cldcp00

I just read a report that BA will be resuming Long Haul Fights from Gatwick from mid July.

Can someone confirm that report please?

Also will BA be reopening the lounges in the North Terminal

T​hanks you

Dave Noble

It doesn't have lounges in the North Terminal, so would seem unlikely that they will open

jerry a. laska

A few reports of emails notifying of some LGW lh departures for the end of July in this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...atwick-28.html
Also see the wikis and posts in these threads:
Impacts of virus to BA's July schedule
Impacts of Coronavirus to BA's August schedule

No reports on LGW lounges of which I am aware.

woodey

Looks like it will be Club Aspire at Gatwick North for a while https://www.turningleftforless.com/n...tatus-holders/

Soft Top

OH NO!!! I hope it won't be as dire as the original changeover to the South Terminal when we all used the corresponding lounge at South. Overall nothing serious wrong with these lounges but they tend to overcrowd them and with BA in there too it was horrendous.

ETA - I think it was the Aspire at North not South before the actual move but same principal. It's going to be damn busy!!!

TWCLAM

3 drink, limited list/ no bubbles, max before paying for said lounge - lets hope BA strike a deal quickly or better still LGW / BA get the numbers they need to open up the south again sooner rather than later. From internal knowledge, whilst fluid, nobody feels a south opening will be happening in the next 5-7 weeks as it currently stands ( although with an obvious hope current projections prove everyone wrong)

In fairness their food offerings are not too shabby for a PP/ paid for lounge and probably trump BA's standard offering pre covid so if you're not too bothered about the drink then it might not be such a worry.

truckeruk3

Just been notified that we are flying from North terminal outbound on the 5th August but MMB is still showing South for the return. Have read that we may use the Aspire lounge but nothing from BA to confirm yet.

BOH

On a BA flight?

TWCLAM

Yes at present the South is closed so all carriers are using the North. Worse still Aspire have a ( no bubbles included) 3, free, drink cap. Hopefully BA will negotiate a change to this for it's customers( possible wishful thinking I agree).

A return showing a south arrival point is interesting though, although BA IT and all

KARFA

deleted, forgot about long haul

BOH

Ah ok, understood.

Lgwfan

The first BA flight from Gatwick in months, departs today to Bermuda. BA2233 departs the north terminal at 14.55. Aircraft will night stop in BDA to enable the same crew to operate the inbound.

SonicStar817

Indeed. Just had a look on expertflyer and looks like its going out with a decent load today in all cabins.

TWCLAM

I've long thought( during this crisis) that airlines, globally not just BA, are focussing in the wrong direction to a certain extent. IMHO right now their main source of income is the leisure traveller and not the business traveller. Yes 100% of course it is those cash cow corporate travel contracts and business travellers who to an extent have long offset leisure travel but right now it's those leisure travellers who, after being cooped up for months, are determined to get away and hell be damned with the risk that are going to fill those planes. I think with all their market intelligence they have collectively misread the g-pop's desire to fly again. If for no other reason than a change of scenery whilst their lives are restricted in one way or another. Our own personal commitment to getting away has seen us have 8 changes on one booking and still not give up then we simply changed the country we'd go to and when that looked unfavourable we still didn't give up and changed to another continent. Even at the height of things, and with myself on the 'at risk register' we still had a lengthy discussion about going ahead with Sardinia in early June if we were allowed to fly. I can't imagine we are the only ones with this approach.

Moving forward I think corporate travel will take a nosedive after this with major blue chips saying they have no plans for staff travel for the remained of the year and having data to show that meetings can work when done remotely( yes I don't doubt there are companies out there saying the opposite). I totally agree that some meetings really do need to be done face-2-face but companies looking to save money now have a clear avenue to saving some pretty quickly so airlines need to be focussing on getting leisure travellers back on board. I think BA's VERY 'Easyjet esque' flash sale promo shows them finally picking up on the side of the market they need to be focussing on right now because it will be leisure bums on seats that probably make the difference this year not the corporate accounts.

This is simply my opinion, I don't profess to be an expert and am sure there's things i've missed

GumshoeW12

Right now, yes. Problem is the leisure market will fall away again in September when the schools go back.

Yes, BA can target the much smaller premium leisure market that’s not tied to school holidays as well as the weekend break market (although I suspect many people won’t have the appetite for a 2 or 3 night break given the relative hassle of travelling at the moment).

But that won’t be enough for an airline the size of BA whose operation is heavily geared to business travel, and it’s unclear at this stage how it’ll respond to what’s sure to be a fallow winter.