British Airways is moving its Atlanta-London flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to Terminal 5 at Heathrow, starting March 29.
After that, Orlando will be the only U.S. point that BA serves through Gatwick.
The move is a result of the U.S.-E.U. Open Skies agreement, which ended Heathrow restrictions in the old U.S.-U.K. air accord.
That pact limited Heathrow service to two U.S. carriers, American and United, and to specific U.S. gateways.
The new accord allowed American, Delta, Continental, Northwest and US Airways to shift London services to the more desirable Heathrow, and BA appears to be shifting some of its own flights to stay competitive.
BA has been operating a daily evening flight on 777s from Atlanta to Gatwick, in direct competition with Delta, which has moved some of its service to Heathrow.
Delta and its SkyTeam partners, meanwhile, are making other adjustments. This winter, Air France is halting its London Heathrow-Los Angeles service, freeing up aircraft and slots to reinforce service between Heathrow and New York Kennedy.
SkyTeam plans to increase its New York-London service to three flights a day from two for the summer 2009 schedule; two operated by Delta and one by Air France.
The jockeying suggests that Heathrow is becoming a battleground for competitors wanting to serve London and/or access its rich pool of connecting traffic.
Delta President Edward Bastian recently told analysts: “Heathrow is a bit of a bloodbath right now.”