and hope that we will see them reinstate LGW at some stage. Their LHR operation has quickly been ramped up to make use of their slots at Heathrow, with up to 5 daily flights on most days starting from April. I suspect CX will want to revert the LHR operation to all 77W in time just as pre-covid before resuming LGW with the A359.

Excellent news regarding Air China resuming service to LGW with the announcement coming less than 48 hours after I posed the question on this thread, "I wonder what the next long haul airline will be in announcing LGW?"

Along with the previous announcement by Saudia confirming JED-LGW, I'm also very surprised by this announcement from Air China. I'm not totally surprised by Air China resuming LGW but very surprised that they are retuning so soon. Obviously they are great additions to LGW but both totally unexpected considering their LHR operations.

LGW has been very fortunate to have gained so many long haul connections in such a short time frame. Congratulations to the marketing team and everyone involved in achieving this and may it continue.

I'll pose the same question again as I previously posted considering that it took less than 48 hours for it to be answered.

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

Completely second you :) As a frequent user and supporter of LGW, I am very happy to see the airport make strong progress in attracting new carriers to the airport, such as those you have mentioned above, as it wasn't so long ago that the airport was on its knees with the loss of so much of its long haul carrier and route portfolio during the height of the pandemic.

As for future long haul carriers coming to Gatwick, I am hopeful that Cathay will return, especially with HKG now having finally been fully re-opened and the fact that the airline's existing LHR operation will be quickly reverting to up to 5 daily on most days from April. LGW worked well for Cathay right up until it was suspended in February 2020, so I reckon there is a good chance they will come back.

Air Asia X - Already rumoured and discussed on this thread and elsewhere, with the airline reportedly interested in linking KUL with LGW via DXB.

Air Mauritius - Currently operating from LHR, although reported to be keen to move to LGW on the basis of lower airport fees, and accessibility of slots to be able to increase flight frequency to daily at LGW from the current 5 weekly LHR operation.

Of course it would be great to see Cathay Pacific return to LGW. With the airline's LHR slots returning to pre-pandemic levels from April 2023 I too can foresee CX returning to LGW at some point but probably not before the IATA 2024 summer season in my opinion.

Air Asia X have form in announcing new routes which often do not materialise. Obviously it would be excellent news for LGW if Air Asia X do confirm the resumption of KUL-LGW via DBX but until that happens I'm keeping an open mind.

I've often wondered if it would be in the best interests of Air Mauritius if they relocated from LHR to LGW. If I was to be asked on what my thoughts would be regarding any of the current long haul airlines at LHR that were considering a move to LGW, in my opinion Air Mauritius would be a good candidate.

I can't believe how LGW has gained so many new airline entrants and new route announcements along with airline and route resumptions being announced in such a short time frame.

London Gatwick Airport is looking forward to seeing several new airline entrants in the coming months, both long and short haul along with a few airlines resuming service at the airport.

This includes the following.

Air China....begins 01 April 2023 (airline resumption)
Air India....begins 26 April 2023 (new entrant although the airline previously operated DEL-LGW for just one summer season in 1982)
Badr Airlines (new entrant, commenced 15 February 2023)
Bamboo Airways (new entrant, commenced 31 October 2022)
Dan Air....begins 16 June 2023 (new entrant)
Delta Air Lines....begins 19 April 2023 (airline resumption)
Lufthansa....begins 33 April 2023 (airline resumption)
Saudia....begins 01 June 2023 (new entrant)

I have no doubt that this list will continue to grow in the coming weeks and months.

Major long haul Summer 2019 less Thomas Cook and TUI

- Flt No ETA From Via To Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2036 06:55 MCO LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2038 09:20 MCO LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 7
BA 2062 06:20 MRU LGW S 2019S 1 3 6
BA 2154 06:20 BGI LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2156 09:35 TAB ANU LGW S 2019S 3 6
BA 2158 08:15 GND UVF LGW S 2019S 4 7
BA 2158 08:55 POS UVF LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 5 6
BA 2166 07:50 TPA LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2168 06:30 FLL LGW S 2019S 2 5 7
BA 2202 10:45 CUN LGW S 2019S 2 4 5 7
BA 2204 06:55 PUJ LGW S 2019S 1 3 5
BA 2232 06:55 BDA LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2236 08:35 SJO LGW S 2019S 4 7
BA 2238 14:20 LIM LGW S 2019S 1 4 6
BA 2256 07:50 SKB ANU LGW S 2019S 4 7
BA 2256 10:40 PLS ANU LGW S 2019S 1 5
BA 2262 08:45 KIN LGW S 2019S 2 4 6
BA 2270 07:50 YYZ LGW S 2019S 1 3 6
BA 2272 10:00 JFK LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BA 2276 10:50 LAS LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 6 7
CI 069 16:30 TPE LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 5 6
CX 343 06:40 HKG LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7014 00:45 JFK LGW S 2019S 1 3 7
DI 7014 23:15 JFK LGW S 2019S 5
DI 7014 23:25 JFK LGW S 2019S 4
DI 7016 11:00 JFK LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7018 10:00 JFK LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6
DI 7044 05:50 MIA LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7054 07:10 MCO LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6
DI 7058 05:25 MCO LGW S 2019S 3 7
DI 7096 13:50 LAX LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7132 07:00 SEA LGW S 2019S 1 2 4 6
DI 7148 08:40 BOS LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7152 10:50 ORD LGW S 2019S 1 2 4 6
DI 7166 10:35 TPA LGW S 2019S 4 7
DI 7172 12:40 DEN LGW S 2019S 3 5 7
DI 7174 12:40 SFO LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 5 6
DI 7182 07:25 AUS LGW S 2019S 3 5 7
DI 7502 16:00 GIG LGW S 2019S 1 2 4 6
DI 7506 04:00 EZE LGW S 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
DI 7914 23:25 JFK LGW S 2019S 1
EK 9 19:45 DXB LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
EK 11 07:20 DXB LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
EK 15 12:35 DXB LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FI 470 11:45 KEF LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MU 201 06:35 PVG LGW N 2019S 2 5 7
QR 327 13:30 DOH LGW N 2019S 2 3 7
QR 327A 13:30 DOH LGW N 2019S 1 4 5 6
QR 329A 07:10 DOH LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TS 122 10:05 YYZ LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TS 274 07:20 YVR LGW N 2019S 4
TS 282 09:20 YYZ LGW N 2019S 2
TS 540 10:35 YYC LGW N 2019S 4
TS 576 08:45 YVR LGW N 2019S 6
TS 676 09:05 YVR LGW N 2019S 7
TS 704 07:50 YYC LGW N 2019S 7
TS 728 09:50 YUL LGW N 2019S 2
TS 738 09:50 YUL LGW N 2019S 4
TS 748 10:00 YUL LGW N 2019S 6
TS 776 06:55 YVR LGW N 2019S 2
TS 794 06:55 YVR LGW N 2019S 1
TS 804 09:50 YYC LGW N 2019S 6
VS 16 09:05 MCO LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
VS 28 06:50 MCO LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
VS 30 06:55 BGI LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
VS 34 05:05 ANU LGW N 2019S 3 5 7
VS 64 07:55 HAV LGW N 2019S 1 5
VS 66 09:55 MBJ LGW N 2019S 3 5
VS 90 09:25 GND UVF LGW N 2019S 2 6
VS 98 08:50 TAB UVF LGW N 2019S 1
WB 700 17:55 KGL BRU LGW N 2019S 2 4 6
WS 1 10:55 YYC LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
WS 3 09:00 YYZ LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
WS 22 10:30 YVR LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
WS 24 08:25 YHZ LGW N 2019S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Lost and not regained :
Norwegian
WestJet
RwandAir
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
China Eastern
Virgin Atlantic

Norwegian partially replaced by Norse. Rwandair had 3 flights a week. I am surprised that VS only had 4 flights a day, I thought they had a bigger operation than that.. China Eastern was also 3 a week, China Airlines 5. Some of the lost airlines did not have that big an operation at Lgw. So they seem to be recovering well.

Air Mauritius is moving from Heathrow to Gatwick from 29th October - with an increase to daily.

MK42 Mauritius 2305 - Gatwick 0700+ MK53 Gatwick 1555 - Mauritius 0715+
MK42 Mauritius 2305 - Gatwick 0700+ MK53 Gatwick 1555 - Mauritius 0715+

Another boost for LGW
 

And just like that, Air Mauritius has officially announced that it will be leaving LHR in favour of LGW come October this year! :) :) Flights to be operated with a mix of A339s and A359s.

LGW really is on a roll at the moment, and I hope this momentum continues! Question is, who's next?

Source: Air Mauritius press release

Costs at LHR or someone wants their leased winter slots back?