dailynewsnblog
Everyone knows that 
British Airways’ primary focus is on 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR). In 2026, the airline has an average of 331 daily departures from the airport. They have fallen by 0.8% compared to 2025, which is partly because of various suspended and removed routes.
BA has just over half of the departures from LHR, which is far from the 70% required to be a fortress hub. When other 
oneworld members are included, the figure rises to 59%. Cirium Diio data shows that BA plans 161 routes from LHR in the second half of 2026. They now include a new destination which has never been served from the UK’s busiest airport.
BA Announces This New Route From LHR
As disclosed by Sean Moulton on X and now bookable, BA will begin flying from LHR to the Fuerteventura (FUE), which is located in Spain’s Canary Islands. The carrier will run twice-weekly during the winter using the 156-seat Airbus A320ceo, with the first departure lifting off on December 13. The Canaries are pretty much the only warm place in Europe to visit in the winter. Cirium shows that it’ll be the first time that LHR-FUE flights have ever existed.
It will replace BA Euroflyer’s operation from 
London Gatwick Airport (LGW), which had planned the same twice-weekly operation. GB Airways flew LGW-FUE for BA until 2005, while BA mainline then did between 2014 and 2018. The lower-cost unit, Euroflyer, launched the route in November 2023, as a way of trying to improve winter performance. Switching to LHR, with higher fees and charges, suggests that the route has exceeded expectations and is sufficiently high-yielding, or it’d make little sense.
Booking data for 2025 shows that just over 5,000 round-trip passengers flew from LHR to FUE, and most of them connected in 
Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) with 
Iberia. The source suggests that it was only the sixth-largest unserved Spanish destination from LHR. Gran Canaria was number one (14,000).
Days | LHR-FUE; Local Times | FUE-LHR; Local Times |
|---|---|---|
Thursdays | 7:05 AM-11:30 AM | 12:30 PM-4:50 PM |
Sundays | 10:05 AM-2:30 PM | 3:40 PM-8:00 PM |
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London To FUE
In 2025, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that 517,400 round-trip passengers flew between London (LON) and FUE. This figure does not include those who connected to another flight en route, including from LHR, so the actual overall figure will be higher.
FUE only had 14% of the traffic from LON to/from the Canaries. It had the lowest traffic of the ‘big four’ Canary Islands destinations. Traffic was surpassed by Gran Canaria (675,000), Lanzarote (889,100), and particularly Tenerife South Airport (TFS; 1,495,000).
Let’s look ahead to mid-January 2027, when BA would have been operating from LHR to FUE for a month. In that period, 27 weekly departures are planned from LON, with BA, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, and TUI Airways flying. Unless things change, the same number of flights will be available as in the same period in 2026. In contrast, Gran Canaria will have 37 weekly departures, Lanzarote 45, and TFS 81.
BA’s twice-weekly service from LHR to FUE will coexist with easyJet from LGW (daily) and Luton (twice-weekly); Jet2 from Stansted (thrice-weekly), LGW (twice-weekly), LTN (weekly); Ryanair from STN (eight weekly); and TUI from LGW (twice-weekly).
BA/Iberia Plan 183 Weekly Winter Flights From LHR To Spain
Let’s stick with LHR operations in mid-January 2027. In that period, BA and close partner Iberia, which operate on a metal-neutral basis, plan 183 weekly departures from LHR to Spain (26 daily services). BA is scheduled to operate 127 of them and Iberia 56.
Their collective offering will be up by 10% compared to mid-January 2026, entirely because of BA (+14%). This reflects what is known as of July 29, and is subject to change. In the same winter period, the Euroflyer and Iberia Express will have 52 weekly departures from LGW to Spain.
Six routes are planned from LHR: MAD (101 weekly; 45 with BA and 56 with Iberia), Barcelona (56), Malaga (13), Valencia (daily), TFS (four weekly), and now FUE (twice-weekly). 13 of the 101 weekly departures to MAD will be on widebody aircraft, which is mainly due to freight flying to/from South America. BA will have six weekly departures on the Boeing 777-200ER and 787-8, while Iberia will have a daily operation, with flights on the A330 and A350-900.
