In a busy week for British Airways (BA), the carrier has announced that it will be returning to London-Stansted Airport for the first time since the pandemic. Additionally, on top of announcing new services to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, the airline is also starting a new route to Agadir in Morrocco.
BA will restart operations from London-Stansted (STN) in May 2024, flying to Florence, Ibiza, and Nice from the airport located northeast of London. Launching on May 18, 2024, weekend flights from Stansted to the three European destinations will be operated on a weekend-only basis utilizing subsidiary BA Cityflyer’s 20-strong fleet of Embraer 190 aircraft, each seating 98 passengers.
BA Cityflyer is a subsidiary of British Airways, which operates from London-City Airport (LCY) during the week to nearly 30 short-haul destinations. Using aircraft based at London-City during the week for business flights but shifting them to leisure-based flights on summer weekends is a shrewd move for the airline and has worked well for them in the past.
The aircraft will complete their Monday to Friday flight schedules before making the short hop to London-Stansted, positioning there on a Friday night or early Saturday morning to operate the weekend leisure flights. While weekend operations at London-City are limited by the number of movements, Stansted offers far more slot availability at weekends, boosting aircraft utilization figures. The new Stansted services will complement the existing weekday services from London-City to the destinations.
Following a similar pattern in terms of aircraft utilization, BA also recently added weekend services from Edinburgh to San Sebastian (Spain), and Olbia (Sardinia).
The new flights are the first time that BA has offered scheduled flights from Stansted since before the global pandemic, and the facility becomes the fourth London airport to be served by the flag carrier, after Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), and London-City (LCY).
Each flight from Stansted will offer passengers two classes of travel on each flight – Club Europe (business class) and Euro Traveller (economy). Those traveling in the Club Europe cabin will be offered a full meal service with drinks from the bar, priority boarding, and an additional baggage allowance for flights to and from Stansted.
Meanwhile, south of London, Agadir (AGA) joins British Airways’ short-haul network from London-Gatwick. The four-times weekly flight will be operated by British Airways’ Gatwick-based short-haul subsidiary, BA Euroflyer, from March 31, 2024. The reinstatement of the route to Agadir will be the first time in more than a decade that Agadir has been served directly by British Airways.
“Agadir is a coastal destination that enjoys 300 days of sunshine per year, so we know it will see strong demand from our leisure customers and particularly those seeking holiday packages,” said Tom Stoddart, CEO of BA Euroflyer. “It offers beaches, golf courses, and water sports alongside the opportunity to experience cultural landmarks, such as Agadir Kasbah.”
