British Airways to ramp up Gatwick base to 18 aircraft

LONDON - British Airways has revealed initial destinations for its new Gatwick subsidiary BA Euroflyer, which will start flying from March 2022. Tickets to 35 short-haul destinations went on sale Tuesday. British Airways will operate the routes as the BA Euroflyer AOC remains pending.

The airline announced its intention to create a short-haul standalone business at Gatwick in August, similar to its operation from London City Airport, which operates under the British Airways name but exists as an entirely separate entity.

The offshoot will launch later in 2022, with short-haul services at Gatwick being operated by mainline BA until the new entities’ Air Operators Certificate is issued. "BA short-haul flights will start operating from Gatwick at the end of March, with three Airbus short-haul aircraft initially, ramping ramp up to 18 aircraft by the end of May", British Airways said.

BA Euroflyer will herald the airline’s return to short-haul flying from the London airport, which had been suspended as a result of Covid-19 in Spring 2020.

"During the pandemic, several routes were moved to Heathrow airport, some of which will return to Gatwick, as well as being maintained at Heathrow to give customers choice, including Faro, Ibiza, Malaga, Marrakech and Tenerife," British Airways said. "In addition, other new routes will be added at Gatwick including Athens, Berlin, Madrid, Milan Malpensa and Santorini."

BA Euroflyer contracts will differ from mainline conditions. The airline expects intense competition from Easyjet and Wizz Air in Gatwick.