British Airways subsidiary BA Cityflyer is set to launch flights from Southampton Airport on England’s south coast from May. The flights will operate each weekend from the start of May to the end of October and complement the airline’s London City operations.
For a good chunk of the late spring and early summer, operations by BA CityFlyer were brought to a halt due to London City Airport’s closure. As a result, the fleet flew up to Norwich to rest its wings. However, now flights are back in operation, even serving cities where the main British Airways has canceled routes.
Southampton getaway
Today British Airways revealed that it would begin offering Southampton flights to holiday destinations from May 1st to October 31st. 17 flights per weekend will operate, serving the following 11 destinations,
- Bergerac Dordogne Périgord (EGC)
- Berlin Brandenburg (BER)
- Edinburgh (EDI)
- Faro (FAO)
- Florence (FLR)
- Ibiza (IBZ)
- Limoges–Bellegarde (LIG)
- Malaga (AGP)
- Mykonos (JMK)
- Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE)
- Palma de Mallorca (PMI)
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The flights will operate alongside London City’s existing services. The aircraft could fly business people to Brussels during the week from the airport beside the Thames, before repositioning to Southampton to take holidaymakers to Ibiza.
Commenting on the announcement, Tom Stoddart, Managing Director of BA CityFlyer said,
“This is an exciting opportunity for the British Airways family. The ideal location of the airport and excellent facilities on offer will hugely benefit our customers along the South Coast as they plan to take to the skies again and book a well-deserved holiday in the sun.”
Which aircraft will fly from Southampton?
BA Cityflyer doesn’t have a lot of choices when picking aircraft for its new Southampton services. As such, the airline will be using its Embraer E190 aircraft for the service. British Airways has 14 of the E190 in its fleet, with the aircraft holding up to 98 passengers in an all-economy configuration or an optional business class.
The aircraft have seats in a 2-2 configuration, meaning that they’re perfect for couples traveling together, and also that no passenger sends up sat on the middle seat.
A welcome boost for Southampton?
BA Cityflyer’s interest in Southampton will come as a welcome boost for the airport, especially given the current circumstances. With the collapse of Flybe towards the start of the current crisis, a gaping hole was left in the city’s connectivity. According to anna.aero, its route to Bergerac was worth £1,120,000 ($1.5 million). The airline also used to serve Malaga and Faro. With no direct competition on the routes, BA Cityflyer could make a fortune from the potential that is currently unexploited.
Will you be looking to use BA’s new Southampton routes? Let us know which route and why in the comments!