British Airways is suspending all remaining flights to and from Gatwick, ending the last scheduled flights by UK carriers from the airport during the coronavirus pandemic.
The national carrier’s move comes a day after easyJet grounded its entire fleet of aircraft for at least two months. Demand for travel has collapsed in recent weeks as many countries are in partial or full lockdown, forcing airlines to cancel thousands of flights.
Gatwick is closing one of its two terminals from Wednesday and will only operate any remaining flights between 2pm and 10pm to cut costs to a minimum during the crisis.
The majority of Gatwick’s 2,500 employees will be laid off in the coming days, with some having already taken voluntary redundancy. About 200 contractors have been laid off.
A few foreign carriers, including the Gulf airline Qatar, are continuing to operate some flights, but otherwise only a few, unscheduled repatriation services are expected to pass through the airport in the coming weeks.
BA, which is still running flights to and from Heathrow, said it would contact customers to discuss their options.
The consumer association Which? said that BA must offer refunds. Struggling airlines have been giving passengers vouchers or rebooking them for another date, but are legally obliged to pay out for cancellations. The global airline body, Iata, has warned that full refunds would cost the industry a collective $35bn (£28bn) immediately at a time when many carriers face bankruptcy.
A BA spokesman said: “Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines we will temporarily suspend our flying schedule at Gatwick.”
The airline will carry out essential work at Gatwick, including maintenance, to be ready to start up again once travel restrictions are relaxed.
The pandemic has pushed the global airline industry into crisis, with strict restrictions across most of the main air travel markets all but wiping out most airlines’ revenues.
Iata’s director-general, Alexandre de Juniac, warned: “Travel and tourism is essentially shut down in an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. Airlines need working capital to sustain their businesses through the extreme volatility.
“Canada, Colombia and the Netherlands are giving a major boost to the sector’s stability by enabling airlines to offer vouchers in place of cash refunds. This is a vital time buffer so that the sector can continue to function.”
The UK aviation industry stepped up its criticism of the UK government, which has insisted that it will not offer an industry-wide bailout, and would only consider support on a case-by-case basis.
The Airport Operators Association said the US, Australia, Norway, Spain and France, among others, had all agreed packages of state aid including loans and credit guarantees. Its chief executive, Karen Dee, said the government was “lagging behind its international competitors when it comes to safeguarding our vital industry for the future”.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, told the BBC on Tuesday: “We do want there to be competition in the airline market when we come out of this crisis. We are also firmly aware that airlines have shareholders … It can’t be right that in good times the shareholders benefit and in bad times the taxpayer pays.”
He added: “We’re into now detailed discussion with airlines, airports, the ancillary services as well … It’s a question of finding the right solutions from that wide range the chancellor has announced … and then anything we can do to assist.”
Virgin Atlantic, one of the first airlines to seek assistance, is among four carriers whose planes will be chartered by the government for a £75m repatriation operation for Britons stranded abroad.
Thousands of airline staff have been temporarily laid off or are taking unpaid leave. Easyjet and Virgin are setting up schemes for thousands of laid-off crew to volunteer over the next two months with the NHS or work in supermarkets.
On Monday, Loganair, the Scottish regional carrier, said it would be seeking government assistance beyond that offered to all British companies via the chancellor’s package of government-backed loans worth £330bn.
BA’s owner, International Airlines Group, on Monday said it had extended a $1.38bn (£1.09bn) credit buffer by a year to June 2021. This means it has access to €9.3bn in cash, cash equivalents and loans, which it can use to get through the crisis.
