GATWICK

[True Blue]

Right. Strange the press release on their site is dated today timed at 14.00 hrs. Other than a reference recently to a planned Oakland service on another site, I have not seen any previous press release from Norwegian on this news. Must look for better sources.

[MKY661]

Monarch just announced new route to Gibraltar. This is gonna be fun :D

Also Lisbon and Almeria also being added and Gran Canaria is returning.

[Seljuk22]

eff 27MAR16 London Gatwick – New York JFK 4 weekly (daily from 12MAY16)
eff 28MAR16 London Gatwick – Los Angeles 2 weekly (3 weekly from 10MAY16, 4 weekly from 02SEP16)
eff 11MAY16 London Gatwick – Ft. Lauderdale 1 weekly
eff 01SEP16 London Gatwick – Oakland 2 weekly
eff 04SEP16 London Gatwick – Boston 2 weekly
Norwegian Updates Planned Boeing 787-9 Operation in S16 | Airline Route (http://airlineroute.net/2015/12/27/dy-789update2/)

[Deep and fast]

With Easyjet dumping the Moscow route in March, anyone know if another operator is saying they will pick it up?

It was full again today and I paid £640 return with bag!

[adfly]

Looks as though it will be approximately 3 based 789's and 1 788 based off the current schedule. There is about 4 weekly 'free' slots based on this, so there could be some frequency increases or another route, or it could simply be allocated days of rest. This presumably means 1 788 and 1 789 will be available for Norwegian to expand the rest of their long haul operation.

[cornishsimon]

Didn't BA want run LGW-Moscow when U2 were awarded it?
Wonder if they will look at it again ?


cs

[CabinCrewe]

never say never, but given they have cut capacity at LHR I highly doubt LGW will see Moscow with BA, especially with current political climate

[EI-BUD]

CS

I believe that it was Virgin who had their hat in the ring for the route to Moscow but then easyJet were awarded it.

EasyJet announced some months ago that the route was to go, saying that they wouldn't role out at return to the route at a later date when conditions improve politically, Carolyn McCall also sighted high via costs as a reason for the poor economics of the route. I guess Christmas is an extreme example when fares will be higher. In the round it hasn't been stacking up, and it used to be x2 daily in each direction...

[Deep and fast]

Yeah I can't see BA running it either. As for economics of the route, the prices and aircraft loads haven't changed much in the time the route has been running. Taking into account the frequency reduction.
With Transaero gone this leaves BA and Aeroflot which is not great. Maybe S7 or Wizz would be a good addition. Easyjet should not be allowed to retain the route licence if they are pulling out. And maybe they're chasing "easyier" cash elsewhere.
Been travelling there for years originally on the Bmi.

[AvTom]

With the upcoming Terminal rearrangements couldn't BA just move all operations in Pier 3?

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

With the upcoming Terminal rearrangements couldn't BA just move all operations in Pier 3?
There's only eight gates for heavies and BA have 5-6 on the ground at once in the morning, so I don't think there's the room.

[Septic Calling]

Perhaps LGW could operate a schedule activated management system to better order the arrival stream and free up some capacity?

[Ethiopia]

WestJet announces year-round service to London Gatwick (http://aviationtribune.com/airlines/north-america/item/3106-westjet-announces-year-round-service-to-london-gatwick)

[BFS BHD]

Just announced Ryanair are starting London Gatwick to Belfast International Airport from 27th March 2016, 4x daily flights. On sale now!

Welcome to Ryanair! (http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/news/160107-new-belfast-base-no-77/?market=en)

[Seljuk22]

FR will increase DUB to 7 times a day next summer
Welcome to Ryanair! (http://corporate.ryanair.com/news/news/160107-extra-flights-from-dublin-to-london-gatwick/?market=ie)

[T250]

Have Wizz air ever expressed any interest in operating out of LGW?

They're at Luton and even Bristol now.

[canberra97]

Wizzair have in the past operated from London Gatwick but it was a very short lived affair of a matter of a few months about 10 years or so too Warsaw.

Other former UK destinations for Wizzair are

Bournemouth
Coventry
Durham Tees Valley
London Stansted
Prestwick

[canberra97]

Avtom

With approximately 26 based aircraft and around 55 routes served from LGW how would you expect BA using just pier 3 the satellite be a good idea seeing it only has 8 gates plus as Skipness has pointed out BA has upto 6 777s on the ground at the same time during the morning.

[vectisman]

Agreed Canberra on Pier 3 not being enough. Actually BA will have 37 based aircraft at Gatwick in the summer. 26 Airbus and 11 Boeing 777.

V.

[Flitefone]

Agreed Canberra on Pier 3 not being enough. Actually BA will have 37 based aircraft at Gatwick in the summer. 26 Airbus and 11 Boeing 777.

V.

Are you sure about that? I believe the correct number is nearer 15 A320 series this year..

FF

[adfly]

I believe it is the 10 second hand A320's, plus 5 ex BMI ones and the 11 ex BMI A319's.

[Flitefone]

I believe it is the 10 second hand A320's, plus 5 ex BMI ones and the 11 ex BMI A319's.

Its much less than that - believe the BA fleet at LGW is not more than 25 aircraft total inc 777s - the ex BMI fleet of Airbus is based at LHR now for most part.

FF

[vectisman]

Sorry flitefone but you are incorrect. At the moment there are 10 A320 based at Gatwick and 11 ex BMI A319 until March. A tenth G-GAT** will join them in April along with 4 more ex BMI A320 from LHR for the summer season. Other airbus from LHR also supplement at times to cover maintenance and at times to increase their utilisation. At the moment there are 10 Boeing 777 based but will be joined by an 11th when Gatwick-New York starts in May. The number of routes and flights has increased quite a bit in the last couple of years. You can always check by looking at the BA Jet Tracker at BA Source. Choose an aircraft and check where they are flying to and from. For Summer 2016 I stick by my total of 37.
Hope thius helps.


V.

[vectisman]

In fact today one A320 and one A319 are flying from Gatwick that are normally based at Heathrow. The G-GAT* tend to stay at Gatwick but most of the others can swap around. Now the Boeing 7373 are gone and there are Airbus pilot bases at both airports it make it easier.

[vectisman]

Apologies for grammar errors but edit isn't working me!!
V.

[Flitefone]

Sorry flitefone but you are incorrect. At the moment there are 10 A320 based at Gatwick and 11 ex BMI A319 until March. A tenth G-GAT**....


V.

Thanks Vectis, my own BA sources report differently - time will tell I guess, with the 60+ ezy that makes a lot of overnight Airbus.
FF

[vectisman]

I believe that 3 BA airbus overnight at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Jersey. The majority of the 777 are also away from base overnight. Easyjet also have night stops, maybe about half a dozen. Some of their (Easyjet) early morning arrivals are also on aircraft based elsewhere.
I agree though, there are a lot of might stopping aircraft during the summer. When returning from trips to Paphos which tend to arrive around 2230/2330 or later as you taxi in you can many aircraft parked up for the night. Most stands are used, remote or otherwise.


V.

[yotty]

Flitephone, there are 10 A320s, 11 A319s, and 10 772s based at LGW. As vectisman says there are often substitutions from LHR to cover maint. I'm not sure where you are getting your info from but it is wrong! :=

[Filler Dent]

Vectisman - EasyJet have 25 to 30 night stoppers at LGW most of the time. Everywhere you look there's one.

[planedrive]

Filler, what Vectisman meant was that of the LGW based easyJet fleet, some of those nightstop elsewhere. There are over 60 EZY airbus' based at Gatwick.

[longboat]

Of general interest, but could anyone "in tune" with LGW schedules possible advise the current status of flights to/from Sierra Leone? I understand that an airline, Fly Salone, may be operating with a leased Icelandair 757....would this be on a scheduled or part-charter/scheduled-charter basis? Freetown does not seem to appear as a destination from LGW on the official (LGW) website, at least not in the drop-downlist of destinations served.
Also are there any rumours or plans for BA to re-start ops to FNA?
Thanks.

[Filler Dent]

Filler, what Vectisman meant was that of the LGW based easyJet fleet, some of those nightstop elsewhere. There are over 60 EZY airbus' based at Gatwick.

Yeah, after a re-read I see what he means. :ugh: Been a long day.....

Night stopping fewer aircraft away from Base saves costs for sure.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

There's only ~40 on terminal stands at the North Terminal, some of which don't have an airbridge for the right hand stand.

http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/pamslight/pdf/4e415453/EG/C/EN/Charts/AD/EG_AD_2_EGKK_2-2_en

The BA based short haul fleet at LGW consists of
- 11 ex BMI A319s G-DBCA-K
- 1 ex BMED A320 G-MEDK
- 9 second hand A320s with the tenth having fallen through due to QA issues, the 10th is currently at Woensdrecht.

For the summer peak a number of LHR based A319s are rotated through as required but BA are still not even half the size of easyJet in short haul.

[True Blue]

I was under the impression that Garuda was moving to Lhr at the start of the summer timetable. Flights from Lgw are still showing right into the summer. Are they still moving?

TB

[heneghan_j]

Hi Guys,

I've been member on here for a while but haven't posted on the Gatwick page.

In regards to Garuda Indonesia, I was under the same impression about their transfer to LHR. However I've just seen a recent article from Anna Aero who have a piece about Garuda at Gatwick and they clearly explain that they are committed to LGW as there is demand from that region for their service.

It also states they are looking to make the service non-stop to Jakarta this year. Let's see what happens as things change on a daily basis!

Check out the link below

anna.aero meets with Garuda Indonesia at WTM in London (http://www.anna.aero/2015/11/04/anna-aero-meets-with-garuda-indonesias-gm-for-the-uk-ireland/)

[davidjohnson6]

heneghanj - welcome to the Gatwick thread and hope you get as much out of it as others do.

Sorry to be picky but the Garuda interview at anna.aero wad published on 04-Nov-2015 while news about Garuda moving to Heathrow came out in public around 18-Nov-2015, about two weeks later. While it may have been based entirel on correct info at the time, I'm not sure we can rely too much on the contents of the interview in 2016.

[canberra97]

The article you posted was from the WTM in October 2015, I think you can discount what the General Manager for UK & Ireland Jubi Prasetyo actually says as obviously the situation has changed since that article was written and I think Garuda actually made a press release in November regarding the transfer of their Jakarta route from LGW to LHR commencing at the end of March 2016 at the beginning of the IATA summer season and have supposedly gained a few evening slots with departures from Terminal 4 sharing with other Skyteam members and connections.

I have googled several times but can not find any schedule for LHR so it may be the fact that Garuda were not able to obtain the appropriate slots for their planned schedule from LHR or have decided to stay at LGW at least until they can find suitable slots at LHR.

I personally would like to see Garuda remain at LGW but looking at it from the airlines perspective it makes far more sense for them to transfer to LHR and move in with fellow Skyteam members at Terminal 4.

[G-AWZK]

longboat

Fly Salone have ACMI'd the aircraft in and flights should be showing on the LGW webpage.

BA have not shown any interest in restarting FNA since they pulled out back in 2014.

[Charley B]

Garuda
I have just checked a date in May and flights are giving no info for LGW but coming up with actual fare prices for LHR..so sadly think they are going to LHR when they said :(

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

http://www.anna.aero/2015/11/04/anna-aero-meets-with-garuda-indonesias-gm-for-the-uk-ireland/

Jubi Prasetyo: “Well firstly it has taken 12 years for us to be able to get this service back into the UK so this time we have returned with a completely different product that is not just a service but an experience on the new 777s that we have. The route has been performing as we have expected and we have seen strong loads between 75%-80% which is very promising to see within the first 12 months. What is of interest though is how well the route between London Gatwick and Amsterdam has been performing. We have seen that weekend breaks have been very popular and flights have shown to have a load factor of around 90% during that part of the week.”OK so is that 75%-80% between where?
LGW-AMS
AMS-(SIN)-CGK

To be anything like profitable it's got to be the LON-AMS-CGK figure I think, which would mean 37-40% of the load is starting from London, probably less? I suspect he means they've filled 80% on one or two days, and that's been presented to look like an average load factor when it's a max load factor. My experience on this run has been great service and almost no passengers sadly.

[True Blue]

Well Garuda is still showing Lgw flights for me, GA 88 and 89 right through to May.

[AvGeek1]

I was just thinking that isn't it about time Etihad or Qatar started Gatwick flights. With the success of Emirates at Gatwick, Cathay starting Hong Kong flights in September and Heathrow not expanding anytime soon surely they could sustain a daily flight that hits main connection banks to compete with Emirates. They could also use aircraft like the 787-8/9 for this route.

I also thought that Qatar had announced Gatwick with the 787-8 due to commence in May but it never went ahead.

What are your thoughts?

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Etihad used to run an A343 from the North Terminal and Qatar an A333 from the South, later the North, however both moved to consolidate London operations at LHR. The only way they'd do a Cathay and return I think is if they couldn't grow any more at LHR. However both a re growing, Etihad are slowly moving to all A380 and Qatar have managed to source a few more slots as well as upsizing from A330 / A319 (no really) to A380.

Etihad left end of Summer 2006, Qatar end of summer 2011. Emirates do really well but they are quite literally exceptional.

[adfly]

Looks as though Thomas Cook are flying twice a week to Orlando from the end of May. Was looking as though Dubai was going to overtake it as the busiest long haul route but given the shear number of flights on it this summer I am not so sure.

BA - 13 weekly 772
DU - 2 weekly 788
TCX - 2 weekly 332
TOM - 2 weekly 788 (SFB)
VS - 18 weekly 744

Factor in the following from Stansted:

TCX - 10 weekly 332
TOM - 1 weekly 788 (SFB)

Looks as though London to Orlando will be the busiest it has been in some time this year!

[CabinCrewe]

10 weekly from STN ?

[True Blue]

There has been some speculation about Norwegian going east from Lgw. Why would Singapore not be considered? I've never seen it mentioned. I think I am right in thinking that Singapore has had open skies for years now. Any thoughts?

TB

[Logohu]

Why would Singapore not be considered? I've never seen it mentioned. I think I am right in thinking that Singapore has had open skies for years now. Any thoughts?

One of the most expensive cities in Asia, if not the world. Competing nearby destinations in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia etc offer the tourist far more in terms of beach resorts, value for money etc.

As far as the airline industry goes, lots of LCC competition already from the likes of Scoot, Tiger, Jetstar, Air Asia etc, while SIA and the MEB3 have the connecting/stopover/business/convention traffic sown up.

By starting with the North Atlantic for their initial foray into longhaul low cost Norwegian chose well. Very high traffic volume, generally lousy competition and with a high cost base, so relatively easy pickings for them. They will need to tread a bit more carefully when venturing east....

[toledoashley]

South Africa would be a good market for Norwegian, although it looks like Thomas Cook as got in early there. Also some cities in Latin America - BA have already seen the potential with Costa Rica and Peru. Asia would be a tough one.

[Betablockeruk]

Garuda Indonesia to launch non-stop Heathrow-Jakarta service (http://buyingbusinesstravel.com/news/2825259-garuda-indonesia-launch-non-stop-heathrow-jakarta-service)

and so the cycle repeats.

[Heathrow Harry]

good value - especially in Business Class

[adfly]

Starting 3x weekly Santiago De Compostela for 30th March.

Vueling announces flights between London-Gatwick and Santiago de Compostela « vuelingnews. La información al punto de Vueling (http://vuelingnews.com/2016/01/20/vueling-announces-flights-between-london-gatwick-and-santiago-de-compostela-2/?lang=en)

[Aero Mad]

Intriguingly, it seems BA Cityflyer is to operate some LGW-JER/EDI flights on the weekend of 27-8 Feb. Is this part of a wider programme of flying (have I missed something)? I had thought there were Scope agreements which prevented such ops; seemingly not.

[cornishsimon]

Scope yes
Doesn't cover mainline chartering cityflyer to operate for them as they do others !

My guess is it's due to staffing issues at LGW.


cs

[kcockayne]

I'm not sure about this but, haven't City Flyer operated one or two Gatwick flights in the recent past ?

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

BA are feeling stronger than they were, outsourced below the wing, Engineering cover (allegedly) going soon, SCOPE has gotta be in their sights. It would allow them to be so much more effective in certain markets.

[yotty]

kcockayne, I think a few flights have diverted to LGW due poor viz at LCY. Not sure if there have been any scheduled stuff.

[kcockayne]

Thinking harder about it, I distinctly remember seeing FR24s arr/dep pages at Gatwick & Jersey showing E195s on a couple of occasions (it may have been Nov 2015) on Sat/Sun. I didn't actually see the a/c involved though - so it could well have been an error.

[Deep and fast]

Hope Norwegian pick up the Moscow route if east is the rumour.

[T250]

Highly doubt Moscow is in Norwegian's sights, if it didn't work for easy why will it work for them? :hmm:

[rutankrd]

Highly doubt Moscow is in Norwegian's sights, if it didn't work for easy why will it work for them

Sanctions and resulting economical recession in Russia with harder VISA requirements in both directions have done for the EasyJet Moscow services for the time being.

From the UK side no one else in the flexible fares bracket is likely to try again any time soon.

For certain Norwegian wouldn't even get the traffic rights if they tried.(Needs to be a UK or Russian registered carrier)

Russia/UK bi-literals are very restrictive, hence the former Transeuro code share arrangement with EasyJet.

Those Bi-laterals are probably the reason S7 can't get traffic rights into the Oneairline hub either.

Sure they need a UK carrier to match and whom would give it a go ?

[Deep and fast]

Flights to and from Moscow were always full so I very much doubt visa issues were to blame. Been getting a Russ visa for years and with the exception of biometrics, nothing has changed uk to Russia.
The other way is not that different either, it was alway difficult.
Doesn't Norwegian have a uk aoc for the 787 ops?
Transaero operated into Lhr prior to the codeshare with easy so I assumed they got the route partially after bmi stopped.

Easy maybe just diverting resources to more profitable routes?

[Need to Know Basis]

Correct Norwegian holds an AOC in the UK & Ireland & Norway. Hold UK AOC means it can take any bi-lateral it wishes. EZY no longer flies to DME therefore any UK airline can take over. Although you will not see Norwegian in Moscow because it needs two way traffic.....natuarlly. Someone said east ? If it was east then BKK first. Maybe DEL or BOM after. LGW-BKK and BHX-DEL or BOM.

[globetrotter79]

Remember also that some bi-lateral air service agreements between the UK and non-EU countries have historically also had an ownership restriction whereby the operating carrier had to be able to prove that they were majority owned in the country from which they intended to operate.


The UK DfT has progressively sought to amend any such remaining bi-laterals in order that, even if the partner country will only accept a UK-AOC holder rather than more generally an AOC-holder from within the EU, they might accept that the carrier might hold a UK AOC even though they are not majority owned here (such was the case for example, when Monarch was Swiss owned but a UK-AOC wishing to fly scheduled services between UK and Egypt etc)


I'm not sure whether this 'ownership' restriction is still in place between the UK and Russia (or indeed, India, Thailand or anywhere else outside the EU that has been mooted as possible destinations for Norwegian)...

[True Blue]

Will the new base announced today by Norwegian in Rome result in any additional flights into Lgw, like an early morning arrival as well as the existing evening service?

TB

[Surreyman]

Change of Plan: -

"Gatwick has delayed the forthcoming reshuffle of carriers at the airport until early 2017.

The move had been scheduled to take place this November, with British Airways moving its entire operations from the North to the South Terminal, Easyjet consolidating within the North Terminal, and Virgin Atlantic switching from the South to the North Terminal.

However following recent discussions with all parties involved, Gatwick has decided to shift this date until January 25, 2017.

Commenting on the decision, the airport's communications manager Camilla Wrey said:

“January is a great time in the operational calendar after the busy Christmas period, and before the February half term ski getaway.

“If we look back to the beginning of last year, we were talking about the moves taking place around November 2016, but once we all got into the detailed planning, and worked together to understand all the interdependencies and the full scope of the programme, it was mutually decided that January 2017 is the optimum timeframe.”

BA closed its lounge at Gatwick’s North Terminal in January, to allow for construction work to take place on Virgin's forthcoming lounge at the terminal (see news September 22, 2015).

Eligible BA passengers currently have access to the No. 1 Traveller lounge at the terminal".

[T250]

Where's your source on all this?

[daz211]

I also seen this news, it was reported on the business traveller website
Via uk-airport-news. :ok:

[adfly]

The (very) early release of the Summer 2017 long haul schedule shows no major changes for LGW, however it is good to see that TCX have slowly started to increase it again from a low of just 3 weekly flights last year (2x Cancun + 1x Holguin).

Cancun - 2 weekly
Cayo Coco - 1 weekly
Holguin - 1 weekly
Orlando - 3 weekly (2 weekly in S16)

[Zorua]

Hello!

Ryanair resumes ALC-LGW route from 31 of October with 6 weekly flights, daily flights except Sunday :) The new route is now on sale in Ryanair's web.

ALC - LGW
FR2714: 15:25 - 17:05 - 1/3/5
FR2714: 08:10 - 09:50 - 2/4/6
LGW-ALC
FR2715: 17:35 - 21:05 - 1/3/5
FR2715: 10:25 - 13:55 - 2/4/6

A greeting!

[True Blue]

Vueling seems to be starting a route to Asturias this summer. I think it is 5 a week.

[canberra97]

Re Vueling LGW TO ASTURIUS

Iberia Express have also just released details regarding their new flights from LHR to Asturius for summer 2016, seems rather strange for Vueling to also start flights to this northern Spanish city, with Easyjet also on the route ex STN that's a huge increase in the amount of seats available to this destination.

[kcockayne]

Competition is King ! All hail "competition !

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Came through Gatwick North today, once through airside I note that the splitting of the former gates 57-63 to 557-574, more suited to more A320/B737 types is finally finished! Yaaay.

In other news, everything else has gone to Hell. easyJet bag drop is now downstairs in a windowless basement (formerly Intl Arrivals) and an army of the minimum wage brigade in dayglo yellow is on hand upstairs to tell you to go back downstairs. Well, some of them can, the few who can speak English that is. The main security was closed for "reasons" and so we were, let's run with "directed" down the end to a new security hall which has adopted the approach designed by those who had never set foot in an airport before. You know, the one that made EDI an international laughing stock.

Queue, then be told to stand on a number. Of course should you not have English language skills, man shouts and points. Two lanes of trays, six feet to stand on, no logical flow and then you are expected to pick up your enormous plastic tray on the other side and carry it off across the room to a stand up desk to empty it. This is what GIP did at EDI where it was a proven failure. It astonishes me, and the staff I spoke to, they think the same dogs breakfast will work at Gatwick.

Shame as Gatwick South kinda just works.

[True Blue]

Have to say, passed through North terminal a few days ago, didn't experience any of this with security, has it changed very recently?

Re the Easyjet bag drop, I think it is great, same level as the train station. You would need to be a complete clown to miss it, it is large and very well sign posted.

Always have a very pleasant experience passing through this terminal.

[AvGeek1]

I have also never had any problems with the North Terminal, I have always found it brilliant and the queues are very short, apart from the queues at the EZY check-in/bag drop, that's why flying with BA just makes it better, no queues to be seen, even in the peak season.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

A "complete clown" you say? I guess we were all clowns as there were so many staff on hand to redirect. The passenger flow was changed to get customers to use the lifts from the transit to departures which people do, next to a huge sign saying "DEPARTURES". You know, where it was last time. Of course it's now on the same level, which people now learn by going the wrong way and being redirected, hence the many, many people in yellow redirecting.
Clearly we're all complete clowns.

Arrival back was also chaos as UK BORDER is being rebuilt and only three eborders gates in use. Ten shiny new ones being tested. It'll be nice when it's finished.

Btw, fly at peak times and queues are a nightmare, LGW has waves, best avoid peak.

[rod_1986]

Did you not listen to Alex on the shuttle over?

'Proceed straight ahead to the bag drop area...'

You would have to be a complete clown to miss it.

You're right on the security though. I took one look at the queue at the far end of the hall the other day and then turned straight back and found that the security next to the BA desks was open, and a lot quieter. :ok:

[fanrailuk]

Media reports LGW is closed due to a "spillage"

Looks like flights are diverting all over the place!

[T250]

Clearly we're all complete clowns.

Funny how you get so offended by being called the above.

Maybe you want to also edit your post to remove what some others might find offensive in how you describe minimum wage brigade

If you're going to 'give it' then you should also be able to 'take it' :oh::E

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

OK fair point.
In terms of a customer experience it's not great when the business needs to have manual intervention by temp staff whom they pay peanuts to parrot one message and are told nothing else.
One used to get off the transit and enter the terminal at the same level and go upstairs to departures. Then along came the extension where customers were "encouraged" to take the lifts immediately on exiting the transit and go upstairs before enetering the building. Frequent travellers are often now so conditioned :) and now need to be redirected back from whence they came. So job done in changing behaviour only to have to change it back again !

Did you not listen to Alex on the shuttle over?
I heard it on the way back, still didn't register. And as a serious point, people are so bombarded with trivial announcements that many just tune them out, and so the helpful ones are lost. That's a quantifiable human behaviour, the sheer volume of random PA's while I waited for my train back is evidence of that. People pop the headphones in and ignore that 95% noise, missing the little useful gem.

The security guy I got chatting to agreed the EDI system was likely to cause massive headaches in the summer, because once again, it needs someone to instruct you manually, and assumes you speak English. Good design just W O R K S without all of the manual faff.

Now excuse me, am off back to the circus !

[racedo]

Spent a weekend in Dublin and wondering is the bussing of arriving passengers now the permanent solution or is it a temporary fix ?

[Bagso]

New Gatwick Express fleet heralds start of airport?s rail revolution ? with tube-like frequency and doubling of capacity in just two years | London Gatwick: Obviously (http://www.gatwickobviously.com/news/new-gatwick-express-fleet-heralds-start-airport%E2%80%99s-rail-revolution-%E2%80%93-tube-frequency-and-doubling)

Well we might not be seeing a rail revolution up North but thank goodness the government recognises the merit of a truly fantastic investment for passengers in the Northern Powerhouse anyway as news reaches us of the £6.5 bn (£6500,000,000m) Thameslink upgrade.

Essentially passengers in Liverpool Manchester and Leeds should now be able to get to Gatwick in half the time it takes now with sparkling new fast trains to central London every few minutes.

With no scheduced air service I'm personally euphoric that the train is finally "taking the strain".

Great to see taxpayer funds from up here at last be used in a thoroughly sensible manner providing great connectivity to the South East!

[OldBristolFreighter]

I've just checked 2 weeks "LGW's own" on airport parking only to find it's gone up 50%+ since I checked several weeks ago. Indeed, it is now seriously more expensive than LHR equivalent.
I tried alternative dates, all just the same.
Simple greed I suppose. :oh:

[Fairdealfrank]

New Gatwick Express fleet heralds start of airport?s rail revolution ? with tube-like frequency and doubling of capacity in just two years | London Gatwick: Obviously (http://www.gatwickobviously.com/news/new-gatwick-express-fleet-heralds-start-airport%E2%80%99s-rail-revolution-%E2%80%93-tube-frequency-and-doubling)

Well we might not be seeing a rail revolution up North but thank goodness the government recognises the merit of a truly fantastic investment for passengers in the Northern Powerhouse anyway as news reaches us of the £6.5 bn (£6500,000,000m) Thameslink upgrade.

Essentially passengers in Liverpool Manchester and Leeds should now be able to get to Gatwick in half the time it takes now with sparkling new fast trains to central London every few minutes.
Be interesting to see how a high-frequency, train every 3 minutes, service can be obtained on that line. It is notorious for delays at present and, like LHR rwys, operates at or above capacity most of the time.

[TurboTomato]

I've just checked 2 weeks "LGW's own" on airport parking only to find it's gone up 50%+ since I checked several weeks ago. Indeed, it is now seriously more expensive than LHR equivalent.
I tried alternative dates, all just the same.
Simple greed I suppose.

Then use one of the off site operators that offer meet & greet. Probably still cheaper than parking on site.

[vctenderness]

I guess it's because we are fast approaching the first big holiday of the year, Easter.

Flights, car parks, hotels etc will increase. Try the Summer Special site which will be much cheaper and is very close to North Terminal.

[AvGeek1]

Virgin Atlantic flight 6 from Miami to Heathrow is diverting to Gatwick. It is operated by the 787-9.

[canberra97]

Arrived at LGW on Tuesday afternoon and noticed two similar structures in place at stands 154 and 155 in the cargo area, they look like temporary hanger like buildings but not hangers, does anyone know what they are intended for.

Also does anyone have a date for when the new Pier 1 opens as it looks to be at least 95% complete.

[yotty]

http://www.crawley.gov.uk/pub_livx/groups/operational/documents/plapp/pub274255.pdf Now Virgin are no longer doing EasyJets A319/20/21s.:)

[Blink182]

Arrived at LGW on Tuesday afternoon and noticed two similar structures in place at stands 154 and 155 in the cargo area, they look like temporary hanger like buildings but not hangers, does anyone know what they are intended for.~

New 2 Bay Hangar for Lufthansa Technics........about to be taking over the Easyjet servicing contract.

Yotty beat me to it !

[cornishsimon]

BA just announced LGW-CPT 3 weekly from November.


cs

[Aksai Oiler]

CS what about Mogadishu?

[jdcg]

Think the BA LGW - CPT service is to kill off the Thomas Cook flight that's launching around the same time

[canberra97]

British Airways commences seasonal flights three times weekly from London Gatwick to Cape Town, South Africa on 24 November 2016.

BA0264 LGW 18.00 CPT 07.50 146 B772

BA0265 CPT 19.10 LGW 05.05 257 B772

British Airways have also confirmed that a forth 3 class 777 will be joining the LGW fleet for winter 2016 bringing it to a total of 12 Boeing 777 200ER's based at the airport.

I wonder what other long haul routes ex LGW will be announced, maybe a return to the Seychelles.

[True Blue]

With this recent announcement from BA and news that Aeroflot are looking for 2 daily slots to Moscow, is this the first stirrings of airlines trying to get slots at Lgw before they too disappear? Bearing in mind it could be 15 years before there is a third runway at lhr, if it is approved.

[CabinCrewe]

Wheres all the nay-sayers now saying BA long haul has had it? now NYC, and then CPT....

[wallp]

after Lima, Costa Rica, New York and now Cape Town, it makes me wonder where next for BA long haul at Gatwick?

Opportunities perhaps to places like Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Bangkok, Havana or Santiago?

[Flightrider]

Interesting to see Tianjin Airlines planning 2x weekly LGW-Chongqing-Tianjin with their new A330 this summer. That's definitely one that was impossible to predict!!

[nguba]

after Lima, Costa Rica, New York and now Cape Town, it makes me wonder where next for BA long haul at Gatwick?

Opportunities perhaps to places like Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Bangkok, Havana or Santiago?

I definitely think we're likely to see more westbound routes. Eastbound routes are more difficult, unless there is strong premium demand (like Male) that will pay for a direct link over a stop in Dubai etc.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

Wheres all the nay-sayers now saying BA long haul has had it? now NYC, and then CPT.... Who said BA long haul "had it"? Straw man arguments don't help.

Some stats :
2005S ANU ATL BDA BGI DFW GND IAH KIN MCO TAB TPA UVF 12 destinations at 59 departures per week

2015S BDA BGI CUN GND KIN LAS MCO MRU PLS POS PUJ SKB TAB TPA UVF 15 destinations at 62 flights per week

Now between those two extremes for which I have data to hand, traffic fell to 46 departures per week in 2008S after Bermuda 2 was replaced allowing the old BCAL IAH/ATL/DFW routes to finally move to LHR. Growth since then has gotten them back to higher than the 2005 figure which was well down on hub days when we had B744s galore alongside B763s and based B777s.
Growth has come from leisure point to point where BA Holidays can sell good deals and where business customers can bust some accumulated AVIOS.

I was told again and again that JFK would not return as it was the lowest yielding LON-NYC rotation. However I suspect that the BA strategy has been tweaked to prevent Norwegian doing to BA long haul what easyJet did on short haul at Gatwick. Hence taking the fight to the competition with JFK coming back. Given the B777s are staying until end of life, there's scope for yet more hand me downs from LHR when enough B789s arrive. CPT was a very pleasant surprise although I was disappointed LAS was cut back, seemed like a very good LGW fit.

I only hope that they get use of the Satellite rather than the windowless gaterooms of Pier 2 when they get evicted, er willingly move out of the North Terminal to make way for easyJet.

[toledoashley]

With LAS, I think it was a case that they were getting a good feed out of LHR, and with the LGW it was just too much capacity - so LHR stayed.

You're quite right in saying there are still options out of LGW for BA if they want to explore them. Unlinking AUH & MCT, and moving MCT to LGW could be an interesting option, along with a much talked about SEZ (definitely 2x week would work on that).

Along with Norwegian, you also have Thomson - they are now flying to Phuket, Colombo, Mauritius - along with current BA routes like Orlando, Cancun & Punta Cana. With once a week rotations it would be easier for them to fill the aircraft though.

[AvGeek1]

I definitely think that there is more growth for BA at Gatwick, both in short-haul and long-haul. I think that for the long-haul, BA could add routes like Miami & Bangkok to serve the O&D market, but also to add extra capacity on these routes, with LHR not allowing this. For the short-haul side, I think there short-haul operation is very good now at LGW and they could be offering routes like Berlin (Tegel), Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Copenhagen, Paris and many others in the future. Any other suggestions?

[toledoashley]

The mantra clearly is 'Premium Leisure', although LHR has taken a few potential routes away (Palermo, Chania, Menorca & Gran Canaria). Maybe a return to Varna or Pula might be an interesting addition (or Tivat which EZY is starting this year). Given that Spain features highly on the agenda maybe even Almeria or Jerez.

[AvGeek1]

I was slightly confused as to why BA decided to launch all of those routes from LHR, as I find it is a waste of slots and all of these routes can operate successfully out of Gatwick, along with their array of leisure routes.

A certain trend of BA lately is to launch currently served routes from LHR at Gatwick, like Vienna and New York for example. This is why I was thinking routes like Paris, Berlin & Miami could be great for Gatwick. I was also thinking that BA could change their Milan operation so that flights to Milan Linate (for business & transfers) operate from LHR and flights to Milan Malpensa operate from LGW (for O&D traffic).

Other routes from BA that they could potentially operate in the future:

Montego Bay?
Phuket?
Dubai? (replace one of the LHR rotations with an LGW)
Havana?
San Francisco?

[nguba]

I was slightly confused as to why BA decided to launch all of those routes from LHR, as I find it is a waste of slots and all of these routes can operate successfully out of Gatwick, along with their array of leisure routes.

The LHR summer seasonal routes seem to work extremely well for BA. Premium loads are good and they are a better use of off peak departure and arrival slots than an extra off-peak rotation to FRA etc.

Also, one benefit of leisure routes over business routes is they book out much further in advance and there's much clearer visibility as to their performance.

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

It's not a waste of slots if you were previously forced to fly half empty at weekends just to hang onto slots.
Avgeek1 it's worth googling the previous BA hub at LGW and why it was closed. MBJ has been operated twice in recent years and keeps getting dropped, KIN remains the port of choice.
Why *would* you replace LHR-DXB with a LGW operation, what would be the business case? BA are struggling on LHR-BKK, Phuket is very price sensitive with almost no business traffic. The LIN/MXP split isn't as clear cut as you make out, they're both LHR routes in the same way JFK/EWR are both served. That's not to say BA couldn't go back to Milan yet again from Gatters :)

[daz211]

Just a quick Question, what terminal will Westjet be using at Gatwick ?
I have checked the Gatwick website but no mention of Westjet in the drop down section for Airlines, destinations and terminals.

[davidjohnson6]

Daz - this might help

Let me google that for you (http://bfy.tw/4xU9)

[daz211]

Lol ... Cheers davidjohnson6
I did try google at first but after going to Gatwicks website and no mention I decided to ask here 😜.

[canberra97]

Daz

You could have checked the LGW Wiki page as well, it's been noted that Westjet will be using the North Terminal for several months now, I always find it easier to search these type of things myself rather than rely on others for a delayed answer.

[strawberry Ribena]

Diverts galore tonight

[macuser]

Must be rough over gatwick tonight. Three overshoots -EZY, THOMSON and Norwegian

[macuser]

EZY from CHQ has just got in, others on the approach.

[macuser]

Bit of a lottery, diversions tonEMA, other EZY now landing, BA on approach...

[macuser]

BA and next EZY both overshot, another EZY next.

[macuser]

EZY overshot

[macuser]

EZY TLS just got in to LGW

[Ametyst1]

Three EZY Flights diverted from Gatwick to Liverpool in the early hours,(2 A320s, from Dalaman and Larnaca, and an A319 from Malaga.

Some BA Flights diverted to Birmingham and Manchester and Norwegian diverted to East Midlands.

[j636]

Aeroflot have slots for 3 weekly service to Moscow from July, had applied for 2 daily.

Wonder if it will be announced?

[Aero Mad]

Noting from the ACL report that having applied for 2x daily they have been given 3x weekly, and that a high proportion of the allocation is more than an hour from their requested slot times, the question is probably of whether or not they even have an aircraft spare. We will see.

[BAladdy]

EK are to add a 4th daily flight to DXB from 1st October 2016.

EK024 LGW 16:50 DXB 02:40+1
EK023 DXB 09:50 LGW 14:30

Flight will be operated by a 3 class 777-300ER

[adfly]

It is truly astounding how much capacity EK have from London now, I'd bet on this flight being an A380 by 2017! I also suspect LGW-DXB will break the 1 million annual passenger mark soon given it carried around 866,000 last year. EK will now have:

6x A380 LHR-DXB
3x A380 +1x 77W LGW-DXB

Plus
2x A380 LHR-DXB via Qantas.

Absolute madness!

[AvGeek1]

1. Barcelona – 1,338,598 (+6)
2. Dublin – 1,083,542 (+9)
3. Malaga – 1,041,356 (-1)
4. Amsterdam – 977,713 (+15)
5. Madrid – 906,550 (+26)
6. Dubai – 866,101 (+12)
7. Geneva – 844,939 (+3)
8. Alicante - 760,840 (-1)
9. Faro – 749,514 (+5)7
10. Tenerife – 739,089 (+1)
11. Orlando – 737,221 (+5)
12. Rome – 726,151 (+10)
13. Copenhagen – 724,417 (-1)
14. Palma de Mallorca – 710,848 (+3)
15. Edinburgh – 672,948 (-3)
16. Venice - 657,709 (+11)
17. Jersey – 649,377 (+7)
18. Nice - 649,357 (-4)
19. Glasgow – 612,497 (0)
20. Milan – 528,232 (+4)
21. Berlin – 523,645 (+27)
22. Belfast – 470,344 (+8)
23. Dalaman – 452,424 (-3)
24. Bridgetown – 433,135 (+6)
25. Lanzarote – 421,924 (+6)

[Skipness One Foxtrot]

It's no more "absolute madness" than the sheer volume of traffic on say LHR-JFK. Both are large O/D markets with great connections, however NYC has proportionally more P2P, DXB is more often a stop on the way to somewhere else. Emirates just have great connectivity, they're the number one choice if you're going long haul Eastwards. It's not as if they're reporting low load factors across the network.

Perhaps too many of us remember a daily stopping A300/A310 operation and part of our brains still asks "HOW??"

[adfly]

Of course, when I say madness I'm not inferring that it makes no financial sense, it is just astounding how rapidly and consistently Emirates have grown over the years. I would also assume that you mean they are the number 1 choice going eastbound, given that LGW-DXB-LAX isn't a particularly desirable routing (though I'm sure some tight-arse has done it for the sake of saving a few quid!).

[AvGeek1]

Does anyone know the short-haul British Airways schedule this summer including routes and their frequencies? Also if there has been any frequency increases or decreases compared to last summer?

[toledoashley]

That's a little tricky as BA are operating a 'high season' summer schedule as well.

[True Blue]

Tianjin Airlines starting Lgw end on June

Tianjin Airlines Adds London Gatwick Service from late-June 2016 | Airline Route (http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/04/gs-lgw-jun16/)

[Fairdealfrank]

Tianjin Airlines starting Lgw end on June


Yet another carrier enters the "waiting room".

[T250]

Of course, when I say madness I'm not inferring that it makes no financial sense, it is just astounding how rapidly and consistently Emirates have grown over the years. I would also assume that you mean they are the number 1 choice going eastbound, given that LGW-DXB-LAX isn't a particularly desirable routing (though I'm sure some tight-arse has done it for the sake of saving a few quid!).

Or maybe some people also like to spend some time in DXB and Dubai before their connecting flight? Just a thought... :rolleyes::hmm:

[AvGeek1]

Does anyone know what has replaced the BA Sharm el Sheikh flights? What route/s have the extra frequencies due to the suspension of the Sharm flights.

[True Blue]

Wizzair to start daily service to Bucharest from mid-June. Wonder if is the start of an expansion by them into Lgw?

[adfly]

Emirates are to codeshare with Westjet on their new LGW routes.

Emirates / WestJet Plans Trans-Atlantic Codeshares from May 2016 | Airline Route (http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/19/ekws-codeshare-may16/)

[AvGeek1]

British Airways as a busy couple of weeks as there new flights in San Jose de Costa Rice commence tomorrow, New York resumes on Sunday and Lima commences next Wednesday. I wonder how bookings for these flights have been going and if these routes will be a success.

Gatwick has added many new long-haul destinations recently with many carriers, is there room for anymore? I definitely think that Qatar or Etihad should be operating out of Gatwick and also Norwegian should be adding more routes like Bangkok and Las Vegas, destinations they serve from other long-haul bases.

Also does anyone know how Med-View Airlines have been performing with their flights to Lagos?

[AvGeek1]

The inaugural flight to New York with British Airways has just taken off. I wish BA the very best of luck with this route and hope it works this time. :ok:

[rutankrd]

The inaugural flight to New York with British Airways has just taken off. I wish BA the very best of luck with this route and hope it works this time.

IMO it won't as its slot sitting on the JFK end.

BA were using an AA slot out of Heathrow which they have now returned so they have this extra slot for the moment.

Should they want to increase the Heathrow service level again this will go away as sure as eggs are eggs !

[SealinkBF]

The inaugural flight to New York with British Airways has just taken off. I wish BA the very best of luck with this route and hope it works this time.

IMO it won't as its slot sitting on the JFK end.

BA were using an AA slot out of Heathrow which they have now returned so they have this extra slot for the moment.

Should they want to increase the Heathrow service level again this will go away as sure as eggs are eggs !

Or maybe when Norwegian go away ;-)

[PAXboy]

Happy birthday?
Images released to mark Gatwick Airport's 80th year - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36306944)

[DaveReidUK]

Happy birthday?
Images released to mark Gatwick Airport's 80th year - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36306944)

Nice bit of oneupmanship in advance of Heathrow's 70th birthday next week. :O

[True Blue]

I see Vueling has added early morning flights on their new Cdg route several days a week. When announced, it was only evening flights.

[True Blue]

Norwegian starting Las Vegas from the end of October, 2 weekly.

[adfly]

Norwegian Long Haul - W16/17

Boston - 4 weekly
Fort Lauderdale - 3 weekly
Las Vegas - 2 weekly
Los Angeles - 5 weekly
New York - 7 weekly
Oakland - 3 weekly
Orlando - 1 weekly
San Juan - 2 weekly

Presumably 4 789's based for the winter, as I believe it was on airlineroute recently that Gatwick was to go to an all 789 base this autumn.

[AvTom]

Does anyone know how many Monarch & BA aircraft are based at Gatwick?

[BAladdy]

BA have the following aircraft based at LGW

12 x A319 - G-DBCA/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K, G-EUOA
14 x A320 - G-GATH/J/K/L/M/N/P/R/S, G-MEDK, G-MIDO/S/T/Y
11 X 772ER - G-VIIO/P/R/T/U/V/W/Y, G-YMMD/R/S

[monarch767]

ZB atm is:

2 x A320
8 x A321

[Seljuk22]

How many does EZY have?

[True Blue]

Norwegian expanding at Lgw in 2017.

Reading an article where they are saying New York will be 2 daily next year, with Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco all daily.

[Skipness One Echo]

Link please, that would mean six based B787s......

[kcockayne]

Seljuk 22
I don't know precisely; but to answer your question (seeing as no one else has), approximately 60.

[londoncornish]

Does anyone know when Pier 1 at Gatwick South is due to open?

[j636]

Easyjet is to programme boarding pass scanners at LGW to reject any passengers who are passing security within 30 minute of scheduled departure.

BA have it at T5 in LHR.

[True Blue]

S1E

here is the link to the story. Comments I referred to are in about half way down the article.

Norwegian Reward ? the frequent flyer programme from Norwegian - Business Traveller (http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/norwegian-reward-a-the-frequent-flyer-programme)

[monarch767]

Pier 1 is open

[wallp]

Norwegian expanding at Lgw in 2017.

Reading an article where they are saying New York will be 2 daily next year, with Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco all daily.

It's great to see that in Norwegian, LGW seems to have an airline that's committed to long haul expansion rather than use the airport as a waiting room for LHR.

[canberra97]

monarch767

I flew into Gatwick late last Tuesday evening and arrived at Pier 2 and had a good view of the new Pier 1.

And although the new Pier 1 looks like it's completed the airside connection to the arrivals area was not open and no aircraft on any stands, the apron looks complete but had cones surrounding the stands.

So the question again.

When does the new Pier 1 open?

[Flitefone]

monarch767

I flew into Gatwick late last Tuesday evening and arrived at Pier 2 and had a good view of the new Pier 1.

And although the new Pier 1 looks like it's completed the airside connection to the arrivals area was not open and no aircraft on any stands, the apron looks complete but had cones surrounding the stands.

So the question again.

When does the new Pier 1 open?

Pier 1 is open, it is at least partly in use this week, I have seen it used by Monarch.


FF

[londoncornish]

I thought Pier 1 was just for Domestic (as its a replacement for the old domestic pier)?

[canberra97]

If you right it seems strange that Gatwick Airport made a big deal regarding press releases when the new reconfigured Pier 5 was completed as well as when the new Easyjet bag drop off area was open but NO press release regarding the opening of their new 180m£ Pier 1 and baggage facility.

I find it rather strange!

[Flitefone]

If you right it seems strange that Gatwick Airport made a big deal regarding press releases when the new reconfigured Pier 5 was completed as well as when the new Easyjet bag drop off area was open but NO press release regarding the opening of their new 180m£ Pier 1 and baggage facility.

I find it rather strange!

It is likely a soft opening, open, use, iron bugs out, then announcement.

FF

[canberra97]

Londoncornish

Pier 1 was not exclusively the domestic pier although the majority of flights were domestic, it was a multi use pier as will be the new one.

[Itchin McCrevis]

It's great to see that in Norwegian, LGW seems to have an airline that's committed to long haul expansion rather than use the airport as a waiting room for LHR.

hmm - you really sure that if the chance of slots at Heathrow came up they wouldn't take it?

[AvGeek1]

Does anyone know how these services are doing?

Med View Airlines to Lagos
Norwegian to Boston, Orlando & Fort Launderdale
British Airways to New York, San Jose de Costa Rica & Lima?

Also the WestJet flights to Canada have been very problematic, flights are constantly delayed & cancelled. It was always going to be a push with only a couple of 767's. Today's inbound Toronto flight arrived 6 hours late as an example!

What long-haul services are next for the airport? Some to think about;

- Qatar to Doha (previously announced but never launched)
- Etihad to Abu Dhabi
- Hainan Airlines to Beijing

[londoncornish]

Londoncornish

Pier 1 was not exclusively the domestic pier although the majority of flights were domestic, it was a multi use pier as will be the new one.

Fair enough - maybe my real question is when will the tedious bus transfer to the terminal finish for domestic arrivals?
Arriving each week on a domestic service and being bused in can be kinda frustrating.

[Locker10a]

The bus service for domestic arrivals will always be in place especially when the aircraft is operating a international flight afterwards.
I actually find that south terminal domestic bus transfer to be faster then walking all the way through the terminal.
Does anyone know what the plan is for the new south terminal pier? Who will use it or will everyone use it?
I know Monarch, easyjet, Norwegian, Aer Lingus and Ryanair all share gates on the main pier of the south term, but there are always certain gates that are not used by certain airlines? How will the new pier gates be assigned ?

[True Blue]

With Wizzair able to have the demand for multiple daily flights to the likes of Sofia, Bucharest and Budapest out of Luton, has Ezy been too reserved on flights from Lgw to these cities. I wonder why Ezy can't manage more demand from a much bigger airport compared to Wizz. Any views?

[AvGeek1]

easyJet have also been 'scared' of introducing or expanding routes in Eastern Europe due to the big presence of Ryanair & Wizz Air in the region. But they seem to perform well on routes like Budapest, Prague, Krakow & Sofia. They are also very slow at adding capacity where needed, as Krakow should currently be 2 daily to deal with the demand on existing flights. One route they could have operated from Gatwick is Warsaw, but Norwegian beat them to it and now they are performing well on the route with approximately 8,000/9,000 passengers a month. easyJet need to work at the market and advertise themselves to attract more traffic originating from Eastern Europe. With easyJet being to slow and sluggish with growth, Wizz Air are now encroaching on easyJet's territory, which could see a blow to easyJet small collection of Eastern European routes if Wizz Air continue to add routes to/from Gatwick.

-AvGeek1:ok:

[toledoashley]

The clear mantra is EZY is only going to serve places in which they can 'win'. They have publicly stated that Eastern Europe isn't one of those places - Scandinavia is certainly another (Wizz in EE, Norwegian in Scandinavia).

There is certainly not a 'win at any cost' mentality like Ryanair has - maybe a lack of ambition, or legacy issues to appease Sir Stelios?

[Bigpants]

BBC reports that the runway closed due concerns over surface condition.

[Bigpants]

Gatwick Airport runway closed 'as surface breaks up' - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36512630)

[Heathrow Harry]

Gatwick Airport has closed its runway and an investigation is under way after claims the surface started to break up.
Earlier, Gatwick tweeted (https://twitter.com/Gatwick_Airport/status/742012490440159236) an apology to anyone impacted by the closure.
It said: "Our runway is temporarily closed while we carry out investigations. Apologies if you're impacted. We'll update you shortly."
BBC London Travel tweeted (https://twitter.com/BBCTravelAlert/status/742017849187831808) there are reports the surface is breaking up with arrivals being diverted to Stansted and Bournemouth airports.
In a further statement, a spokesman for the airport said the main runway was temporarily closed at 15.48 BST while a reported issue was investigated.
He said: "We have now switched our operation to the Northern Runway and flights are departing and arriving from Gatwick.
"There will, however, be some delays to flights because of this.
"The safety and security of our airport and passengers is our number one priority, but we'd like to apologise to passengers impacted today."

[Trash 'n' Navs]

When did they last resurface?

[Charley B]

Think it was resurfaced in 2012.

[canberra97]

But EZY had the opportunity to infiltrate Eastern Europe way before Wizz went on thier major expansion but did nothing except to a few destinations such as Budapest, Prague, Llubijana, Tallin.

Same with Scandinavia they only serve Copenhagen and tried and failed on Gothenburg, Helsinki and Stockholm which in reality you would have thought they could have held there own before Norwegian took such a foothold in the LGW Scandinavian market.

[cats_five]

"Apologies to passengers who are experiencing delays at the airport this afternoon due do the earlier closure of our main runway. Flights are now arriving and departing, however there will continue to be delays to flights and cancellations as we endeavour to keep passengers moving. Please contact your airline for the latest information on your flight."

Home | Gatwick Airport (http://www.gatwickairport.com/)

[lotus1]

I knew they should have kept manston open lovely drive from stanstead and Bournmouth back to gatwick after a nice long flight?

[Andy_S]

You realise Stansted is closer to LGW than Manston, right?

[Andrewgr2]

Andy5
And its motorway all the way, as well as being shorter. Even if you have to pay the toll at Dartford��

[canberra97]

Lotus_1

I can't help but being pedantic but it's STANSTED and BOURNEMOUTH not as you state Stanstead and Bournmouth!

Perhaps you need to learn some geography regarding names and as well as distances.

[wallp]

When the terminal moves happen are Norwegian staying in the South Terminal?

Was thinking it'll be quite a squeeze fitting in all their planes alongside BA, especially the 787's alongside the 777's

[strawberry Ribena]

Yes wallip, DY are staying in the south. only virgin, ba and easyjet south terminal flights are swapping. I'd imagine there will be a large amount of coaching gates.

[Habana2118]

What about Vueling? Moving along side BA to South?

[canberra97]

Habana2118

Vueling along with Iberia Express will join BA and Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific at the South Terminal.

Only Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet are moving their operations to the North Terminal, all other airlines will remain in their respective terminals.

[MKY661]

I heard rumours that Monarch were moving but it appears this isn't going to be true now.

[canberra97]

No Monarch are not moving north that was never part of the plan, the only carriers moving are the ones stated.

[Skipness One Echo]

Monarch used to be in the North Terminal when it first opened, they moved back years ago when BA got bigger.

[Habana2118]

Ok thanks, that clears that up and makes sense to put IAG airlines under one roof, wonder how much longer they will continue to split ground handling between Aviator and Menzies..

[T250]

Ok thanks, that clears that up and makes sense to put IAG airlines under one roof, wonder how much longer they will continue to split ground handling between Aviator and Menzies..

:confused:

Aviator handle BA and Vueling... :rolleyes:

[The96er]

... and Menzies handle Iberia Express and Aer Lingus ;)

[Ametyst1]

Iberia Express are to discontinue the twice daily Gatwick to Madrid service from the end of October.

[j636]

Still on sale....

[Heathrow Harry]

Looks like LHR R3 is going to be canned.... leaves Gatwick as only alternative

[DaveReidUK]

leaves Gatwick as only alternative

Well apart from the other increasingly likely alternative involving very long grass --

[compton3bravo]

Personally absolutely no chance of a second runway at Gatwick especially with a blond buffoon expected to be our next UNELECTED prime minister.Anyone for an island in the Thames Estuary? For anyone who voted out get in the queue to apply for a Visa to go to Scotland and Northern Island in the coming years!

[Heathrow Harry]

Compton - there is absolutely no reason why BOJO shouldn't be PM (apart from the fact that I think he's a self-serving idiot)- we don't elect Prime Ministers we elect MP's -

for most of history Prime Ministers have changed without a General Election............ all he/she has to have is the ability to run a working majority

[compton3bravo]

Quite agree Harry, what I was getting at was the out campaign complaining about unelecteed heads in Brussels telling the UK what or what not to do - ie you will invoke article 50 on Tuesday - not a hope by the way.

[AvGeek1]

Iberia Express are to discontinue the twice daily Gatwick to Madrid service from the end of October.

I thought this service was doing well?! If this is true, could BA operates the LGW-MAD route?

[Boeing737-8]

Have been a few rumours recently about Iberia express moving there flights to LTN. Have to see but there slots will soon go if there do move out and at what price will airlines pay for them.

[Ametyst1]

Iberia Express Flights between Gatwick and Madrid were taken off sale but I notice this evening that they are now back on sale.

The company I work for had a group travelling from Gatwick but they where transferred to Heathrow as we were told the route was terminating on 29th October.

[Fairdealfrank]

Looks like LHR R3 is going to be canned.... leaves Gatwick as only alternative



Quote:
Originally Posted by Heathrow Harry http://www.pprune.org/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/226299-gatwick-post9420598.html#post9420598)
leaves Gatwick as only alternative

Well apart from the other increasingly likely alternative involving very long grass -- .......and the noise of cans being kicked down the road.

[T250]

For anyone who voted out get in the queue to apply for a Visa to go to Scotland and Northern Island in the coming years!

Or maybe far more realistically we will just extend the UK Common Travel Area. But if you want a visa then by all means, probably waste your own time though! :hmm:

[compton3bravo]

But it will not be the UK anymore!

[Buster the Bear]

Gatwick bosses have confirmed plans to invest an extra £200m in the airport.
The extra money will bring the total investment over the coming five years to £1.2 billion.

The total invested in improving the airport since new ownership (2009) through to 2021 will be £2.5 billion.

Some of the projects identified in the new Capital Investment Programme (2016 to 2021) announced today include:

· Expansion of both the North Terminal and South Terminal departure lounges
· Upgrading shopping facilities
· Expansion of the North Terminal and South Terminal immigration halls
· Additional aircraft parking stands and optimisation of taxiways

[canberra97]

The PDF report also says that the planned extension to Pier 6 has been abandoned due to feedback from airlines who were opposed to it. Plus it states that Pier 3 may be rebuilt due to it's lack of usage and it's configuration.

[Skipness One Echo]

Pier 3 , the Satellite as was, can take 8 heavies, 5 (?) of then B747 size. Not sure how they rebuild without getting in the way of Pier 4.

[canberra97]

Yes I agree but am only stating what's on the PDF, I'm aware of the fact Pier 3 can take eight heavies and any rebuild would get in the way of Pier 4. It will be interesting what they do but looking at aerial images it's not going to be straight forward.

[G TAXi]

Definetly could do with an improvement on transfering from domestic to long haul. And vice versa could be improved with easier transit through airport.
Also could do with a few satelite bars/stands at depature peirs to eleviate some of that cattlemarket of departure shop, bar and foodcourt area.

[PAXboy]

Gatwick Express revealed as Britain?s least punctual rail service | Home News | News | The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gatwick-express-britain-s-least-punctual-rail-service-delays-cancellations-govia-thameslink-a7141166.html)

[Seljuk22]

LGW in good position to overtake MUC this year

rolling 12 months ending May 2016 (worldwide position):
35 BCN 41,625,102 +8.7%
36 MUC 41,314,772 +2.6%
37 LGW 41,124,554 +5.8%
38 FCO 40,948,057 +3.7%

[Skipness One Echo]

From most punctual to least punctual? Ahhh Southern...

Does Pier One have a Domestic Arrivals corridor or is everything going to be bussed when BA GLA/EDI move in?

[True Blue]

I see Turkish Airlines is dropping SAW. It is no longer on sale for later on in the winter or next summer. Not sure what date is is finishing. Is this a reflection on what is happening in Turkey or are other plans afoot?

On another topic, I was having a quick look at BA schedules for next summer. In my opinion, they are such a mess. Times are all over the place, on routes with several flights a day, there is hardly 2/3 days in the week where they are at the same time. Great way to destroy a route. I could understand this with a few routes, but so many? Do they even try to get some consistency at Lgw at all?

[vectisman]

At Gatwick BA schedule to maximise aircraft utilisation and profitability. Also slots available can vary from day to day. I think to say they are a 'mess' is a little over the top. BA know their market at Gatwick. Certain routes have morning and evening departures where there is demand for day round trips. On lots of others the leisure market is less concerned about actual timings during the day and is more driven by flight availability and price. I have taken a look myself and the schedules look reasonable. In fact BA are offering more flights to more destinations than previous recent winters.
On a slightly different note does anyone know when G-GATU is being delivered in August?

Many thanks
V

[TCX69]

On a slightly different note does anyone know when G-GATU is being delivered in August?

Planned to be delivered tomorrow, 11th August.

BA9251P WOE1400 LGW1530 320

[vectisman]

Many thanks TCX for your response.

[AvGeek1]

Flew back into Gatwick (North Terminal) today and baggage reclaim (1-7) was very busy, some belts had two flights worth of luggage on one belt. Baggage reclaim 8,9 & 10 which are apprently oversized baggage belts were turned off and not in use and laying practically dormant. What is the point of appointing three belts for oversized baggage?! None of them were in use! These belts could have hosted normal luggage to ease congestion, instead only 1-7 were operational and people were waiting for the belt numbers to appear on the screen as all belts were full which caused more congestion!

[davidjohnson6]

As part of major system reductions, over the coming winter Turkish will reduce Gatwick-Istanbul Ataturk from 3x daily to 2x daily. Gatwick-Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen will reduce from 7x weekly to 5x weekly

[T250]

As part of major system reductions :confused:

What does this mean? Turkish Airlines reductions? Or Gatwick Airport reductions? Or...?

[Ametyst1]

Turkish Airlines

[FQTLSteve]

Europe wide similar reductions to all services

[racedo]

Europe wide similar reductions to all services

Probably less one way traffic heading to Syria..............

[davidjohnson6]

racedo - as a child, my parents tried to teach me (although not sure they succeeded very well!) the mantra of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"
Perhaps something we should all try to follow ?

[racedo]

racedo - as a child, my parents tried to teach me (although not sure they succeeded very well!) the mantra of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"
Perhaps something we should all try to follow ?

DJ ;)

Sometimes you are a bit naughty as well :E

[canberra97]

I thought racedo made a fair enough comment tongue in cheek yes but all the same quite humourous with some sense of truth attached to it!

[Trash 'n' Navs]

Another runway closure after surface break up!!?

Diverts to LHR and lengthy air holding.

Who was responsible for their resurfacing works? Seems it wasn't that good a job...

[lfc84]

these baggage wait times are horiffic

[FRatSTN]

Do we know if those flights even landed On-time in the first place? Gatwick has some horrific OTP as I'm sure most of us are aware.

[Hial Flyer]

The EK009 was def late as it diverted to LHR due to the delays.

[SteveHP7]

Was that the EK9 divert last night 9/9 or earlier in the week?

[Hial Flyer]

Diverted on 9/9.

[coathanger16]

Excuse my rather lame sketch but a rebuild of pier 3 seems feasible.

I don't know what the buildings around South Terminal are used for, and I'm not an expert on airport planning, but I can't see any reason why its not possible. Impact on pier 4 should be minimal.

Only problem I can envisage is accommodating the airlines that use pier 3 during construction. I don't know about gate availability at Gatwick - could they be shifted elsewhere or would it be a remote stand and bus scenario? With BA moving to the South Terminal a new lounge could even be built there???

[canberra97]

Coathanger16

The new BA lounges currently being built in the South Terminal in preparation for there move on 25 January 2017 are where the former VS lounges are situated.

[T250]

Excuse my rather lame sketch but a rebuild of pier 3 seems feasible.

I don't know what the buildings around South Terminal are used for, and I'm not an expert on airport planning, but I can't see any reason why its not possible. Impact on pier 4 should be minimal.

Only problem I can envisage is accommodating the airlines that use pier 3 during construction. I don't know about gate availability at Gatwick - could they be shifted elsewhere or would it be a remote stand and bus scenario? With BA moving to the South Terminal a new lounge could even be built there???

Pier 3 currently has 8 (Code E) stands, but several are split and can accommodate a Left/Right config for 2x Code C's or below such as 33L/33R, 32L/32R etc.

The buildings around the current pier 3 are crucial currently, they house the Airport's ID Centre and other administration offices. Not to mention a recently renovated brand new crew reporting building and associated staff security point too. Doubt these will be moved.

The ideal plan for reconfiguring Pier 3 is to actually get rid of just the connecting part of the Pier, and make taxiway Lima stretch all the way round to join Kilo by stand 31/15.

This would eliminate the cul-de-sac of both Pier 2 and Pier 3. So in other words, Pier 3 would be still the circle that it is, but with a taxiway continuing past stand 38 and probably going through current stand 31 on the other side to connect to taxiway Kilo.

[MAJP]

Vueling to Rennes from November 29th , with 3 weekly flights. http://www.forum-aviation.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif

Schedules:

VY7525 RNS 13:50-14:05 LGW 320 4
VY7525 RNS 13:55-14:10 LGW 320 2
VY7525 RNS 16:50-17:05 LGW 320 6

VY7524 LGW 14:50-17:10 RNS 320 2
VY7524 LGW 14:55-17:15 RNS 320 4
VY7524 LGW 17:45-20:05 RNS 320 6

[Flightrider]

Rennes, starting in winter, at two months' lead time, with an A320? What is the world coming to? It's totally the wrong size of aircraft at the wrong frequency for that type of route and on sale very late. Madness.

[j636]

Are they minding some slots for themselves or others in IAG.

[kcockayne]

Rennes is fairly local to me & I have some knowledge of the potential demand for this route. On the face of it, this seems to be a highly optimistic operation. But, with low cost carriers you simply don't know what is going to happen. Perhaps Vueling will prove the doubters (including me) wrong.

[AirportPlanner1]

This has got slot-sitter all over it. You can't tell me they've looked at the SEN operation which has steady but unspectacular loads on its two daily prop flights and thought "this route is a goldmine which really needs a lot of off-peak capacity on odd days starting during the route's quietest period"!

If they are slot-sitting I can think of better routes to try if it's really short routes they're after.

[johnnychips]

If they are slot-sitting I can think of better routes to try if it's really short routes they're after.

LGW-BOH: The trains are pretty rubbish. :ok:

[strawberry Ribena]

Fourth Emirates flight ek23/24 has been cancelled, allegedly, due to lack of demand.

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/269004/emirates-shelves-planned-4th-daily-london-gatwick-flight-due-oct-2016/

[Seljuk22]

EZY to launch Ljubljana from 5th December
easyJet Media Centre (http://mediacentre.easyjet.com/stories/9981)

[AvGeek1]

EZY to launch Ljubljana from 5th December
easyJet Media Centre (http://mediacentre.easyjet.com/stories/9981)

4 weekly flights using a mix of A319's and A320's. Stansted flights are currently at 6 weekly so 10 weekly flights to Ljubljana overall from London with EZY.

[jdcg]

That probably means the end of the seasonal Adria flight. Who knows - maybe the STN Ezy flight will be withdrawn as they become ever more marginalised there

[davidjohnson6]

Aeroflot to fly daily to Moscow from Gatwick from 15-Nov-2016

[wallp]

Aeroflot to fly daily to Moscow from Gatwick from 15-Nov-2016

Presumably this isn't picking up the old EZY route - I thought that could only go to a British airline under the bilateral arrangements?

[AvGeek1]

Here is the schedule:

SU2588 SVO1315 – 1430LGW 320 x7
SU2588 SVO1330 – 1445LGW 320 7

SU2589 LGW1610 – 2250SVO 320 x7
SU2589 LGW1700 – 2340SVO 320 7

This is quite late to announce the launch of a flight I would have thought, but nice to see the Moscow link back at Gatwick and with the Russian flag carrier!

[Ph1l1pncl]

I think the bilateral is that only two airlines form each country can operate routes between UK and Russia, for the UK that is BA and Easyjet and Russia Aeroflot and Transaero, since Transaero has ceased flying I'm not sure if another airline has been appointed on the Russian side. I don't believe the agreement affects particular airports the airlines can fly from.

[BAladdy]

BA have begun to make changes to there planned S17 LGW Schedule. So far the following changes have been made.

Route Suspension

Bodrum - Will be suspended for S17. Flights had been planned to operate 2 x weekly

Frequency Increase

Kingston - Frequency will increase from 3 to 4 x weekly from 26MAR17. Flights will now operate on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun. Compared to Mon, Tue and Thu during S16.

Orlando - Frequency will increase from 13 to 14 x weekly from 30MAR17

Punta Cana - Will increase from 2 to 3 x weekly from 28MAR17

Tirana - Will increase from 6 to 7 x weekly from 29MAY17 to 25SEP17

Season Extension

Larnaca - Will operate 3 x weekly from 29APR17 to 28OCT17. Flights only operated 16JUL to 04SEP during S16


Further Changes are Highly Likely in the coming months

[vctenderness]

I know a lot of people who are no longer BA fans due to the sudden suspension of BJV. Many had already made plans and booked to be told cancelled.

I understand the reasoning as currently Turkey is becoming toxic as a holiday destination.

[canberra97]

I shouldn't imagine that a lot or a few people who are no longer BA fans due to the sudden suspension of BJV will have any major impact on the airline!

[vctenderness]

...well nor did I!

[Boeing737-8]

With Hong Kong airlines having recruitments fairs at LGW could this be a return. The airline will be getting some a350's soon.