British Airways to launch a new low-cost short-haul subsidiary based in London Gatwick

British Airways is making progress in its plan to launch a new low-cost short-haul company, like its major European competitors, Air France-KLM with Transavia and Lufthansa with Eurowings.

After a previous agreement with the pilots, British Airways has concluded a new one concerning wages and working conditions with the cabin staff unions. If similar negotiations with ground personnel succeed soon, the new company “will begin to fly from Gatwick in March 2022,” said Luis Gallego, CEO of parent group IAG in an interview with Bloomberg.

This new carrier will operate flights to European mainly leisure destinations under the British Airways brand. It will be based at Gatwick, while its parent company British Airways has recently shifted all of its London operations to Heathrow.

The operational structure of the new airline is presented as low-cost, but the diversity of the services offered should bring it closer to the standards of a traditional carrier. The new company could initially operate up to 17 aircraft.

Note: Why not call the new company “Vueling”? The image of the low-cost airlines of the IAG group is becoming blurry with all the already existing subsidiaries called Iberia Express, Vueling, Level, BA CityFlyer and now yet another new one!

UPDATE 11 November

British Airways has today registered BA EuroFlyer as the name of its new short-haul operation from London Gatwick Airport.

The identity was lodged with Companies House in the UK although the operation is expected to retain regular British Airways branding in the mould of BA CityFlyer.