London Gatwick Airport (LGW) is hardly short on airline activity. The airport geared up for around 900 flights a day on peak summer weekends last year, and for summer 2026, it says passengers will have more than 230 destinations to choose from across 62 airlines. It is one of Europe’s busiest leisure-heavy airports, with over 43 million annual passengers, and one of the continent’s broadest point-to-point networks.

Which all makes its very minimal Airbus A220 footprint so surprising. For all of Gatwick’s scale and leisure focus, the airport has until now only had six A220-operated routes. This week, that number rose to seven, as Romania’s AnimaWings launched a new Bucharest service, giving Gatwick a new European destination, and more notably, the airport’s longest-ever regularly scheduled A220 sector at 1,296 miles.

Anima-who? Romania’s Small Airline With Big Plans

Credit: Shutterstock

For most British travelers, AnimaWings is still an unfamiliar name. The carrier launched in 2020 and is based at Bucharest International Airport (OTP). It has positioned itself as a hybrid operator, flying both scheduled services and charter missions, giving the airline a broader revenue base than a pure scheduled startup, while also letting it build brand recognition on thicker leisure-heavy routes.

AnimaWings’ fleet is still tiny. It started life with some leased Airbus A320s from its original investor, Aegean Airlines, and it still operates two of these. But its future lies firmly with the A220, where it has ordered 12 of the larger A220-300, which it configures with 12 business class and 125 economy seats. It currently operates four of the type since taking delivery of its first in late 2024. It also anticipates leasing some A320neos for higher-demand routes, and has ambitions to grow to 18 aircraft by the end of next year.

As the new A220s come online, the carrier is expanding its network, and this month it will also be adding new flights from Bucharest to Athens and Geneva. But the London Gatwick service will be the highlight for the small airline, with it set to operate six times weekly, albeit with a varying schedule depending upon the day:

The Bucharest-Gatwick route is therefore one of AnimaWings’ highest-profile Western European additions, giving it a foothold in one of Europe’s largest markets. Marius Pandel, CEO of AnimaWings, emphasized this when the first flight took off over the weekend:

“The launch of our London Gatwick – Bucharest service marks an important milestone in AnimaWings’ international expansion and our commitment to connecting Romania with key European markets. The United Kingdom is a strategic destination, with strong business, tourism and diaspora ties, and we are proud to offer passengers a new full-service travel option on this route.”

One Of Eight New Gatwick Airlines This Year

Credit: Shutterstock

AnimaWings is not arriving at Gatwick in isolation. The airport said in February that eight new carriers would operate from the airport in summer 2026: Jet2, AirAsia X, Condor, Air Arabia, Air France, Eurowings, AnimaWings, and Beijing Capital Airlines. That is an unusually broad mix, ranging from European leisure brands and legacy operators to long-haul low-cost and China-linked growth. It underlines how Gatwick is expanding not just in volume, but in variety.

Arguably Gatwick’s most high-profile addition this year will be the addition of leisure carrier Jet2 from March 26, the start of its first-ever scheduled services from London’s secondary hub. Jet2 plans to base six aircraft at LGW as part of this initiative, with which it will serve a grand total of 29 holiday destinations located all over Europe. Spain alone will account for 11 of these routes, underlining its importance in the UK leisure market.

There is a clear strategic pattern here. Several of the additions strengthen Gatwick’s core short-haul leisure proposition, but others, like the routes to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sharjah International Airport, and Qingdao, show that Gatwick is significantly more diverse at the same time. That makes AnimaWings a good fit. It is small enough to feel niche, but it serves a city pair that is both substantial and yet under-served by full-service carriers.

Related

Jet2 Holiday From Gatwick: New Base And 29 Routes Launching Summer 2026

A huge coup for the British package holiday airline.

AnimaWings Sets Gatwick’s New Longest A220 Route

Credit: Shutterstock

The bigger hook for aviation enthusiasts is what this means for the A220 at Gatwick. Bucharest now tops the list of the longest scheduled passenger A220 flights operated from a London airport at 1,296 miles, overtaking Bulgaria Air’s route from London Heathrow Airport to Sofia Airport route at 1,270 miles.

The new route is a useful reminder of what the A220 is becoming in Europe: not just a regional jet replacement, but a genuine medium-haul workhorse capable of stretching into sectors that once felt more naturally sized for an Airbus A319 or a Boeing 737-700. It also says a lot about where the A220 is proving most useful: city pairs too long or too premium-sensitive for a regional turboprop, but not necessarily dense enough year-round for a larger narrowbody.

It also says something about Gatwick. For all its size, the airport has not been a major A220 stronghold to date. But that may be changing. As more niche and mid-sized European airlines look for efficient aircraft that can support thinner, longer leisure routes, the A220 is becoming a more natural Gatwick aircraft. AnimaWings is small, but in giving London a new A220 distance record, it is illustrating how Gatwick’s network is evolving and diversifying.