British Airways will be operating nine daily frequencies between 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and 
New York JFK Airport (JFK) next summer, its highest level in over a decade. As per data from aviation analytics company Cirium, the carrier’s summer 2026 schedule will shift its sole 
London Gatwick Airport (LGW) service to Heathrow.
Gatwick will now have just two airlines flying to New York, and only one will provide service year-round. In contrast, there will be six airlines flying between London and New York next summer, offering a peak of over 220 weekly roundtrips between the two airports.
British Airways Nine Heathrow-JFK Daily Flights Next Summer
Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock
British Airways currently operates eight daily flights from London’s busiest airport to JFK as well as a single daily flight out of Gatwick, but will be adding an extra frequency to Heathrow for the summer 2026 season in lieu of its Gatwick service.
Travel experts have warned that the decision could cost holidaymakers in higher fares and ground transport costs. The reduced competition at Gatwick, which will now have New York service with Delta and Norse Atlantic only, could also drive up fares.
With more capacity opened up at Gatwick, British Airways has increased frequencies to other long-haul destinations, including Bangkok and Kingston. A BA spokesperson told The Standard,
“We know that most of our customers prefer to fly from Heathrow when travelling to New York, which is where all nine of our daily JFK flights will depart from in Summer 2026. Freeing up this aircraft at Gatwick means we can increase our capacity to popular leisure destinations, so we’ve added extra flights to Bangkok and Jamaica.”
Highest From Heathrow In Over A Decade
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
According to Cirium, the airline has only flown nine daily flights between the airports in two summers since 2000, achieving these levels in the summers of 2014 and 2015. Interestingly, while its flight frequencies will be on par with its 2014 and 2015 summer schedules, seating capacity will be down by up to 18% due to lower-capacity aircraft.
Now primarily utilizing a mixture of its Boeing 777-200LR and Boeing 777-300ER fleets, BA was regularly flying its Boeing 747-400s to JFK a decade ago, which offered a lot more capacity per flight. In fact, more than half of BA’s scheduled 747 flights were to and from the US.
BA remains the largest carrier flying between London and New York both in terms of seats and frequencies. Virgin Atlantic is the second-largest by seat capacity, followed by American Airlines and United Airlines.
Seven Airlines To Serve London-New York Corridor
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
The air corridor between London and New York has long been one of the most lucrative pairings in the industry. While there is, of course, huge tourism and VFR demand, these flights also see exceptionally high business and premium demand, which is where most full-service carriers make their best yields.
Cirium data shows there will be seven carriers offering flights between the two cities next year. While no longer officially categorized as a New York airport, Newark is still included and sees service from both British Airways and United Airlines out of Heathrow. While no longer getting its daily British Airways flight, London Gatwick will continue to see year-round service to New York with low-cost long-haul carrier Norse Atlantic UK, as well as Delta’s seasonal summer flights.
Airline
Origin
Destination
Weekly Flights
Seats (each way)
American Airlines
London Heathrow (LHR)
New York JFK (JFK)
28
8,295
JetBlue
London Heathrow (LHR)
New York JFK (JFK)
14
1,932
British Airways
London Heathrow (LHR)
Newark Liberty (EWR)
14
3,437
British Airways
London Heathrow (LHR)
New York JFK (JFK)
63
15,337
Delta Air Lines
London Heathrow (LHR)
New York JFK (JFK)
14
3,633
United Airlines
London Heathrow (LHR)
Newark Liberty (EWR)
49
8,133
Virgin Atlantic
London Heathrow (LHR)
New York JFK (JFK)
42
12,537
Norse Atlantic UK
London Gatwick (LGW)
New York JFK (JFK)
7
2,366
TOTAL
231
55,720
London Heathrow continues to be the busiest international route for both airports.
- IATA Code
-
BA
- ICAO Code
-
BAW
- Year Founded
-
1974