GBAIRWAYS’ new managing director John Patterson is looking to take over unprofitable European routes from partner British Airways.
The Gatwick-based carrier already flies to Spain, Portugal and north Africa as a BA franchise but is planning expansion under the BA banner.
Patterson, who will join GB Airways on January 4, announced his plans as BA continues to study which European routes it will drop as it struggles to make money on low-yield destinations.
He has also been encouraged by BA’s future policy of using smaller, more profitable, 100-seater aircraft to serve European cities. This could lead to extra capacity being needed from BA’s partners.
Patterson has spent the last 18 months as director of alliances for BA. However, his role has been amalgamated as part of BA’s management overhaul and he was facing redundancy.
He takes over from John Osborne, who left to become the managing director of Virgin Express in October.
Patterson said: “If anything changes within BA’s operations we’ll see if we can take over. Our history is the western Mediterranean but we don’t rule anywhere out.”
He did not disclose which cities he was looking at but Italian and German destinations are likely targets.
Next summer, GB Airways plans to boost its presence at Heathrow, from where it currently only serves Malaga, Alicante and Faro.
Patterson said he planned to fly to Malta from Heathrow and look for extra slots so GB Airways can serve more destinations.
The airline is also proposing to switch Faro flights back to Gatwick and use the spare slots for other Portugese services, probably Lisbon.
At Gatwick, GB Airways will be able to link up with future Oneworld member Aer Lingus. It will also co-operate with Iberia in the western Mediterranean as the Spanish carrier is also joining BA’s Oneworld.
By 2003, GB Airways will have renewed its fleet with up to 15 Airbus A320s. They provide 50 more seats than the carrier’s Boeing 737s. Patterson said the new aircraft will help expand the airline.