British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) is to expand its presence at London Gatwick and double the number of aircraft based at the airport over the next few years as relations between the airline and London Heathrow become increasingly acrimonious. According to the UK's Sunday Telegraph, BA will increase the number of aircraft based at Gatwick from 14 to between 24 and 28 in the coming years.
“Our growth will be at Gatwick rather than Heathrow for now,” an unnamed BA source told the newspaper. According to ch-aviation schedules data, British Airways flies to 114 destinations from its Heathrow hub and 26 destinations from Gatwick. In the week commencing December 5, the airline is offering 807,903 seats in and out of Heathrow compared to 104,342 seats in and out of Gatwick over the same week. However, if the Gatwick plan comes to fruition, the gap in flight, route, and seat capacity numbers between the two airports will shrink.
British Airways axed its Gatwick presence during the pandemic and has since made a relatively small-scale return. However, well-publicised issues with Heathrow and a push by that airport to have take-off and landing fees increased next year has British Airways' bosses favourably reassessing the merits of more flights from London's second busiest airport. While the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority wants to cut the fee from GBP30 pounds (USD36) to GBP26 (USD31) per passenger next year, Heathrow wants take-off and landing fees increased to GBP42 (USD51) per passenger to pay for airport maintenance and upgrades.
British Airways did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment on the report.
