Ever been on a propeller plane before? If you’ve been on a domestic flight in the UK, you may well have. Also known as turboprops, they’re smaller than your average aircraft, fly lower to the ground and are a little slower. They can also be a bit bumpier which, depending what kind of flyer you are, is either super fun or a little anxiety-inducing.
Now, if you’re a regular on British Airway flights between Glasgow and London, be prepared to fly propeller. From the end of March, BA will replace its Airbus A320, which normally flies from London Gatwick to Glasgow, with a slower, lower-altitude turboprop plane belonging to Emerald Airlines called ATR72.
Right now the journey takes 90 minutes, but the new 72-seater plane will add on another 40 minutes and take just over two hours. You might assume that would mean the flights are more affordable, but you’d assume wrong. A one-way ticket on the ATR72’s first day of service costs £264. For comparison, a 90-minute BA flight between London Heathrow and Glasgow Airport on the same day costs £70.
Why the switch-up? Head for Points, a business travel magazine that first spotted the change, said: ‘A few weeks ago we speculated that the Gatwick to Glasgow service was being chopped due to aircraft shortages because only fully refundable tickets were being sold. British Airways has now found an alternative.’
It added that propeller planes also have reduced overhead space, so passengers might be forced to check in their hand luggage.
The news got mixed reactions from Head for Points’ readers. One wrote: ‘Love these aircraft, I don’t get all the complaints people about them. Decent sized cabin, 2+2 seating, hand baggage controls mean the usual boarding shambles is avoided.’ Another commented that propeller planes can ‘actually be quite fun to fly on, faster taxiing and take off like a rocket’.
At the opposite end, another reader said: ‘Quite noisy onboard and they fly through the turbulence, not over it. Lower = bumpier.’
The new propeller plane will start flying between Glasgow and Gatwick on March 30. BA is yet to comment on the change.
More British Airways news on Time Out
For frequent British Airways fliers, here’s its new loyalty programme explained. The news comes shortly after BA cancelled all flights from Southampton – ranked one of the UK’s ‘best’ airports by Which? – and axed loads of long-haul flights until April (including from London Gatwick to New York’s JFK and Heathrow to Abu Dhabi). In better news for the airline, it was recently named one of the safest in the world in 2025.
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