The rumour does keep doing the rounds. It will be interesting to see if they have sufficient spare aircraft to do something - after all, they have three more aircraft's-worth of LGW slots coming back from easyJet next year as well. That would be quite some growth to take those on board and fly from a new regional base too.

They have a number of A320/A321 being delivered to LHR this year. This could free up
some earlier examples for LGW or elsewhere. They also have the option to delay retirements. I think it will also depend on demand and other market conditions.

Any idea of which regional airports?

I have heard suggestions of MAN, would make logical sense as the first step outside of London. Big FF catchment as well as facilities to support expansion, existing IAG long haul presence for possible connections, right market for leisure routes, could it be the time to finally step back in to MAN? Time will tell.

I'd only expect to see Euroflyer at 2 ports outside of London. MAN and maybe a Scottish one. There just aren't the aircraft for more than that.

Yes, you're correct, sorry, I can't keep up with the name changes. 😁

Would be nice for them to reopen a Glasgow BA base.

I heard BHD had been mentioned or at least have had discussions with.

Let's get real here! It's a mad idea, bonkers on stilts, a spotters wet dream. Let's test this.
Outside of London ;
Name 5 UK-xyz city pairs that BA could beat easyJet, Ryanair, TUI or Jet2 on?
Name 5 UK-xyz city pairs that BA could beat KLM, Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss or Iberia on?

I cannot concieve of one. They'd be a poor 3rd or 4th in sun volume markets and eaten alive in city business routes with no feed at either end. And that's before you get the notion they'd likely offer Club! I'd love them to try, they have an unbroken record of failure outside of London for......er forever, none of it ever made any real money. Unless it's Go-Fly II, this one's DOA.

Hi Skip - I'm inclined to agree, although there is still a certain cache in the BA name which might attract a few...

We all know that 'profitable' is a moveable feast depending on how costs and revenue are allocated across a network, but what's the rationale for your "none of it ever made any real money" comment (apart from none of them are operating)?

Add into that from a MAN perspective, where the hell are they planning on parking them? T3 cannot take anymore RYR so it would have to involve a terminal move. They won’t go to T1 for 12 months before it shuts surely so that leaves T2 which is logical given EI UK, but T2 is already operating a vast remote parking operation (which I’m not sure is something BA would want) so I don’t know where the space would come from for BA to base 3/4 a/c at MAN. Any smaller op than that surely isn’t viable?

I wouldn’t disagree about the commercial prospects, but I keep hearing this rumour too. There must be some scintilla of possibility behind it.

Just out of curiosity but where are actually 'hearing' these rumours from?

If you're mixing in the same circles perhaps the people around you are continously telling you the same thing. Say it over and over again and people start to believe in whatever they say. I'm certainly not that type of person.

But it's a serious question and it might clarify things if you could let us know the source of these 'rumours' you keep 'hearing'.

They may have made money in parts in the 80s and 90s regionally but as a whole, the non LHR operation was a feeder for long haul and a "social service" on behalf of the flag carrier. You could see there had been no business case for CAPEX when the One Elevens staggered on for so long flying 99 seats vs. the competition's 115 seat B737-200s then 127 seat B737-300s and 147 seat B737-400s by the early 1990s. Hand me down B737-200s ex LHR just kept them uncompetitive. Putting new A319s into BHX after Ryanair went low cost and easyJet got into Europe was too little too late. They could price gouge out of a dominant LHR but were slaughtered in the regions where they market was (sensibly) more price sensitive. Flying One Elevens or B732s on BHX/MAN-xyz relying on feed from GLA/EDI/ABZ/BFS wasn't tenable beyond the mid 90s, if indeed it ever made money. That's before we get to BA EXPRESS, franchising and the incoherent network planning that came with it. I love BA to bits but never seen them consistently win outside of London in nearly four decades of flying.

Look at the relative competitive landscape and show me a winning non London niche, cos I can't for the life of me see it. Even LGW is doing the BA REGIONAL thing from the mid 90s of a stand alone profit centre flying hand me down mainline or second hand aircraft while everyone else in market buys more efficient new builds. Even IAG's Vueling and Iberia Express have new NEOs, the fact BA EUROFLYER don't, suggests to me the Finance team basically said the business case to ask IAG for new aircraft was too weak.

I would however, love to be wrong on this.

The only routes I could see having a chance from MAN would be to cater for the 'Cheshire Set' ski routes in winter and the Málaga and Greece summer breaks. As has been said, all adequately covered by the low costs. Is there a market for those that, how shall I put this, would rather not sit with the Ryanair rif raf?
I really don't know. 😁

They briefly tried FAO during Covid with very high Club class loads until new convenient Covid variants were made up and that put an end to that little experiment.

The notion that Euroflyer can’t support new aircraft is incorrect. It’s simply cheaper to fly the NEO from Heathrow.

Nothing wrong with old airframes in the right place- just look at Jet2 flying 733s ex LBA - right now.

I have a friend who still flies BA over EasyJet or Ryan- she can't be the only one.

MAN-AMS,BCN,PRG,MAD, Nice, Madeira, TLV (when things calm down) plus Greece, Spain and Italy and bit of Turkey in summer and Ski and some Canaries winter. for starters. Need some tie in to OTAs and tour operators.

EDI (not GLA) is a bit more difficult but broadly similar.

I'm sure I will get shot down.

I wouldn't worry about being 'shot down'. I happens to me all the time on here!
It's fine, as long as you don't say something or suggest something positive about Gatwick or a development at BA.:ugh:

There is still a huge gap at MAN as a result of the demise of TCX and MON, there are thousands of seat missing monthly that no other operator has fully made up for, seat only sales are pretty much confined to FR and EZY, to many destinations, J2 and TUI are not interested in seat only sales preferring to concentrate on the IT market.

LGW has in the IAG family BAEF, Vueling etc, BAEF or Vueling would bring much needed capacity to MAN.

Vuelling and Iberia Express already operate through MAN. Only a few flights a week to BCN and MAD but it's there.