Travel news – live: British Airways returns to Gatwick following South Terminal reopening

About an hour before landing in Tenerife, our BA flight is told that we must fill in an extra paper form – yes, on top of the lengthy and comprehensive government health form Spain already has in place – for arrival in Tenerife.

People scrabble for pens, which BA does not have on board, and their hotel address and other required details to be filled in in block capital.

BA staff are apologetic, but cannot explain The Mystery Form.

On arrival? Nobody asks to see it.

Gatwick has suffered more than any other airport in the (2019) European top 10, especially in long-haul: Virgin Atlantic moved out shortly after the coronavirus pandemic began, and Norwegian’s former long-haul network, embracing Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Singapore has been scrapped.

Yet there are signs of hope: jetBlue is launching transatlantic flights, and the Singapore connection is coming back with Scoot – which this month began flying to Gatwick via Bangkok.

Scoot is the well-regarded (and well-funded) no-frills subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner operating TR752 from Singapore via Bangkok is expected to touch down at 7.15pm this evening.

BA2702 has landed at a slightly sleepy Tenerife airport. Just one carousel whirrs round at baggage claim, and we clear passport control in about 15 minutes.

It’s 21 degrees and sunny here already in March – very tempting for Brits eyeing an Easter break.

A tourist organisation is handing out free maps, but the terminal appears to be winding down for the day.

As we approach the north coast of Portugal, the skies are clear blue and the atmosphere buzzy aboard our flight to Tenerife. G&Ts have been served, wifi accessed – albeit pretty patchy – and the crew are preparing our lunch.

“We are aware that there are some connectivity issues on our aircraft today, so we’ll come through manually and take your order” the cabin manager tells us. Not the best start for an “order from your phone” revolution.

A BA Holidays representative tells me that Tenerife, where we’re headed, is their number one destination, with five-star hotels the most popular type of booking on the island. Greece is also a big-hitter for the package holiday arm of British Airways, she tells me, while Slovenia is a rising star that is increasingly popular with BA customers.

Hipsters’ choice Union Coffee is just one of the new faces on BA’s new Club Europe menu, which we’re getting a sneak preview of aboard flight BA2702 today.

Following a welcome drink and some Socca mixed nuts from the trolley, today’s Club flyers can choose between braised feather blade of beef, roasted cauliflower risotto, and coronation chicken with baby gem lettuce for lunch.

In economy, passengers can order and pay for food from a new “Speedbird Café” menu featuring items by chef Tom Kerridge, as well as being able to order and pay for items from their mobile phones during and before the flight.

From how long France’s remaining rules will hang on to where to book a quick, last-minute sun holiday, there’s little our expert Simon Calder doesn’t know about the fast-changing world of travel.

This week he answered some of your burning holiday questions – covering when the US might reopen to unvaccinated people, which countries have recently dropped their pre-travel tests, and how to claim money back from airlines after a Covid-related cancellation along the way.

Read the full line-up here:

Gatwick’s South Terminal, which opened on Sunday, will ramp up its passengers (both inbound and outbound) over the course of this week.

On Sunday it was served by 100 flights, representing 16,000 passengers; today it will see 150 flights and accommodate 23,000 passengers.

On Tuesday it will be served by 177 flights, representing 24,000 passengers, while on Wednesday it will see 185 flights and 27,000 passengers.

As the Easter holidays start, Gatwick staff expects to see approximately 260 flights a day to and from the South Terminal.

We’ve now boarded our flight, BA2702 from Gatwick to Tenerife.

We’ll fly the four hours 30 minutes to Tenerife’s Sur Reina Sofia airport, trying out the short-haul “Speedbird café” offering along the way.

So far, the plane – an Airbus A320 – looks exactly as you’d expect a BA short haul flight to.

The crowd is a real mix, young families but also older couples heading off for a bit of pre-Easter sunshine. Unlike the passengers in Gatwick, all of us are masked, per Spain’s rules – BA recently announced that passengers can choose not to wear masks on routes from and to destinations that don’t require a mask on departure and arrival.

In Gatwick’s departures hall, it was a half-and-half mix of masked and unmasked.

Our pilots today are Ben Matthews and Holly Simms, and they seem just as cheery as our planeload of holidaymakers to be headed for the Canaries.

Melbourne is an arrival to the departure screens at Gatwick this month. But not Australia’s second-largest city: instead, it is a new Florida gateway.

Tui has switched the hub for its programme of Florida flights from Sanford airport, north of Orlando, to Melbourne – on Florida’s Atlantic coast, about 75 miles southeast of the theme-park capital.

The UK’s biggest holiday company has signed a seven-year deal with the airport. While the airport’s location is about 90 minutes from most Orlando area hotels and attractions, it is the closest airport to Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center and Port Canaveral – a major cruise port.

The new link will also enhance access to coastal locations such as the Palm Beaches, less than two hours’ drive south.

It was August 2021 when rumours about British Airways’ new Gatwick operation first started swirling.

During the summer, press was reporting that a new short-haul-only subsidiary would launch from the East Sussex airport – in September, the airline was keen to emphasise that the new operation would not be “budget” or “no frills”, delivering the same service and benefits BA customers are used to.

BA has always struggled to make a profit at the Sussex airport, and over the past decade – before the pandemic – it lost tens of millions of pounds.

In December, the airline confirmed that it would make a comeback at Gatwick in March, as well as moving towards a Gatwick-specific short-haul operation. Tickets went on sale for 35 routes on 14 December.

Today, it says its short-haul Gatwicks flights have relaunched almost entirely as normal, eventually becoming a distinct “EuroFlyer” subsidiary.

“Customers flying on the airline’s new subsidiary will receive the same high level of service they expect of British Airways as well as enjoying the benefits of travelling with the UK’s flag carrier including a generous baggage allowance, free water and snacks, free seat selection at -24 hours, and frequent flyer benefits which include lounge access.

“All of the airline’s services will have a Club Europe (business class) cabin, setting it apart from its no frills competitors. Customers flying in this cabin will have access to a premium check-in experience, exclusive lounges and a complimentary gourmet meal and bar service on board.”

Twenty-two BA flights are scheduled to leave Gatwick today, to destinations as far-flung as Cancun and Doha.