Skift Take

With capacity set to fall by 75 percent over the next two months, the airline can better weather the storm and turn its focus to Heathrow.

British Airways said it is temporarily suspending flights from Gatwick Airport in southern England, Britain’s second busiest airport, due to the coronavirus.

BA’s boss warned earlier in March that the airline was in a battle for survival and would have to cut jobs and park planes.

“Due to the considerable restrictions and challenging market environment, like many other airlines, we will temporarily suspend our flying schedule at Gatwick,” a BA spokesman said.

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BA said it will contact affected customers. The airline continues to operate some flights from its main hub at Heathrow.

Parent company IAG said flying capacity would be down 75% in April and May.

Rival airline easyJet said on Monday that it had grounded its entire fleet.

Gatwick Airport said last week it would shut one of its two terminals on Wednesday.

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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Tags: british airways, coronavirus, gatwick

Photo credit: British Airways is temporarily putting a hold on operations at Gatwick Airport Ellen Milligan / Reuters

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