British Airways to Exit London Stansted in April 2027, Cutting Five Routes

British Airways will end all BA Cityflyer flights from London Stansted on April 11, 2027, cancelling five planned summer routes to European leisure destinations. The withdrawal removes the airport's only full-service carrier brand and leaves Florence without a direct Stansted service next summer.

The five dropped destinations are Bergerac and Nice in France, Florence and Olbia in Italy, and Palma de Mallorca in Spain. BA Cityflyer has served Stansted since 2016, with a pandemic interruption, and resumed operations there in 2024.

What does this change for passengers?

Florence takes the hardest hit. No other airline currently plans a direct Stansted–Florence service for summer 2027. Travellers to the Tuscan city will need to fly from another London airport or rethink their routing.

The four other destinations keep nonstop competition:

• Bergerac: Ryanair, around five weekly flights
• Nice: Ryanair, daily departures
• Olbia: Ryanair and Jet2
• Palma de Mallorca: Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI

Those schedules reflect currently published timetables. They may change before the summer 2027 season begins.

British Airways confirmed the decision in a statement to The Sun. The airline said BA Cityflyer will operate no weekend services from Stansted after the current winter ski programme, and customers can book and fly existing services until April 11, 2027. BA framed the exit as routine: it regularly reviews its route network and intends to deploy the Stansted capacity elsewhere to match passenger demand.

Winter operations continue until the cut-off

During the 2026/27 winter season, BA Cityflyer still plans weekend flights from Stansted to Florence, Chambéry and Geneva, serving city-break and Alpine ski traffic. The withdrawal takes effect only after that programme ends.

The exit does not shrink BA Cityflyer's London footprint overall. Its larger base at London City Airport, near the financial district, continues with more than 20 destinations. For summer 2027, the subsidiary is adding London City–Perugia service plus seasonal routes from Edinburgh to Split and from Glasgow to Nice — evidence that BA is reallocating aircraft and slots toward regional European flying rather than abandoning it.

British Airways has not identified a single commercial reason for the withdrawal beyond its standard assessment of network performance and demand. That gap matters. A carrier pulling out of an airport nine years after entering it, and only three years after returning post-pandemic, invites questions about yields, weekend-only utilization and slot economics that the airline has not answered.

Passenger rights and rebooking

Travellers holding confirmed reservations on flights cancelled after the cut-off can generally choose between reimbursement and alternative transport under UK passenger rights rules. Fixed cancellation compensation usually does not apply when the airline gives more than 14 days' notice — and this withdrawal gives more than a year of it.

Passengers planning summer 2027 trips should verify current schedules before booking accommodation or onward travel, particularly anyone considering a British Airways departure from Stansted.

For Stansted itself, the loss is reputational more than quantitative. The airport retains broad European connectivity through low-cost and leisure carriers, and BA Cityflyer's weekend-only operation was modest. What does this change for the London market? One legacy brand narrows its spread across the capital's six airports, concentrating capacity at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City while low-cost rivals hold the Essex catchment uncontested.