The increased transatlantic schedule – as JetBlue adds a second daily flight to New York from 31 October – comes in time for the peak booking period ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. Stephanie Wear, VP of aviation development, Gatwick Airport said: “We are delighted to be building back our popular connections to North America post the pandemic. It’s exciting to be able to offer passengers more choice once again, when travelling between Gatwick and the USA.
“We are already seeing huge demand for JetBlue’s Boston route which launched in August, while four daily options to New York speaks for itself. Both Orlando and Tampa are fantastic options for families, especially with Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations ongoing, and we hope to be welcoming more flights to US destinations very soon.”
Sky Crockford, Visit USA, said: “We are thrilled to see travel between the UK and USA bouncing back post covid. The USA has always been hugely popular with holiday makers and families from the UK. There is so much on offer to see and do for every type of vacationer.”
This means London Gatwick passengers will now have even more choice when heading stateside, whether to enjoy New York’s world-famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, sample the Black Friday sales, the city’s multitude of Christmas markets or legendary Rockefeller Centre ice rink – or treat the family to a once-in-a-lifetime festive trip to Disney World in Orlando.
JetBlue’s second daily New York flight complements its daily Boston service, while British Airways and Norse Atlantic also fly daily to the Big Apple. Passengers can also fly with BA to destinations including Orlando (11 times per week) and Tampa (five times per week).
Last month, Gatwick announced Delta Air Lines would be returning to the airport from next April, with daily flights to New York JFK. According to data from Visit the USA, more than 4.8million visits were made by Brits to the USA in 2019, with 5 million forecast for 2024. Meanwhile, data from Visit Britain shows 4.5 million Americans visited the UK in 2019.
The USA reopened its borders to fully vaccinated visitors on 8 November 2021, with research from Travelport showing that US-bound flights originating from the U.K. were searched more than US-bound flights from all other European countries, combined. Both Orlando and New York were among the most popular destinations, while New York and Florida remain in the top three most popular states for UK visitors.
