British Airways has confirmed a major change to its flight schedule, moving its direct service to the Spanish island of Fuerteventura from Gatwick Airport to Heathrow. This marks the first time the Canary Island will be directly connected to the UK's busiest airport hub.
The new seasonal service will operate twice weekly, departing on Thursdays and Sundays, running from December 13 until April 11, 2027. All flights will operate out of Heathrow's flagship Terminal 5.
Complete switch, not an additional route
Travellers have been issued an important warning: the adjustment is a complete switch, not an additional route. BA will not run Gatwick and Heathrow services simultaneously.
Passengers with existing bookings or connecting travel plans in London are strongly advised to double-check their itineraries and departure terminals to avoid costly mix-ups. Under current passenger rights rules, switching airports counts as a cancellation, meaning the airline must notify travellers in advance and offer a free switch or a full refund.
However, if notice has been sent and holidaymakers turn up at the wrong airport, the blame falls entirely on them. In that case, travellers risk losing their flights without compensation, with airlines not obliged to cover missed connections, parking, or last-minute taxis.
Direct access and tourism impact
The new route provides direct access to the island for millions of passengers across the flag carrier's global network, enabling seamless connections through Heathrow. The UK remains the Canary Island's primary tourism market, with local officials forecasting roughly 442,000 scheduled airline seats from Britain across the 2026/27 winter season.
Fresh figures reveal that 418,546 British travellers visited Fuerteventura in the first six months of 2026 alone, a 1.43% rise compared to the same period last year. Island tourism chiefs met with major UK carriers and tour operators in London this week at the World Travel Market (WTM) to bolster winter holiday demand.
Wider winter network overhaul
The Fuerteventura shake-up forms part of a much wider winter overhaul across BA's flight network. For festive holidaymakers seeking snow rather than sun, the carrier is running twice-weekly flights from Gatwick to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland throughout December, including a flight on Christmas Eve.
Those seeking long-haul winter sunshine can take advantage of direct services operating three times a week from Gatwick to Colombo in Sri Lanka, while Barbados has seen additional capacity added with new Gatwick departures operating alongside existing Heathrow flights.
City-break fans will also see the return of direct flights from Heathrow to Cologne, while long-distance travellers can look forward to a major return to Melbourne, Australia, starting in January 2027.
Fuerteventura is not the only destination seeing its London base shuffled around either. Travellers heading to the snowy slopes of Innsbruck in Austria will now depart from London Gatwick instead of Heathrow. Meanwhile, sunny getaways to Costa Rica and Tampa, Florida, have both switched over from Gatwick to Heathrow, giving holidaymakers plenty to double-check on their boarding passes this season.
