British Airways has outlined its plans for services supported by its leased Avion Express A320s this Summer 2023 season.
The aircraft in question being used are 9H-MLR, a 13 year old frame and 9H-MLZ, a 15 year old frame.
Operation by BA EuroFlyer
Both of these aircraft will be used by British Airways’ recently launched BA EuroFlyer subsidiary, which operates solely out of London Gatwick.
In addition, these aircraft will be used between the 15th May and the 30th September which covers the busiest part of the Summer 2023 season, allowing the airline to offer maximum capacity for its services.
In a list compiled by AeroRoutes, the source shows that BA EuroFlyer will use its Avion A320s on 28 of the routes it offers from Gatwick.
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What is interesting to note about this is BA EuroFlyer only offers 31 routes from Gatwick, representing that 90% of its routes will see the Avion Express A320s used.
The 3 routes that are not scheduled to see the Avion Express A320s used are LGW to Thessaloniki. Marrakesh and Santorini.
However, it is important to mention that although 90% of routes will see the Avion Express A320s, doesn’t mean every single flight on each route will utilise the leased jets.
Instead it will be a mix, but passengers can expect to be more likely onboard a traditional BA aircraft, when flying 1 of these 28 routes this summer.
Furthermore, AeroRoutes does state that although the Marrakesh, Thessaloniki and Santorini routes aren’t expecting the use of the Avion A320, a one time flight from them may occur at some point, however this will all come down to general aircraft availability on each day of the summer season.
The full list
Listed below is the full 28 routes, which has been compiled by AeroRoutes, that are guaranteed to see the Avion Express A320s used this summer.
Spain/Portugal:
- Alicante
- Faro
- Gran Canaria
- Ibiza
- Lanzarote
- Mahon
- Malaga
- Palma De Mallorca
- Seville
- Tenerife South
France:
- Bordeaux
- Montpellier
- Nice
Italy:
- Bari
- Cagliari
- Catania
- Turin
- Venice
- Verona
Greece/Turkey:
- Antalya
- Dalaman
- Heraklion
- Kos
- Paphos
- Rhodes
Other:
- Amsterdam
- Dubrovnik
- Malta
No change to the passenger experience
Despite BA leasing these Avion Express A320s, passengers do not need to fear they will be missing out on British Airways’ full service experience both in the terminal and onboard.
That means, eligible passengers can still access lounges, business class service will be the same as will be economy class, the only difference is the aircraft.
The reason behind BA leasing these aircraft is simply to cover capacity required this summer for the airline’s extensive list of destinations on offer.
The same is also happening at Heathrow too, with British Airways’ mainline brand wet leasing 4 Finnair narrow-bodied aircraft for the summer season.
Passengers who are also due to fly on one of these Avion Express A320s will also be contacted by email to make all customers aware of the change and to reassure that no further changes or hampers to the service can be expected.
