London Heathrow to see three new long-haul airlines launch on same day

Until Riyadh Air receives its own Boeing 787-9 aircraft, it will use an 8.6-year-old plane leased from Oman Air, configured with 288 seats in two classes. Due to Heathrow's "use-it-or-lose-it" slot rule, which requires airlines to use their slots at least 80% of the time, Riyadh Air will operate flights with employees and families before opening ticket sales to the public.

Air Peace, a Nigerian airline, will arrive at Heathrow at 16:30. The airline has faced challenges securing slots at Heathrow and initially launched its London service from Lagos to Gatwick in March 2024. Air Peace has now obtained slots from the normal pool and will operate flights from Abuja on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, using a Boeing 777-200ER and Terminal 3. On the first day, the flight will arrive at 16:30. Due to limited slots, Air Peace will also start a twice-weekly Abuja-Gatwick service on October 28.

Abuja was the highest-yielding large African market for Heathrow, with an average one-way fare of $1,161. British Airways has been the sole operator on this route for 13 years, but Air Peace's entry introduces direct competition. Arik Air last operated this route until 2012.

IndiGo will complete the day's new arrivals, landing at 19:20 at Terminal 3. The airline will operate daily flights from Mumbai using Norse Atlantic's 338-seat Boeing 787-9s, with slots leased from Virgin Atlantic. The schedule will vary slightly each day due to slot constraints. On October 26, flight 6E1 will depart Mumbai at 14:45 and arrive at Heathrow at 19:20 local time. The return flight, 6E2, will leave at 21:30 and arrive back in Mumbai at 11:45 the next day.

The Heathrow-Mumbai route had about 700,000 local passengers in the year leading up to August, with up to nine daily nonstop flights now available. IndiGo will compete with Air Canada, Air India, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic on this route. This will be IndiGo's second UK market after Mumbai-Manchester, with a Delhi-Manchester route starting on November 14. Due to airspace restrictions over Pakistan, IndiGo must reroute these flights, leading to longer flight times and higher fuel consumption.