British Airways suspends all flights from Gatwick due to second lockdown
British Airways has reportedly scaled back its operations for November, including the suspension of all flights from Gatwick airport, due to the new lockdown in England.
Already struggling with a hit to demand from the pandemic, the airline has also taken the decision to furlough more staff as it braces for a difficult winter.
In a letter to staff seen by Sky News, BA management said: “We have made the difficult decision to further reduce our operation for the rest of November.”
“This means far fewer flights than we hoped for in November and means grounding more of our aircraft, including pausing all flights from Gatwick until December.”
As a result, BA will move “many more colleagues” onto the job retention scheme, which sees the government pay 80 per cent of employees’ wages. It comes after the Chancellor today announced the extension of the furlough scheme until the end of March.
The aviation industry has been decimated by the impact of the coronavirus, which has seen consumer confidence and demand plummet.
British Airways boss Sean Doyle, who took the reins last month, had piled the pressure on the government to introduce pre-departure testing in a bid.
But with both international and domestic travel now banned until 2 December under England’s new national lockdown, the aviation industry’s struggle will intensify.
Last month BA owner International Airlines Group reported a €5.56bn loss in the first nine months of the year as it warned passenger demand could take three-years to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
It came after IAG saw quarterly revenue plunge 83 per cent to €1.2bn as flights remained grounded during the pandemic, compared to €7.3bn over the same period last year.
Since the announcement of the lockdown, budget airline Easyjet has cancelled all flights due to the new restrictions, other than for repatriating customers.
BA will also continue flights to repatriate customers overseas and for the movement of essential cargo, the letter seen by Sky News said.
“Our focus is on keeping crucial air links open: bringing home the thousands of customers currently abroad, transporting vital goods and ensuring people who are permitted to travel into and out of the UK for work, education and other reasons stipulated by the UK government can continue to do so,” it said.