British Airways' Stansted return: tiny but adds choice in London-Europe market

On Sunday 19-May-2024 British Airways (BA) flew scheduled services from London Stansted Airport for the first time since before the COVID-19 crisis. A departure to Florence was followed on the same day by flights to Nice and Ibiza.

All three services are operated by BA CityFlyer on 98-seat Embraer E190 regional jets, with business class and economy cabins. From Sep-2024 BA will add a Saturday service from London Stansted to the Croatian coastal town of Split.

BA's seat share at London Stansted is tiny, and it cannot expect to compete on price with the low cost airlines (especially Ryanair), which dominate the airport. However, BA is the leading airline by total seats between London and Europe.

In restarting scheduled services from London Stansted, BA is segmenting the London-Europe market and giving more choice to its passengers.