BRITISH Airways is expected to consolidate its non-Heathrow short-haul operations under a new name by the end of the year.
Although the airline refused to reveal exact details, industry insiders have said the carrier wants to merge its CitiExpress and Gatwick short-haul business under a new brand, mooted to be BA Regional Europe.
A senior BA spokesman described short-haul operations as “significantly loss-making” and said it is considering changes to CitiExpress via a review that will run until the end of the year.
“We’ve finished our Gatwick short-haul review, which began 12 to 18 months ago, because the market is constantly changing and this has meant we’ve had to go back and look at some previous options again,” he said.
BA operates short-haul flights under three divisions: CitiExpress; Gatwick; and Heathrow. CitiExpress is a wholly owned subsidiary and operates within the UK and Europe. Meanwhile, BA has resumed limited catering on Heathrow flights to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Finland, more than two months after in-flight catering stopped when its supplier Gate Gourmet sacked 670 workers.