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British Airways Gatwick short-haul flights suspended until 9th November

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There are currently no short-haul British Airways flights from London Gatwick.  The only departures are a handful of Caribbean flights – one per day – which are operating from the North Terminal.  BA’s home in the South Terminal remains closed.

British Airways was planning to resume services from Gatwick Airport on 9th September.

This now appears to have changed.  Looking at ba.com, it seems that London Gatwick short-haul flights have been pulled until 9th November.

British Airways Gatwick flights suspended until November 2020

You can check this easily.  Look at London to Amsterdam for 9th November and you will see three flights from Gatwick.  Click back a day to Sunday 8th November or earlier and there is nothing.

This is clearly a fluid situation.  It may be that the move to November was only decided when the new restrictions on travel to Spain were brought in on Saturday.

One factor which will decide when flights move back will be a decision on whether the ‘use it or lose it’ rule for airport take-off and landing slots is brought back for the IATA Winter flying ‘season’.

If British Airways is at risk of losing its London Heathrow slots due to non use, you can be fairly certain that nothing will be moving back to Gatwick until late March due to the need to ‘slot sit’.

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British Airways and Avios

Comments (85)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Terri says:
    29 Jul29 July 08:45

    Have avios flights from lgw to pfo in late sept. Cant book it now, but no canCellation or airport change yet. LHR would suit me better though…..

  • MadeUpName says:
    29 Jul29 July 08:49

    If the flights are cancelled does BA have to pay for alternative flights? Or is that only for cancellations close to departure?

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 09:44

      Most EU rules are currently suspended. Feel free to book a new flight at your own expense and take BA to court to try to get repaid, because that’s the only way you may get it.

      • Anna says:
        29 Jul29 July 10:23

        Someone on here mentioned just the other day that they got BA to re-route them on QR. I don’t think the re-routing element is suspended, it’s just that there may not actually be a realistic alternative at the moment.

        • MadeUpName says:
          29 Jul29 July 10:33

          Thanks Anna, that’s a possibility as looks like we could do Swiss / Lufthansa in business with a change each way. I’d be happy with easyjet and paid for seats, but doubt BA would stretch to seat reservation fees!

      • MadeUpName says:
        29 Jul29 July 10:29

        Thanks Rob, hoping our SKG flights re-appear as LHR flights on ba.com.

    • Lady London says:
      29 Jul29 July 11:00

      The law and practice and time and trouble it may take to get what you are still due are factors to take into account.

      As costs of replacement tickets may now be lower if you buy them new again you might want to look at a refund. In case of problems with refund you can look at asking most cards for a chargeback or, if you paid on UK credit card, asking card for Section 75 refund or replacement price of new ticket (whether higher or lower).

      Obviously the right to compensation element of EU261 is temporarily not applicable to anyone however other elements are still applicable. The problem is it’s much better to ask nicely for what you would like and try to work with the airline for what they can do for you as there are long delays if relations fall apart and you did decide to look at CEDR or moneyclaimonline as a last resort.

  • N says:
    29 Jul29 July 08:50

    Is a change from LGW to LHR enough of a change to warrant a full refund?

    • Rhys says:
      29 Jul29 July 08:51

      Yes

      • DAJ says:
        29 Jul29 July 09:15

        Even if your flight has the same flight number?

        I have a family holiday booked to Madeira late October still showing as leaving Gatwick. We no longer wish to travel and have only paid a deposit.

        It would be nice to know that even if the flight is moved to LHR that we could request a refund of our deposit and not accept flying from Heathrow.

      • N says:
        29 Jul29 July 09:44

        Thanks

  • Caridad Otero says:
    29 Jul29 July 09:42

    What happened to the Barcelona flights from Gatwick? They were gone way before the pandemic. Do you know why or if they will be back in the future? Thanks

    • Craig says:
      29 Jul29 July 10:15

      Barcelona flights are long gone from LGW and are unlikely to return anytime soon. Vueling has basically taken over that route for IAG.

  • Lisa says:
    29 Jul29 July 09:58

    I have a BA flight booked from LGW to Malta on 11th Sept, but BA is still showing the flight as unchanged – any advice appreciated!

  • Paul Bailey says:
    29 Jul29 July 10:36

    We have flights booked to MCO for Sept 24th…. been offered vouchers if required. Flights still showing as departing on my booking and when I try to book a new flight on the same date this also shows as live.
    We fly this route (BA2037) every year around end Sept, and have done so for the past 20 + years, I am BA Silver and in the past got really good help from the dedicated customer service team, I have called BA and they were very non committal about our booking, happy to refund with a voucher, but would not commit to either a flight from LGW or LHR. I originally paid with cash and my stash of Avios, which I topped up with a purchase of the “bonus” Avios . They are equally “sheepish” about the Avios refund. I have a distinct impression they really dont want to “come clean” about LGW operations, and they certainly dont want to hand any cash back !

    • Tony says:
      29 Jul29 July 11:27

      Given the current situation with Covid19 I doubt they know as things change on an almost daily basis.

    • C77 says:
      29 Jul29 July 11:39

      “They” are currently going through a hire and refire process and could perhaps be forgiven under the circumstances for adopting a similar position their employer holds towards them.

    • PlaneConcorde says:
      29 Jul29 July 14:13

      This article is about BA short haul flights out of Gatwick. BA is operating to some Gatwick long haul destinations on a reduced schedule. For example, Gatwick to Barbados operated yesterday but today’s flight is cancelled. Whereas both daily flights Gatwick to Orlando are cancelled for the next eight days at least.

    • MadeUpName says:
      29 Jul29 July 16:03

      I just got a cancellation email for our return from MCO in late November. Happy with this give the current covid situation in Florida.

      • Travel Yoda says:
        29 Jul29 July 16:12

        Just had EDI-LGW on 11th Oct, MCO-LGW on 25th Oct and LGW-EDI on 26th Oct cancelled. LGW-MCO on 11th Oct still going as of now.

  • John says:
    29 Jul29 July 13:12

    Just checked ‘manage my booking’ for flight Gatwick to Malta, 13 Oct, and still shows as valid flight. Tried to book a new flight for 13 Oct but BA not showing any flights to Malta.
    As yet not received any communication from BA

  • Jeffo says:
    29 Jul29 July 14:41

    “the south terminal remains closed” – Is this true? I have booked a flight to Greece from there in September and the tickets say south terminal.

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