Summary

  • Seven passenger airlines serve London Heathrow this summer with no more than three weekly flights.
  • Tunisair has the least service, but its frequencies will rise in the winter.
  • The carriers would have included Turkmenistan Airlines, but it has shifted to Gatwick – its latest London airport swap.

Last year, London Heathrow regained Europe’s throne for having the most passengers for the first time since 2019. It welcomed 79.2 million people, around three million more than second-placed Istanbul Airport.

Between July and September 2024, Heathrow will have an average of 685 daily departures (double for both ways). About 80 passenger airlines operate and have 300+ routes. Vueling returned to Heathrow in April 2024, but Turkmenistan Airlines pulled out, and TAROM is expected to exit in October.

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Airlines with up to three weekly flights

The following table summarizes the least common passenger airlines at Heathrow. Some of them have recently launched at Gatwick. For example, Azerbaijan did in March 2024, followed by Uzbekistan Airways in April. Presumably, they could not obtain sufficient slots at Heathrow, with Gatwick’s lower fees/charges helping to offset the more expensive and complex split London operation.

Uzbekistan Airways A320neo landing

Photo: Telsek I Shutterstock

While Tunisair has served Heathrow from Tunis for decades, it added Gatwick-Tunis in 2014. A decade later, Gatwick-Tunis is served five times weekly, while Heathrow-Tunis only runs weekly in the summer – down from four weekly before COVID and twice-weekly last year. In the never-ending merry-go-round, Heathrow will operate four weekly flights this winter, while Gatwick will reduce to two.

The information is based on the three months examined; it may differ at other times. The equipment is what is scheduled and may change; Uzbekistan Airways, for example, occasionally swaps Airbus narrowbodies for the Boeing 787-8. Only airlines with up to three weekly flights are considered; the rest, even those with four services weekly, are not mentioned.

Heathrow’s weekly flights*: July-September only (days)

Airline (route, aircraft)

Arrives Heathrow

Departs Heathrow

Weekly (Tuesday)

Tunisair (Tunis, A320neo)

16:50

17:50

Twice-weekly (Tuesday, Friday)

Uzbekistan Airways (Tashkent, A320neo/A321neo)

14:50

16:20

Twice-weekly (Monday, Friday)

Capital Airlines (Qingdao, A330-300)

19:30/20:00

22:05/22:30

Three times weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Azerbaijan Airlines (Baku, 787-8)

20:30/21:05

22:05**

Three times weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Iran Air (Tehran Imam Khomeini, A330-200)

15:10

17:55

Three times weekly (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday)

Royal Brunei (Bandar via Dubai, 787-8)

05:55/06:25

17:15

Three times weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

Hainan Airlines (Changsha, 787-9)

19:30

22:00

* Based on arriving/leaving the UK

** Yep: a 60-min turn at times

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Gone: Turkmenistan Airlines

The carrier is highly intriguing. Until earlier this year, it flew from Ashgabat to Heathrow weekly on the 777-200LR. It switched to Gatwick in May 2024 (what happened to its Heathrow slot pair?), with twice-weekly service on the 200LR and occasionally the 300ER.

In 2023, it flew to Stansted (I recall seeing one of its flights boarding). Not that the airline is driven by normal commercial realities, which is just as well when considering its horrendous loads.

Turkmenistan Airlines 777-200LR

Photo: Soos Jozsef I Shutterstock

Turkmenistan Airlines previously served Birmingham. Naturally, the local UK-Turkmenistan market is tiny. Booking data shows that there were barely 14 passengers daily each way between the two nations last year. As such, the airline historically focused on connecting passengers to India, especially Amritsar, now served non-stop by Air India from Birmingham and Gatwick.

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