British Airways long-haul route changes at Gatwick for Winter 2014 (and Singapore ex-LHR goes A380)

British Airways has published its first raft of service changes for London Gatwick for the Winter season, which starts on 26th October.  All in all, it looks positive and reiterates BA’s commitment to the airport.

Here are the highlights:

Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (photo above) to get its own dedicated service twice a week.  At present, it is an ‘add on’ to the Antigua service on three days a week.

Antigua will see an increase in capacity because of the removal of passengers travelling on to Punta Cana

Tampa increases to a daily service from the current six per week

Orlando increases to 10 flights per week from the current seven during November and March

Kingston increases to four per week between December and February

Barbados increases to 12 per week between December and February

St Kitts and Las Vegas see timing changes but the number of flights is unchanged

These changes have been made possible by the addition of a 10th Boeing 777 to the Gatwick fleet.  As far as I know, no services have been dropped to make way for these additions.

Flights should be available for booking, both for cash and Avios, at ba.com.

In a separate announcement, Singapore will be the next destination to use an Airbus A380.  Starting on October 28th, three services a week will use the new ‘super jumbo’.  The other flights will remain a mix of Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft.

If you have a Singapore flight booked, you can check your aircraft by doing a dummy booking on ba.com – the aircraft type will show when you click on the flight number on the pricing pages.

Singapore becomes the 5th A380 destination, behind Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Hong Kong and Washington.  Four aircraft are currently in service with a further four due for delivery later in 2014.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)