British Airways to restart short-haul London Gatwick flights from March

British Airways will return to short-haul flying from London Gatwick next year, the airline has said as it confirmed the go-ahead of its planned subsidiary, BA Euroflyer. BA, which stopped flying from the West Sussex airport soon after the Covid pandemic started, will relaunch its short-haul leisure network in late March 2022, ending a break of almost two years. Flights will initially be operated by BA itself, but the airline intends to hive off the business to the subsidiary later next year once it has received regulatory approval. Its parent group, IAG, has said that a new standalone business was needed to make the resumption financially viable, citing years of losses for BA at Gatwick even before Covid hit. Tickets for flights to 35 short-haul destinations went on sale on Tuesday. Three Airbus short-haul planes will start operations in March, with the active fleet growing to 18 by the end of May. BA Euroflyer will – like the BA CityFlyer operation at London City – remain BA-branded. Its launch came after unions initially rejected the plans, which are understood to demand much more flexibility from pilots and crew in seasonal work than permitted under normal BA rostering. Thousands of staff were laid off during the pandemic, and many now could be rehired under inferior terms and conditions. The pilots’ union Balpa said the final agreement would “create up to 160 much needed pilot jobs in 2022” and had been tailored to fit the point-to-point flying model used by other major airlines. BA said fares would start from GBP39 each way, to be competitive with Gatwick’s no-frills carriers, led by easyJet, but would come with the airline’s usual luggage allowances and basic snacks onboard.<br/>