Delta Air Lines has just operated a scheduled flight to London Gatwick for the first time in 15 years… will this service last?
In this post:
Basics of Delta’s New York to London Gatwick route
As of April 10, 2023, Delta has launched a new route between New York Kennedy (JFK) and London Gatwick (LGW). The flight is scheduled to operate daily year-round with the following schedule:
DL62 New York to London departing 11:30PM arriving 12:00PM (+1 day)
DL63 London to New York departing 2:10PM arriving 5:00PM
The 3,470-mile flight is being operated by a Boeing 767-300, and is blocked at 7hr30min eastbound and 7hr50min westbound.
This route was revealed in September 2022, as part of a summer 2023 seasonal route announcement by Delta. At the time it was stated that this route would be seasonal, though the schedule already reflects this operating year-round.
Keep in mind that Delta and Virgin Atlantic have a transatlantic joint venture, so this service operates as part of that, and complements extensive service operated by the two airlines between New York and London. However, Virgin Atlantic pulled out of Gatwick Airport at the start of the pandemic, so at this point this is the only service that the joint venture has to the airport.
Going back to pre-pandemic, in April 2019 Delta announced it would launch a Boston to London Gatwick route, while Virgin Atlantic announced it would launch a New York to London Gatwick route. So this service to Gatwick is coming just a few years later than initially planned, and out of New York rather than Boston.
Why Delta is flying to London Gatwick
What’s Delta’s motive for launching flights to London Gatwick, given the carrier’s extensive service to London Heathrow?
- London Heathrow is heavily slot controlled (and slots are hard and expensive to acquire), so if Delta wants to expand in London, this is the best way to do so
- On some level this is a competitive response, as British Airways, JetBlue, and Norse Atlantic, all fly from New York to London Gatwick
- Depending on your final destination in the London area, Gatwick might be more convenient for some than Heathrow, so it serves people who may not have otherwise considered Delta
I’m curious to see if Delta succeeds with its new London Gatwick service. I could see the flight being pulled within a year, or I could also see the airline expand service to the airport. In theory Delta shouldn’t have any issues filling a Boeing 767 between New York and London Gatwick, but:
- It’ll be hard to make people aware of Delta operating this service, with so many people just searching flights to Heathrow, not considering the possibility of service to other London area airports
- Delta doesn’t have any connectivity at Gatwick, so connections will only be on the US-side; then again, Heathrow has never been a big short haul connecting market for Delta
- The question isn’t just if a route like this can be profitable, but rather if the plane can be utilized more profitably in another market
Bottom line
Delta is finally returning to London Gatwick Airport, after having left the airport well over a decade ago. The airline is now flying once daily between New York Kennedy and London Gatwick using a Boeing 767, complementing all the service that Delta and Virgin Atlantic have to London Heathrow.
Flying to Gatwick is the most practical way that Delta can grow in London, given that Heathrow slots are tough to come by. Furthermore, with British Airways, JetBlue, and Norse Atlantic, also operating in the market, this is a competitive response.
I’m curious to see how this service evolves. Will service to Gatwick last, and if so, could we see Delta add even more flights there in the future?
What do you make of Delta returning to London Gatwick? Do you think the route will succeed?
oh i literally saw the inaugaral flight for this take off when i was in gatwick - waiting for a slightly less glamorous ryanair plane
LGW was Delta's London Hub for years, it had no LHR slots and flew from DFW, ATL, DTW, CVG on L 1011's and then 767 300's. Apart from having a decent leisure and secondary African city market connectivity, LGW boasts a terrific place to land if you are heading to the south or southeast (Kent & Essex)... LGW has talked about a second runway for decades, until that happens, if ever it will only have so much traffic to attract a business centric clientele.
Yes, I flew Atlanta to Gatwick on a l-1011 back in the mid 1980s. My first time ever in business class.
FYI Gatwick has 2 runways. It just cannot use them both at the same time. It is therefore often called the world's busiest single runway airport. There is a lot of wealth in that area so don't expect a true second runway ever.
@lucky
Thanks for the article but quite a few inaccuracies. DL last served LGW in April of 2012 so not exactly 15 years, and the Bos-LGW route was planned on DL not Virgin, and similar for JFK, that was supposed to be a Virgin flight. Usually you’re more on point than that.
Any idea which lounge Delta will partner with for DeltaONE/SkyClub pax? There are no SkyTeam lounges that I'm aware of at LGW. It looks like Air Europa's flight to MAD is the only other SkyTeam service at LGW. I guess if Delta pax want to hop on a low cost carrier to a beach destination there are more options at LGW than LHR.
I use Gatwick to fly all over the place especially Canada. Good luck Delta. For me Heathrow is a pain to get to and Gatwick is much easier and Quicker. Recently flew into Gatwick from Barbados. Will look up flights and Prices to NY.
Delta's LGW re-entry has nothing to do with constraints DL faces at LHR or a genuine and benevolent desire to offer flyers more options in the London market. The route exists to dump capacity and try and drive B6 and Norse off the market, by depressing yields. And the DoJ is laser focused on AA/B6 and the NEA! The move on Delta's part is aggressive and 101% pure anti-competitive.
Just like what British Airways is doing?
Is the 767-300 they’re using refurbished or is it the outdated Delta One seats?
All 767-300s have the same DL One seats refurbished or not.
Also worth noting that LGW was Delta's first transatlantic destination operated by its own fleet+crew, 45yrs ago this month.
Though, Delta aircraft would've been no stranger to London, as PanAm used to use Delta's 747-100s, and occasionally Delta's DC10s (yes, DC10s, not L1011s) to operate their DFW/MSY-ATL-IAD-LHR roundabout exchange.
Did Delta ever operate JFK from Gatwick in the past? I recall flights from Atlanta, Cincy and even Boston - but never JFK.
Scratch that - of course they did. In 2007 for sure, maybe before that too.
@Sean,
Remember that that was the year DL bought rights from the N/E to LON from UA, only for Bermuda2 to be dissolved a few weeks later.
#Burned lol
You have the initial route plans from 2019 backwards. The BOS-LGW flight was supposed to be operated on DL metal (757-200) while the JFK-LGW flight was planned on Virgin.
If London is my final destination, I actually prefer Gatwick over Heathrow. Rail station is right in the terminal and there is a choice of trains to different parts of London and South East England. The fare into town is cheap and you can just tap your card or phone on the fare gates, no need to even buy a ticket.
Strikes me as strange that Virgin Atlantic have no services from Gatwick since their headquarters are less than a mile from the runway at Gatwick.
Delta is not worried about this route being profitable - this is all about ensuring that Norse and JetBlue are NOT profitable. DL is flooding the market with seats in order to ensure the yields are terrible for the LCCs operating in this market. This is the oldest play in the legacy airline playbook.
You do realize that the 767-300ER is the SMALLEST aircraft that Delta uses to cross the Atlantic?
Well yes, obviously. But DL is adding a ton of capacity in a market with little demand in a clear effort to hurt the newcomers. Are you suggesting it would be a bigger flood (or splash) with a 767-400?
Yes a 764 is larger and has a more premium Delta One configuration
I used to think Gatwick was only for riff raff but now Gatwick is more convenient in some cases. Luton is the new Gatwick.
In the old days, Northwest used to fly to Gatwick from MSP
Serious question: why do non-budget airlines avoid Gatwick so much, given Heathrow's tight slot controls? Is it just the travel time into London? Given that there's express service to Victoria, I'm surprised that this is such an insurmountable obstacle. Is the airport undesirable / inconvenient for other reasons? (I haven't been through Gatwick since I was a kid--TWA nonstop from Pittsburgh (!) and I think Peoplexpress.)
Gatwick used to be better connected with London than LHR, but the Elizabeth line has changed that. LGW is served by Gatwick Express every 15 minutes to Victoria and takes 30 minutes (rip-off, so avoid) GTR railway to Victoria (4 tph, 32 minutes) and Thameslink serving London Bridge, Blackfriars, Kings X/St Pancras every 15 minutes.
It’s seen as a bucket & spade airport used by U.K. tourists going to EU/Caribbean hotspots rather than international business travel passengers.
Gatwick is arguably better connected than Heathrow in some respects. It's on a major railway line so not only has pretty speedy services into London but also direct to the south coast of England and north of London. For South London, a huge area, it's a way better option than Heathrow. I would say it's just always been seen as the less premium London airport and the home of low cost/holiday carriers despite having a...
Gatwick is arguably better connected than Heathrow in some respects. It's on a major railway line so not only has pretty speedy services into London but also direct to the south coast of England and north of London. For South London, a huge area, it's a way better option than Heathrow. I would say it's just always been seen as the less premium London airport and the home of low cost/holiday carriers despite having a really eclectic airline mix. It's it's far nicer than Luton, for example.
I love this news! I wish Delta would do flights direct from Atlanta to London Gatwick. There are fast trains from inside the airport Direct to London Victoria takes 15-20 minutes! Gatwick is a much easier and more efficient airport to use and less crowded!
Having grown up where LHR/LGW were both within close reach for our international travels, I am so used to searching "LON" as the airport code. This includes all London airports, mostly all airline booking websites and OTAs know this code. Therefore for me booking any transatlantic service, LGW/LHR will be included (including other secondary airports). For most passengers looking for London service to NYC/US they will likely also use this code and find results for...
Having grown up where LHR/LGW were both within close reach for our international travels, I am so used to searching "LON" as the airport code. This includes all London airports, mostly all airline booking websites and OTAs know this code. Therefore for me booking any transatlantic service, LGW/LHR will be included (including other secondary airports). For most passengers looking for London service to NYC/US they will likely also use this code and find results for LGW/LHR.
It's great to see other airline options at Gatwick. For years Heathrow has been the only option for trans Atlantic flights. I appreciate the chance to fly in and out of Gatwick as a choice and hope other airlines will follow suit.
In every respect this is a competitive addition
The question is not whether Delta can make money flying to Gatwick but whether JetBlue can make money flying to Europe at all.
Delta has a long run as the most profitable airline and across the Atlantic. The concept of consistently profitable narrow body transatlantic flights is far from proven
Keep in mind Norse is also flying LGW-JFK, so it’s BA, B6, Z0 and DL now competing on this route.
this is an interesting route add.
What is more fascinating is the glut of capacity in the US to London Market. The NYC market is pretty standard in terms of capacity, though other cities (LAX) have seen big increases in London service. Plus, a greater number of Non-Hubs (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Portland, Nashville) now all have service to London.
Is the demand really so robust through the US for all the demand to London?
As BA has shown, you can pretty much take any strip of US pavement longer than a driveway, and use it to launch a successful flight to LON.
The only stateside destination that they've "failed" on has been Charleston, SC... and even THAT route seemed to inch toward permanence (loads continually climbed, at [advertised] fares similar to other destinations) until the pandemic brought it to an abrupt end.
I'll bet they'd still be trying...
As BA has shown, you can pretty much take any strip of US pavement longer than a driveway, and use it to launch a successful flight to LON.
The only stateside destination that they've "failed" on has been Charleston, SC... and even THAT route seemed to inch toward permanence (loads continually climbed, at [advertised] fares similar to other destinations) until the pandemic brought it to an abrupt end.
I'll bet they'd still be trying it, if the widebody fleet had similar slack to back then (i.e. if the 744s hadn't all been retired in unison)
CB, LGW-OAK by BA failed, and was withdrawn before Covid.
OAK is too close to SFO and SJC, both still flown from LHR, so fares were low and flights were under-used.