........& Norwegian obviously thought it wasn't £60m worth it.

To be fair to BA, you have to look at things in context.

After 9/11, the airline was heavily in debt which resulted in a near decade long freeze on new long-haul aircraft deliveries. There was also laundry list of legacy issues that needed fixing, particularly at London Heathrow. Remember when every summer was known for wildcat strikes by LHR groundstaff?

BA has returned to a lot of markets it had previously withdrawn from (Belfast, Dublin, Inverness, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, The Seychelles) so it’s not surprising to see it return to growth at LGW now the business is in much better shape financially.

Think Qatar Airways were rumored to have wish to start twice daily service to DOH
But lacked slots.Dont they own 20% of IAG.

In fairness to BA the world has changed; relying on LHR would suffocate their business in a way that it wouldn't have done in the past (and it doesn't look like the never ending effing about re the third runway will end before a fifth one is needed).

And on the other hand; Aer Lingus of course also built up operations at Gatwick at one point...

One not insignificant point: Is it certain that the court case on the slots is over?

ACL should in theory be able to request permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

I believe ACL ruled out an appeal.

Given Norwegian’s strong growth in LGW short haul has plateaued, it’s a shame they’re not giving BA a run for their money. BA do finally, after so very long, have a lean, mean, money making machine at Gatters.

BA will fly Level out of LGW and take on Norwegian one LoCo Long Haul market.

Jolly good...I`m sure MAG have NAX on speed dial...

I can assure you that LEVEL will not be flying from LGW.

London is BA territory and LGW and the British Airways operation won't have LEVEL entering the London market and dilute it's current market, plus British Airways is a well known brand and has a loyal customer base and with BA making their LGW based 777's into a high density layout why would they need LEVEL to take on Norwegian as they are more or less doing that already.

LEVEL is for European ops such as BCN, FCO, ORY and a big maybe in the future we may see them at MAN but definitely not at LGW.

I am not sure why some people can't seem to accept that in London it will be BA doing most of the long haul not Level. BA is the recognised brand and at Gatwick with newly refurbished, densified and fully paid for 777s will be able to compete effectively with Norwegian. Level maybe used more in the regions. At the moment the strategy for Level appears to be establishing other European bases for long haul.

Can absolutely second that about Level, I really doubt Gatwick is going to become a base anytime soon. I think if it does appear on UK shores it will be introducing something different to BA - possibly even utilising 321’s and operating to places like Providence and Stewart.

So people are delusional? Insert level at Lgw eventually lhr, IAG codeshares. Slash legacy contracts maximise profit and compete with Norwegian on a higher level! Seems obvious to all those except the ones trying to cling to a legacy contract. Do you BA boys still have your rediculous scope agreement??

"densified and fully paid for 777s will be able to compete effectively with Norwegian"

Then why didn't they do that with Iberia aeroplanes out of Barcelona, why create the new brand?

The point is that they need the new brand to be low cost long haul and to not tarnish the premium brand that is BA.

Also to fly the low cost long haul I am sure they would like much lower operating costs than BA affords them.

IAG want to destroy Norwegian and Level is their weapon of choice.

Listen to this podcast with Willie Walsh if you want to know how it's going to work.

https://www.routesonline.com/news/29...ost-long-haul/

Why not use Vueling? Or Iberia Express? Why add a fourth Spanish AOC?
Perhaps Iberia is still seen as the Spanish flag carrier, the brand is not in the same place in Catalonia, that BA is in Surrey. But Level has zero brand recognition in the UK market and BA’s costs at Gatwick are pretty close to Norwegian levels now.

West Sussex skip :-)

Not for long haul they are not!

We will see. None of us know for sure.

Well seeing you say 'None of us know for sure' you have clearly put 'Not' twice in your original comment so obviously you know better!

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A320 G-ZBAU returned to Luton from Kemble yesterday.