The acquisition of GB Airways by easyJet will see another BA franchise disappear and will allow easyJet to claim a quarter of flight slots in and out of Gatwick.

GB Airways will continue to operate from its base at Gatwick until March 29 2008, after which the name will be scrapped and its 39 routes and 15 aircraft will be handed over to easyJet. Most of the GB Airways routes are to destinations in southern Europe and North Africa, and while these will be operated by easyJet in the months after the handover, the carrier will not guarantee the future of routes that are not successful.

EasyJet has announced that GB Airways customers with bookings after March 29 2008 will be flown by easyJet aircraft under its terms and conditions and will be notified to that effect.

GB Airways has been a franchise carrier of British Airways for 12 years and offers six flights from Manchester and five from Heathrow in addition to the Gatwick flights. The Heathrow slots are not included in the sale and the future of the Manchester slots, and airport from which easyJet does not currently operated, has yet to be decided.

The sale will push easyJet's Gatwick routes to 62 and strengthen the low cost carrier's presence at its largest hub, seeing it takeover 24 per cent of slots at Gatwick.

The acquisition also marks the continuing withdrawal of a British Airways presence from the West Sussex airport, although BA claims it is not abandoning Gatwick.

A spokeswoman for BA told Times Online Travel: "We still have 13 longhaul destinations out of Gatwick and 41 shorthaul destinations. It is a significant base for us. Gatwick has been about simplifying the programme of flying and increasing profitability, with a focus on leisure routes."

BA claims it turned down the opportunity to buy GB Airways outright, and has announced that customers will not lose out because it plans to start services from Heathrow and Gatwick to former GB AIrways destinations from March 30 2008, including Faro and Malaga.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh, said: “We had an option to buy GB Airways but we rejected it." Addressing concerns that BA is abandoning Gatwick, Walsh said: “We have a significant base at Gatwick and our focus will be on maintaining and developing it as an integral part of our business.”

An end to BA franchises

The sale of GB Airways coincides with another BA franchise announcement - from October 25 BA will cease it franchise with Scottish carrier Loganair and instead operate a codeshare agreement.

It means the Loganair name will carry on but the carrier will not fly under BA's livery. It also means customers will continue to be able to book the regional Scottish routes through BA.com, including many flights between Scotland's Highlands and islands.

Today's news follows a steady programme by BA is dispensing with its UK franchise airlines.

This weekend the BMED franchise with BA will end, following the sale of the carrier to Bmi earlier in the year, which coincided with the sale of BA's domestic and shorthaul operator, BA Connect to Flybe in March 2007. The only franchises being maintained by BA are with foreign carriers - Sunair in Scandinavia and Comair in South Africa.

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