MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British Airways suspends winter Madrid/Gibraltar schedule

British Airways will be suspending its daily winter flights between Madrid and Gibraltar, which were launched last May, given technical restrictions in both airports, announced local operator GB Airways. The last British Airways from Madrid to Gibraltar will take off September 30.

James Gaggero, chairman, GB Airways said: "We are terribly disappointed to be suspending these flights and apologise to everyone affected. When we launched these services we were keen to do all we could to support the efforts of our politicians and the "Cordoba Process". We were encouraged by the support we received from our customers and the local press and are immensely grateful for this. We have done everything possible to make this new route a success and to serve the needs of the communities in and around Gibraltar". "In spite of our best efforts we have not been able to overcome a number of obstacles we have faced since announcing that we wished to launch these services particularly the severely limited availability of slots in Madrid which continues to make our schedule far too tight. Furthermore, the operating restrictions on flights into Gibraltar have made life unexpectedly difficult for us and more importantly for our customers. The new terminal and runway works that are due to start in Gibraltar this winter will no doubt exacerbate these problems." Kevin Hatton, chief executive, GB Airways added: "our experience this summer demonstrates that although there is clearly a market for direct flights between Gibraltar and Madrid we will need to resolve a number of key areas before we are in a position to re-launch this service. Work will be carried out in the meantime to assess the potential for services to recommence in summer 2008". Flights between Gibraltar and London Gatwick will revert to the former schedule with an evening departure to London balancing both the UK and Gibraltar customer needs. All passengers who are currently booked on services after this date will be offered a refund or re-accommodated on the Iberia service