British Airways plans Gatwick relaunch in March after union deal

British Airways is set to operate a new unit offering European flights from London Gatwick airport in March following a deal with cabin crew.

The breakthrough in talks with flight attendants comes after an earlier deal with pilots and leaves only terms with ground staff to be settled, Luis Gallego, chief executive officer of BA parent IAG SA, said Monday.

“If we can close all of that we will start flying from Gatwick in March 2022,” Gallego said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The most important thing is to have the efficiency that is required to be profitable.”

British Airways and its Gatwick unions reached a compromise on new employment contracts after the carrier said it would scrap European operations there and focus on its Heathrow hub if expenses weren’t slashed. The airline contends that a new unit is the only way forward at the airport south of the U.K. capital after years of losing money. 

Gallego reiterated that the division is “not a low-cost carrier” but a more efficient platform to enable British Airways to compete in the tougher conditions expected to prevail as travel emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

One way BA might save money is to have all planes return to Gatwick at the end of the day, avoiding the expense of crew layovers in overseas hotels, the Paddle Your Own Kanoo airline-news website reported Friday.

Virgin Plans

BA’s long-haul rival Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. said earlier that it will only bring back Gatwick flights once its Heathrow capacity has reached 2019 levels, most likely after April next year.

Virgin CEO Shai Weiss, who like Gallego was speaking as the first London-New York flights departed after the reopening of the U.S. border to Europeans, said Virgin “will probably move a bit into Gatwick” but focus mainly on Heathrow.

Gallego also said that business travel is likely to remain as much as 15% lower than pre-pandemic levels even in 2023. Weiss said he expects the market to have returned in full by then.