British Airways has announced the opening of ticket sales for their new Gatwick-based short-haul subsidiary. Tickets are now available for 35 destinations with flying to commence from March 2022.
On Tuesday (December 14, 2021), British Airways announced the opening of ticket sales for their new Gatwick-based short-haul subsidiary. From today, tickets are available for 35 destinations, with flying to commence from March 2022. The new Gatwick subsidiary will be similar to British Airways’ operation from London City Airport and will fly under the British Airways name, but exists as an entirely separate entity. Short-haul operations will be operated by mainline BA until the new carrier’s Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is issued. From March 2022, operations will start with three Airbus short-haul aircraft, expanding to a fleet of 18 aircraft by the end of May.
In Tuesday’s announcement, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, Sean Doyle, said,
“Today is a landmark moment for British Airways. The creation of a new British Airways short-haul organisation means Gatwick customers will benefit from access to a premium service from the UK’s flag carrier at competitive prices. We are looking forward to bringing a short-haul network back to Gatwick, with a fantastic flying team in place, to serve our customers from London’s second hub airport, which we feel sure will be a success.”
Also commenting on the launch of ticket sales for the new Gatwick-based carrier, Gatwick Airport’s CEO, Stewart Wingate, said,
“This significant news will be very welcome for many people connected to the airport. Despite the ongoing public health situation, today’s announcement is a positive signal that consumer confidence is returning as people start thinking about making travel plans for next summer. Given the difficult period we have all just been through, we expect BA’s new and extensive network of services from Gatwick to destinations across Europe to be in high demand and our staff, retailers, restaurants, cafes and bars are all looking forward to welcoming BA passengers back in larger numbers from April next year.”
The new subsidiary marks British Airways’ return to short-haul flying from London Gatwick, which was suspended in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the interim period, several routes were moved to Heathrow, some of which will be returned to Gatwick and some will remain at Heathrow, giving guests more options, including flights to Faro, Ibiza, Malaga, Marrakech and Tenerife. Additionally, Gatwick will see new routes to Athens, Berlin, Madrid Milan Malpensa and Santorini.
Travelers on the new carrier will enjoy the same high level of service they expect from British Airways including a generous baggage allowance, free water and snacks, seat selection at -24 hours and frequent flyer benefits, which includes lounge access. Club Europe customers will also receive complimentary food and drink and Euro Traveller guests who want to order additional food will benefit from the airline’s ‘Speedbird Café’ which features a range of carefully curated British brands. Tickets are now available at ba.com from £39 each way, with British Airways Holiday packages from £119. Fares are each way based on a return fare purchase to select destinations for travel on specific dates.
Source: British Airways