Airline adds flights to Gatwick-Nantes route

GB Airways

Airline adds flights to Gatwick-Nantes route

Report by LOUISE LONGMAN

GB Airways is to strengthen its Gatwick-Nantes route with nine services a week from the end of this month.

From November 29, afternoon flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays will be replaced with five night stops, leaving Gatwick at 7pm, arriving in Nantes at 9.15pm. Inbound flights will leave Nantes the following morning at 8.55am and arrive in Gatwick at 9.10am.

GB launched the daily Gatwick-Nantes route in March this year and has claims to have taken 50% of the market so far.

The BA franchise carrier is hoping to increase services on the route to a double-daily flight by next summer.

GBAirways commercial director Peter Kenworthy said: “The key to capturing the French market is the size of our aircraft.”

GB Airways competes on the route with Air France’s subsidiary Brit Air which offers a smaller aircraft. “We are keen to get French tour operators to use our service from Nantes, which will then connect them to all our other services from Gatwick,” said Kenworthy.

Speaking at GB Airways inaugural flight from Gatwick to Tenerife at the weekend, Kenworthy said future plans for the airline would see more schedules on profitable European and Mediterranean services.

The thrice-weekly Gatwick-Tenerife service could also be given an additional flight by next summer.

February will also see the delivery of two A321 aircraft which will bring the GBAirways fleet to 10. The increase in size from a B737 to an A321 will increase capacity by 6%.

However Kenworthy shed doubt on the proposed new route to Mahon in Minorca.

Kenworthy said: “We are not going to launch a route to Mahon if it is just a summer-only destination.”

GBAirways was due to launch a direct service to Mahon through its recent codeshare deal with Spanish airline Iberia.