IAG International Airlines Group does not plan to use slots at London Gatwick acquired from Monarch Airlines (1968) (London Luton) administrators to expand its LEVEL (Barcelona El Prat) network. Instead, it will add more international British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) routes, group's CEO Willie Walsh told Flightglobal.
"At this point Level is not going to operate out of the UK. It may at some stage in the future, but we are not looking at Gatwick for LEVEL at this point," declared Willie Walsh.
IAG has acquired an unspecified number of ex-Monarch slots at Gatwick in late November. While neither the exact number of slots nor the sum paid for them have been disclosed, Press Association reported they constituted "majority" of the bankrupt leisure specialist's slots at the second-biggest airport in the UK.
Walsh underlined that British Airways has a good relationship with Gatwick and wants to expand its international network from the airport. According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the carrier is the second-largest operator at Gatwick with a 15.56% capacity share. British Airways currently operates fifty-one routes from the airport, including a number of long-haul services, such as Bridgetown, Antigua, New York JFK and Orlando International.
LEVEL, a long-haul virtual operator operating with an LCC model, has launched in June 2017 from its first base in Barcelona El Prat. Recently, IAG announced that Paris Orly will become the carrier's second base. LEVEL currently operates under Iberia air operator's certificate (AOC) and IATA code.
