London Gatwick Boosts Flights to the US for Holiday Season

As international travel recovers from the pandemic freeze, fifty-one weekly flights will depart London’s Gatwick Airport and head to the U.S. this Christmas season.

The flights will take up to 26,252 passengers from the U.K.’s second major airport to a range of East Coast destinations, including New York, Boston, Orlando, and Tampa.

JetBlue will add a second daily flight on its LGW-JFK route from October 31. The Big Apple—the second biggest destination served by Gatwick—will also be connected with daily flights operated by British Airways and start-up airline Norse Atlantic Airways.

We have over 50 flights a week to the USA this Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays 🎁🇺🇸

📍 Fly direct to New York JFK, Boston Logan, Orlando and Tampa on @JetBlue, @flynorse, and @British_Airways ✈

📰 https://t.co/D9VeO4NWvj#OpeningYourWorld 🌎 #positivemobility pic.twitter.com/EU2MWPEwMQ

— Gatwick Airport LGW (@Gatwick_Airport) October 12, 2022

Before the pandemic, nearly 700,000 passengers flew between Gatwick and New York, according to data from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

However, Florida has historically been the top U.S. destination for flights departing Gatwick, although the route is currently served only by British Airways. The airline will continue to operate 11 weekly flights to Orlando and five to Tampa, all on the airline’s Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

Photo: Courtesy of London Gatwick Airport

Meanwhile, JetBlue will continue to run its daily flight to Boston, a route it launched in August. Complementing its current service to New York, the airline’s CEO, Robin Hayes, noted how the two routes “have been an incredible success.”

According to Hayes, the Boston – London market had long suffered from high fares by legacy carriers. “As Boston’s largest carrier, adding this nonstop service to Gatwick will only make us more relevant in our New England focus city and introduce JetBlue to a largely unserved market,” he said.

Stephanie Wear, head of aviation development at Gatwick, admits being delighted “to be building back our popular connections to North America post the pandemic,” she said. “It’s exciting to be able to offer passengers more choice once again when traveling between Gatwick and the USA.”

Wear added that the airport sees good demand for JetBlue’s new Boston route. But, according to her, the current four daily flights to New York “speaks for itself.”  

“Both Orlando and Tampa are fantastic options for families, especially with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations ongoing, and we hope to be welcoming more flights to U.S. destinations very soon,” Wear said.

Meanwhile, Delta will relaunch operations from Gatwick in April 2023, while British Airways plans a new service between the airport and Las Vegas next year.

Norse Atlantic, which launched its LGW-JFK route in August, has received clearance from the Department of Transport to expand its destinations to the U.S. But new routes won’t launch until next summer, and the low-cost carrier has already trimmed its winter schedule.