London Gatwick Airport adds five new airlines in two weeks as summer demand surges
April 3, 2026
London Gatwick Airport has welcomed its fifth new airline in less than two weeks as the West Sussex hub prepares for its busiest summer since the pandemic.
Starting on 1 April 2026, German airline Condor is commencing flights from Gatwick to Frankfurt, with a three-times-per-day service between the two cities, using Airbus A320 or A321 aircraft.
“Condor’s arrival marks yet another exciting landmark in what has been a period of significant growth for the airport,” said Jonny Macneal, head of aviation development at Gatwick.
New airlines join the schedule at London Gatwick Airport
Condor follows the recent arrival of Jet2, the UK’s third largest airline, which will operate 29 routes from Gatwick this summer using six Airbus A321neo aircraft – five of which will be based at the airport while a sixth will overnight elsewhere and fly into the airport.
Jet2 destinations from Gatwick include Spain, Türkiye, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Croatia.
Jet2 said the move had created more than 300 jobs, including in-flight operations, engineering, cabin crew, customer service and ground handling roles.
Meanwhile, Air France has started a twice-daily service to Paris–Charles de Gaulle using its Airbus A220 aircraft.
The relaunch is the first time Air France has operated from Gatwick since 1996.
Eurowings has also joined with a service to Cologne, which began at the end of March and will operate 13 times a week.
Airlines big and small launch from London’s second hub
Romanian carrier AnimaWings has launched its first service from Gatwick, with flights to Bucharest Otopeni having begun on 22 March.
The route operates six times per week using Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with business, premium economy and economy seats available.
Several additional new airlines are set to start flying to Gatwick later in the summer.
They include AirAsia X, which is launching a daily flight to Kuala Lumpur with a stop in Bahrain.
Starting on 26 June 2026, the service will operate via the Gulf on Airbus A330 aircraft, connecting Gatwick with the Malaysian capital for the first time since 2012.
Kuala Lumpur will be the 15th destination in Asia served from London Gatwick.
Bo Lingam, group CEO of AirAsia X, said: “Our return to London marks a significant milestone for AirAsia X and we’re excited to commence our operations at London Gatwick this June.
“This new daily route will enable UK travellers to seamlessly and affordably connect to Bahrain, Asean and beyond through our extensive Fly-Thru connectivity spanning over 130 destinations worldwide.”
Gatwick gains transatlantic route and additional frequencies to Europe
Royal Air Maroc began serving Tetouan in Morocco twice weekly from 29 March, and Norwegian has added to the airport’s ties to Denmark with a new service to Aalborg.
On the transatlantic front, Air Transat will launch a new route to the Canadian capital, Ottawa, from 15 May.
SWISS is also increasing the frequency of its Zurich service to twice-daily.
Elsewhere, Air Arabia is launching a non-stop service connecting Gatwick with Sharjah in the UAE.
From the end of June, the low-cost carrier will operate the route twice a day using Airbus A321neo LR aircraft. It was delayed, having been announced in November 2025 with a start date of the end of March.
Chinese carriers continue to grow at Gatwick
Beijing Capital Airlines is also due to launch a new route between Gatwick and Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province.
Gatwick has seen strong demand from Chinese carriers as they benefit from Russian overflight permissions to reach East Asia on the shortest routes.
And Pegasus is all set to begin flying between Istanbul and Gatwick from 15 June.
Emirates fourth daily flight between Dubai and Gatwick using an Airbus A350 launched in February. However, the situation in the Gulf has upended schedules, and the carrier is currently operating just two flights a day to the Sussex airport.
“With 62 airlines operating from Gatwick this summer, passengers will enjoy the airport’s widest choice of carriers ever,” Gatwick said, announcing the expanded schedule.
Gatwick’s Macneal added: “With new airlines joining the airport, new destinations launching and major frequency increases across our network, passengers will enjoy even more choice for holidays, business trips and long-haul adventures.
“We’re proud to offer one of the UK’s most comprehensive route networks and we look forward to welcoming even more passengers this summer.”
Featured image: Christian Palent | stock.adobe.com
