BA EuroFlyer Review

If you’re anything like me, you know what getting into British Airways terminology is like. The airline has a mixture of subsidiaries and different purpose-created fleets that cover specific locations and regions. One of these subsidiaries is BA EuroFlyer.

The best way to explain this airline is that British Airways is the parent company, and this is a smaller branch of the BA brand. It flies solely out of London Gatwick Airport and initially serves 35 destinations, with views to expand.

I’ve found the EuroFlyer opening story really interesting. It’s a fascinating business strategy from British Airways, which aims to compete with Gatwick’s low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air. 

These budget airlines almost entirely dominate the European flight routes from London Gatwick. By opening the EuroFlyer as a subsidiary, British Airways can compete with those airlines by reducing its prices and costs without damaging its original brand image.

It’s pretty smart, isn’t it? In this guide, I’ll introduce you to BA EuroFlyer and everything you need to know before flying with this airline. It only opened in 2022, so there’s a lot to learn about.

What Is BA EuroFlyer? 

The most important thing to get your head around is who owns this airline. British Airways is the parent company, and it runs EuroFlyer as a special lower-cost service, specifically from London Gatwick Airport.

It is wholly owned, meaning onlyBritish Airways oversees this airline. 

A subsidiary company just means that it belongs to another company. In BA EuroFlyer’s case, this translates to being a bit of British Airways in miniature.

Even though BA EuroFlyer has its own name, it is essentially just British Airways — a key point, because it explains the almost identical experiences. 

Take the fare options, for example. You can expect a normal BA service, with Euro Traveller and Club Europe choices:

Euro Traveller

Euro Traveller is the economy option onboard, with complimentary water and snacks included. You get leather seats with headrests, with new seat designs rolling out gradually through aircraft as of May 2024.

There is the option for Wi-Fi access, although it’s worth noting you have to pay for this, which I found a bit irritating. 

In terms of baggage, each one includes a cabin and a handbag. The fact that BA EuroFlyer still sticks to BA’s generous luggage allowance really sets it apart from other airlines from Gatwick.

Ryanair and easyJet are especially known for slightly stingy luggage policies, so generous luggage at cheap rates with BA EuroFlyer is pretty enticing.

Club Europe

Club Europe is the Business option onboard, with premium check-in, lounges, and a gourmet meal and bar service included. The full meal is a nice touch, offering breakfast, afternoon tea, or dinner. 

The seats are almost identical to those in Euro Traveller, the only difference being that the middle seats are always left empty. This means you are guaranteed either an aisle or a window seat and just that extra space. The middle seat is either left empty or has a table on top. 

The main bonus of flying Club Europe is its lounge access beforehand. You don’t get the whole suite experience onboard, but you have more space, good food, and relaxation time beforehand.

What Routes Does BA EuroFlyer Serve? 

BA EuroFlyer operates all over Europe, specializing in short-haul flights. You can fly to all sorts of destinations, including ski break destinations like Geneva or Turin. 

You can also catch winter sun getaways in places like Lanzarote, and come spring and summer, dozens of beach holidays. There are perfect summer routes to Corfu, Mykonos, Agadir, and Morocco.

I was impressed by the variation in BA EuroFlyer’s routes. There’s enough diversity to ensure that it can operate with different holiday themes (winter sun, snow activities, spring city breaks, and summer beach holidays) all year round.

The airline also continually adds to its routes, so keep your eyes peeled for updates. 

What Does BA EuroFlyer Mean For Points Collecting? 

The good news is that BA EuroFlyer makes absolutely no difference to how you usually collect Avios and Tier Points. You’ll continue to clock them up in the usual way.

Since the airline is basically just a mini version of British Airways, there’s no difference in the passenger experience when collecting points. 

Obviously, the usual rules apply. You’ll earn more flying in Business than in Economy, a rule that applies to Tier Points and Avios. 

I guess it’s also important to note that since BA EuroFlyer solely operates short-distance flights, the average earnings will naturally be lower than those of longer flights. With shorter flights, you’re also less likely to incorporate stopovers, so you don’t get to boost point earnings there.

Of course, you’d find these limiting factors across most of BA’s short-haul fleet anyway. It’s something to generally remember when maximizing your points with BA.

EuroFlyer Vs BA’s Existing Short Haul Fleet

Quite frankly, there is not a lot of difference between EuroFlyer and BA’s existing short haul fleet. The main difference between them is just the name ‘EuroFlyer’.

EuroFlyer is associated with lower prices, although spokespeople for the airline vehemently deny being ‘low-cost’ — a subtle difference in quality associations, I guess. 

BA EuroFlyer is officially a subsidiary company, meaning it is owned wholly by British Airways but functions under its own name. It is a bit of an experiment and was cooked up over COVID-19 as the realization hit that London Gatwick was seriously not profitable.

Only opening in 2022, it is still very much in its early days and could go in many different directions regarding creative vision and success.

BA’s existing short-haul fleet goes by the names Euro Traveller (economy) or Club Europe (business). The service is identical, with the same classes and inclusions; it just has different prices and flies from airports all over Europe, while EuroFlyer flies just London Gatwick. 

In summary, these are the main differences between EuroFlyer and BA’s existing short-haul fleet:

• EuroFlyer only operates out of London Gatwick, while BA’s short-haul fleet is Europe-wide.
• EuroFlyer is a subsidiary company, while BA’s short-haul fleet is part of the original main company.
• EuroFlyer is new from 2022, while BA’s short-haul fleet has operated since the 1980s.
• EuroFlyer’s prices are lower on average than BA’s usual short-haul rates. However, critics say there have been more operational cost cuts than fare drops.

What’s probably equally impactful to know is their similarities; I mean, just look at how identical they are:

• The same aircraft are used in EuroFlyer and BA’s short-haul fleet.
• The same fare classes are available, with the exact same inclusions.
• You can still collect Avios and Status Tier Points in the exact same way.
• Even the onboard staff still wear the same uniforms.

Why Does BA Create Subsidiaries? 

I’ve already touched upon the story behind BA EuroFlyer’s creation, but in this section, I’ll really give you all the juicy details. Did you know that British Airways has two subsidiary airlines – BA EuroFlyer and BA CityFlyer? 

While BA EuroFlyer flies to and from London Gatwick, BA CityFlyer uses London City Airport as a base.

The main difference is that EuroFlyer mainly uses Airbus planes (six seats split in two by a single aisle), while BA CityFlyer uses regional planes (four seats split in two by a single aisle). These airlines operate under the total control of British Airways but with different names.

The question that begs is, why bother? Especially when considering how similar the subsidiary airlines are to British Airways. 

There are a few layers when answering this question, so I’ll split it into sections:

To Cut Costs

The first thing to consider is that British Airways took a real hit over COVID-19. The airline was making insanely lower profits, so cutting operational costs with subsidiaries was a real solution. 

Subsidiaries are a smart business decision. When you open a new company, you can cut unnecessary costs. By improving operational efficiency, you can make the overall business model more profitable and sustainable in the long term. 

For instance, running short-haul British Airways flights from London Gatwick Airport wasn’t profitable. By opening BA EuroFlyer, British Airways has a chance to completely re-organize and optimize operations.

To Compete With Dominating Airlines

British Airways was struggling to compete against Gatwick’s low-cost airlines. As a short-haul carrier, it offered higher prices to the same destinations; you can see why people opted out and chose other airlines. 

Airlines like Ryanair and easyJet were dominating London City Airport and London Gatwick Airport. By creating subsidiary airlines BA EuroFlyer and BA Cityflyer, British Airways was attempting to better target customers in a competitive market without changing BA as an entirety.

Whether or not it works long term, we shall see. However, by providing similarly priced flights through subsidiary airlines, British Airways can compete without sacrificing its main brand image. Speaking of which…

Keeping Brands Separate

Opening subsidiaries protects the main brand image of British Airways. The airline opened in 1919 (originally Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited), making it over 100 years old. 

The British Airways brand image has been carefully curated and nurtured over the past century. The last thing you’d want to do is risk the consistency of your brand by making changes to your leading company and operations. 

By diversifying and opening subsidiary airlines, British Airways has put a small barricade between itself and these changes. This keeps its original associations and values while developing a new branch of experiences and branding.

The Criticism & What People Are Saying

I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you the full story. If you’re considering flying with BA EuroFlyer, you need the warts-and-all version. 

The main criticism is that there isn’t much of a price difference between BA EuroFlyer and the main BA flights.

Initially, BA EuroFlyer advertised flights at around $40, intending to price match low-cost competitors. However, people have quickly taken to flight search tools and found that EuroFlyer often matches standard BA prices. 

Of course, if that’s the case, it begs the question of what the real difference is and whether a subsidiary creation was justified from a consumer perspective. If you listen to the most ferocious critics, they argue that it was entirely born out of necessity and industry survival. 

This is definitely something to keep in mind. Of course, if you are looking to fly from London Gatwick or London City Airport specifically, it won’t make too much of a difference.

Just don’t choose the airline only for low prices, and if budget is important to you, compare competitor options. If anything, all this just reasserts that flying with BA EuroFlyer isn’t a different experience from flying with BA short haul.

I don’t really see a strong negative to this. Just do your own due research beforehand and make the most of extra flight connections from Gatwick.

British Airways Fleet Types: 4 Ways To Fly

While we are on the topic of British Airways’ subsidiaries, it’s a great time to cover the different British Airways fleet types. Which travel type you experience all depends on where you fly from and where you fly to.

British Airways varies its travel experiences based on travel distance and airport of departure. 

For instance, if you fly from London Gatwick, you can fly with BA EuroFlyer. If you fly from London City Airport, you have the option of flying with BA Cityflyer.

If you fly long haul, you’ll go with World Traveller/Club World. In short haul, you’ll go with Euro Traveller/Club Europe.

There are four main categories that you should know about when flying with British Airways and its airlines. I’ll introduce you to each one now.  

1. BA’s Short Haul Fleet

British Airways has a whole fleet dedicated to flying short haul around Europe. This fleet offers an entirely different experience to flying long haul.

Euro Traveller and Club Europe are the two main classes on British Airways’ short haul fleet. This special fleet consists predominantly of A320, A321, and A319s. These planes typically carry up to 170 passengers and have a single aisle, with two lots of three-seat rows. 

You can choose between flying in economy, which is Euro Traveller. When flying in BA’s short haul fleet, economy includes a snack, a bottle of water, and a carry-on bag with additional personal items. 

Alternatively, you can fly Club Europe, which is business class on this fleet. As mentioned, this includes premium check-in, a gourmet meal and bar service onboard, and lounge access before your flight.

The seats aren’t suites, but they leave an empty middle seat, often covered by an extra table, to guarantee more space.

2. BA’s Long Haul Fleet

Of course, British Airways also has a long haul fleet. This offers an entirely different experience to the European fleet, with many more inclusions and fare options. 

British Airways’ long haul fleet uses a mixture of Airbus A350, A380, and Boeing 777 and 787s. Its planes all feature twin aisles, and some are double-decker designs (we are looking at you, Airbus A380s).

I really favor BA’s long haul fleet, mostly because of its excellent safety record — I can be a little paranoid about booking flights with new airlines. But I also like the inclusions and onboard experience.

You can book the following fare classes:

• Economy
• Premium Economy
• Business Class
• First Class

These are roughly split into World Traveller for the Economy fares, which include one or two full meals, depending on the flight duration. You also get a personal entertainment screen with a headset, a personal blanket, and a pillow.

Club World is for business and above fares. In Business Class, you get lounge access, a private suite that converts into a flatbed, and a gourmet menu to choose from.

First Class is even more elaborate, with loungewear and an amenity bag to enjoy in a private suite and luxury lounges beforehand.

BA EuroFlyer

BA EuroFlyer is the subsidiary option for lower-priced flights, specifically from London Gatwick Airport. You can use BA EuroFlyer to travel all around Europe, with nearly 40 different connections around the region. 

This fleet uses a mixture of Airbus A320 and A321s, running a near-enough experience identical to British Airways’ short-haul flights. You can still choose from Euro Traveller and Club Europe. 

The only thing that sets BA EuroFlyer aside is its eye-catching low prices and Gatwick-specific departure point. The airline opened in 2022 and is a relatively new enterprise under the BA brand umbrella.

BA Cityflyer

BA Cityflyer is the other subsidiary option when flying specifically from London City Airport. Like EuroFlyer, Cityflyer is known for its slightly lower prices and was intended to rival low-cost airlines at LCY.

Unlike EuroFlyer, though, this airline uses regional planes — primarily the Embraer 190.

If you fancy a more regional experience with British Airways, BA Cityflyer is your only real chance to do so. Its planes offer just four seats per row, divided into pairs by a single aisle. 

This airline operates UK domestic routes as well as connections with Europe. You can fly to destinations in Malaga, Faro, Berlin, and Edinburgh. It connects London City Airport fantastically with the wider European region with a network of great short haul flights.

To Summarize: Flying With BA EuroFlyer 

Hopefully, you now feel confident booking a flight with BA EuroFlyer. I’ve got to emphasize that this airline is more a business strategy than a massively different offering. You won’t experience much difference from flying with BA’s Euro Traveller or Club Europe.

If you are based near London Gatwick, flying with BA EuroFlyer is potentially a way to save some money. The airline purposely runs cheaper flights than its parent company.

BA EuroFlyer’s main edge over its competitors, like Ryanair and easyJet, is its luggage allowance and fare options. 

You can fly Business and get a generous cabin bag —- which hugely differs from the boarding experience with the other two.

I’ve found that flying with Ryanair and easyJet makes the boarding experience pretty stressful. It feels like boarding staff are constantly breathing down your neck trying to find overweight luggage.

It’s alright if you’re looking to get somewhere fast and cheap, but there’s undoubtedly a market for more comfortable short-haul travel. 

Flying with British Airways feels much more relaxing. It feels like a win-win now that EuroFlyer has matched the general price levels.

The only potential limiter is that it operates only out of London Gatwick, and the jury is still out on whether it actually keeps ticket prices low and remains different enough. It will be interesting to see its profitability and future long-term. Let’s keep an eye, shall we?