According to data from RadarBox.com, British Airways is only a few weekly movements away from matching figures from 2019, also known as the pre-COVID era.
The carrier has been teetering on this for quite a few weeks now, with the expectation that the airline will get this over the line later on in the Summer.
Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
British Airways Is So Close…
As we can see from the data, British Airways has achieved 858 movements, based on a seven-day rolling average provided by the flight tracking company.
This represents an increase of 12.16% compared to the same period last year and is only 12 movements shy of 2019 levels.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data based on the airline, highlighting how close they are getting to achieving pre-pandemic levels:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| May 2-9 | 827 movements | 711 movements | 831 movements | +16.88% |
| May 9-16 | 853 movements | 727 movements | 836 movements | +14.99% |
| May 16-23 | 856 movements | 751 movements | 848 movements | +12.92% |
| May 23-30 | 870 movements | 766 movements | 825 movements | +7.70% |
We can see in the data that in the last five weeks, British Airways has exceeded 2019 levels at least once, but the double-digit growth should help elevate more consistency the further we get into the Summer season.
The Carrier is Working Hard to Get to 2019 Levels…
It does remain clear that British Airways is trying to utilize its aircraft fleet as much as possible to touch the 2019 levels and even try to exceed it this Summer.
Over the last few months, the carrier has made substantial route announcements, which when in full effect should take them over the line.
Back in March, it was revealed that the airline would add two new services to the Caribbean, Guyana, and Aruba.
Not long after that, British Airways then revealed that they would be increasing the frequencies on the London Heathrow-Gibraltar rotation.
A week after, the carrier then outlined its plans for services supported by an Avion Express Airbus A320 that it will have on lease for the period.
Then, just a week ago, the carrier announced plans to increase its Winter offerings to Ghana.
What remains clear is that British Airways is trying to put out all of the stops to ensure that its flight operations continue to match 2019 levels and even exceed it.
The next tester will be towards the peak of the Summer season, as well as what the carrier may have in store for Summer 2024 as well.
