BRITISH AIRWAYS SHUTS DOWN OPERATIONS AT GATWICK UNTIL EARLY DECEMBER

 Cyprus Mail 6 November 2020 - by Andrew Rosenbaum

British Airways has announced that it will shut down operations at Gatwick through November until early December.

The airline said, in a statement released on Friday, that it would be “pausing our operations there until early December.”

In the wake of the government’s announcement of a new national lockdown for England last Saturday, BA has reviewed its schedule for November,” according to the statement.

“Our focus is on keeping crucial air links open – bringing home the thousands of customers currently abroad, transporting vital goods, and ensuring people who are permitted to travel in and out of the UK for work, education and other reasons stipulated by the UK government, can continue to do so,” the statement said.

According to a staff letter, seen by Sky News, BA is also planning to move more employees on to the government’s newly extended furlough scheme as it reduces its schedule over the current four-week lockdown, which is due to end on 2 December.

“This means far fewer flights than we hoped for in November and means grounding more of our aircraft, including pausing all flights from Gatwick until December.”

BA added: “We will be contacting customers whose flights are cancelled to offer refund options, as well as encouraging customers who wish to change their booking to do so via ba.com, where they can also request a voucher for future travel if their flight continues to operate​.”

The airline said that would mean “moving many more colleagues, from both operational and support function areas on to the governments extended Job Retention Scheme”.

It came as Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the extension of the furlough scheme until the end of March – with the Treasury paying 80 per cent of wages and employers responsible only for pension and national insurance contributions.

British Airways will continue flights to repatriate customers overseas and for the movement of essential cargo, the statement said.

 

Gatwick said it expected to see BA’s long-haul services resume when Covid-19 restrictions are eased and stressed the airport “remains open.”

“We want to ensure we can continue to support those people who still need to travel as well as being in strong position to respond quickly to increased demand once lockdown comes to an end,” said a spokesperson.

“We urge the government’s Global Travel Taskforce to work swiftly at this time on its proposals for a test and release scheme, as well as a package of financial support measures. It is imperative that testing is implemented by the end of November.”