Speaking at an event in BA’s Waterside head office on Monday (25 November) where a new first-class cabin was revealed, BA chief executive Doyle said Italy is the “biggest single European market” the airline flies to. 

Next summer, BA will expand its network with routes to Rimini from Heathrow, to Salerno from Gatwick and to Sardinian city Olbia from London City airport. 

“As we look to the future we want to continue to add new destinations to the map,” said Doyle. “I’m delighted to announce three destinations that we’ll be launching this summer. 

“They’re all focused on Italy, which is the biggest single European market that we fly to." 

Doyle reiterated how the airline plans to invest around £7 billion in the coming years on digital experience, operations, launches and BA’s sustainability “journey”. 

“We continue to transform our lounge experience. We’ve launched new lounges in Lagos and Edinburgh,” he added. 

“Tonight, we’ve got a number of people here who have the Beta version of the new BA app so they can showcase the future to you.” 

But Doyle added BA had faced “some challenges along the way” this year. “A lot of you have covered the issues we’ve had with the Rolls-Royce Trent Powered Engines for our Boeing 787 Dreamliners,” he added.  

“We’ve had to reduce the programme that we plan to fly. Unfortunately, routes like Kuala Lumpur have been deferred until next summer. 

“We have had some challenges along the way. It never is smooth running a company like British Airways.”

Summer operations ’challenging’

Doyle noted how Air Traffic Control issues have affected around 40% of BA flights this year – up from around 24% in 2019.

“The environment has not been straightforward,” he said. “That did make summer operations more challenging than anyone had anticipated.” 

However, Doyle concluded: “You would not realise it but forward operations performance is now better than a lot of our peers in Europe who operate on a similar cost and scale.” 

Meanwhile, BA unveiled its new first class seat, which forms part of its Airbus A380 retrofit plans and is expected to launch in the middle of 2026. 

New features include a wider and longer seat, a 32-inch TV screen, "buddy" dining and space and privacy with a personal luggage space. 

BA said it is "proud" to be the only European carrier from the UK to offer a "First" product across the Atlantic.