British Airways’ first transatlantic flight from Gatwick since Covid took off bound for Tampa, Florida, today.
The airline is to resume flights from Gatwick to Orlando on Friday 19 November in addition to the three-times-a-week service to Tampa.
It is the first time British Airways has operated to the destinations, and to the US from Gatwick, since March 2020.
British Airways plans to operate to 23 US airports this winter, with 246 flights a week from January.
As well as Tampa and Orlando from Gatwick, flights to Nashville and New Orleans are scheduled to restart in December from Heathrow.
British Airways is also to redeploy its A380s to the US once again, with the jumbo jet to start operating to Miami from Heathrow from December 5, Los Angeles from December 9 and Dallas from March 27.
British Airways’ first flight to the US when restrictions lifted on November 8 was its BA001 service from Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport, which took off in tandem with Virgin Atlantic’s flight on the same route.
BA is currently operating seven flights a day to New York, increasing to eight from mid-December.
Direct-sell British Airways Holidays lists Orlando and Tampa among its most-popular destinations.