Engine troubles and the resulting fleet grounding have started to affect British Airways’ long-haul network. The carrier has made changes to many of its long-haul flights, slashing some routes while delaying the launch of others. Among them is its daily service between London Gatwick and New York JFK.
BA to temporarily suspend Gatwick-New York flight
The United States is the most significant international market for 
British Airways
, and its transatlantic network to New York, in particular, is quite popular and always in demand. However, with the grounding of several of its widebody planes due to delivery delays of new engines and spare parts, the airline has had to axe certain routes.
British Airways primarily connects New York JFK with its hub at London Heathrow. However, it also flies daily between the two cities from London Gatwick Airport
. This service will be suspended between December 12 and March 25.
While there are plenty of other options for passengers to fly between London and New York, given that all major US airlines also fly the route, the slight reduction of seats, particularly around the holiday period in December could hurt a few passengers.
Engine troubles
BA is currently facing a shortage of engines and spares for many of its widebody planes, resulting in the grounding of close to 40 aircraft. The airline said that there have been “delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.”
The carrier further added that it continues to work closely with Rolls-Royce to ensure the company is aware of the impact its issues are having on the schedule and customers. This is an industry-wide problem, and other airlines, too, have had to make adjustments due to delivery delays.
Photo: The Global Guy | Shutterstock
British Airways has to pull out airplanes from several routes to maintain capacity on others. And while the company is using several of its ‘spare’ Boeing 777s for some services, some of them have to go to maintenance, making matters worse, according to Travel Tomorrow.
Other routes affected
Of course, the Gatwick-JFK isn’t the only service to be removed from the airline’s schedule. The airline will also remove a service between London Heathrow and Doha Hamad International Airport.
British Airways has also delayed the launch of its new service between London Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur due to reduced fleet capacity. However, it has booked from passengers for many of the axed flights and has offered several options to those affected.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Travelers whose flights from Gatwick to New York have been canceled have the option to change their booking to one of the carrier’s many flights from Heathrow. Those traveling to Doha can also do so on BA’s airline partner, Qatar Airways, while the Kuala Lumpur-bound passengers have been offered bookings on Malaysia Airlines.
Alternatively, passengers are also being offered a full refund should they choose to. Thankfully, British Airways has given ample time for passengers to tweak their plans and avoid any last-minute inconvenience.
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