This summer, there are seven flights a day from CLT to Europe: London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, Madrid, and Dublin on US Airways and Munich on Lufthansa. Only four of those flights operate year around though (London, Frankfurt, Paris, and Munich) and only London and Frankfurt operate every day of the week in winter.
So it would seem that London is a top destination from Charlotte and for US Airways. One thing though: US Airways serves London Gatwick (LGW) from Charlotte. Gatwick is London’s number two airport. Heathrow (LHR) is the preferred destination for business travelers going to London. The Charlotte route is only one of two flights by the big US airlines that still go to Gatwick. All of American, Continental, and United’s London flights are to LHR. US Airway’s Philadelphia flight is to LHR. Ten of Delta’s 11 daily flights to London this summer are to Heathrow; the except is the early flight from Atlanta which is still to Gatwick as the airline hasn’t been able to acquire landing and takeoff slots at the appropriate times at LHR yet.
And this winter it gets worse on the Gatwick front. Delta will be running its Atlanta-Gatwick flight only six days a week in October and five times a week from November through late March. This is the first time its been less than daily year-round. Not encouraging…
