Summary
- British Airways will return to London Stansted Airport in 2024, operating flights to a few short-haul destinations, namely Florence, Nice, and Ibiza.
- The airline currently operates out of three other airports inside London: Heathrow, Gatwick, and City.
- Flights from Stansted will offer two classes, with passengers in business class receiving a full meal and other advantages.
British Airways has confirmed that it will return to London Stansted Airport (STN), a low-cost carrier fortress of an airport, in Summer 2024. The International Airlines Group (IAG)-owned airline will deploy its BA Cityflyer subsidiary to operate flights to a few short-haul destinations starting May 2024.
Expanding reach inside London
STN will grow to be the fourth airport inside London from which British Airways or BA Cityflyer subsidiary operates, with others being London Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), and City (LCY) airports. Starting May 18, 2024, BA Cityflyer will fly between STN and Florence Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR), Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE), and Ibiza Airport (IBZ) on the weekends, utilizing the Embraer E190 aircraft. Flights from STN depart on Saturday, while flights from the three destinations leave on Sundays to fly back to the British capital.
Currently, BA Cityflyer operates exclusively out of LCY, utilizing a fleet of 20 Embraer E190s. On a median week, the airline operates to 30 short-haul destinations inside Europe, with the brand new STN services complementing its existing routes from LCY. Moreover, British Airways recently added seasonal flights from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) to San Sebastian Airport (EAS) and Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) in Spain and Italy, respectively.
Summer Sun: BA CityFlyer Launches 2 Seasonal Routes From Edinburgh
The regional carrier will boost its 2024 summer schedule.
British Airways highlighted that the three flights will mark the airline’s return to the airport because the pandemic. Moreover, flights from STN will offer two classes, namely British Airways’ European business class and economy class, with passengers traveling in Club Europe (business class) being served a full meal with drinks from the bar. Other advantages include priority boarding and extra baggage allowance.
In line with Cirium, an aviation analytics company, out of the 14,651 total scheduled flights from/to STN, Ryanair and its subsidiaries, including Malta Air, Lauda, and Buzz, accounted for 11,966 seats in April 2024. The month coincides with the beginning of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) summer season 2024, which ends in late October 2024.
Meanwhile, Cirium data also showed that between April and October 2023, British Airways scheduled 7,991 flights to FLR, NCE, and IBZ. Throughout the same period a 12 months later, the British airline has already scheduled 8,122 flights, without the three weekendly flights from STN being scheduled yet.
Photo: British Airways
Returning to Stansted
The airline last operated from STN in 2020, when it had only 77 flights from STN to Aéroport Chambéry Savoie Mont Blanc (CMF) and the now-closed Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) through the 12 months. Compared, a 12 months prior, BA Cityflyer was scheduled to operate 486 flights from the airport, which also included flights to FLR and IBZ.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
British Airways initially returned to STN in 2016, when it launched flights to holiday destinations through the peak travel period. The airport was also home to its low-cost subsidiary Go, or Go Fly, which was eventually purchased by easyJet in 2002. The low-cost carrier operated a fleet of Boeing 737s, having been established by the British airline in 1998.