British Airways is to extend choice for short-haul customers at Heathrow and London City, following the successful introduction of hand baggage only fares at Gatwick earlier this year.

The hand baggage-only fares have gone on sale today for travel from September 24th between Heathrow and nine short-haul destinations: Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Orly), Rome, Rotterdam, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Customers choosing the hand baggage-only fare can continue to take advantage of the airline’s hand luggage allowance and carry on a good-size case (56cm x 45cm x 25cm), plus a handbag or laptop bag.

The airline is also launching a trial of a new semi-flex fare between London and Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Orly), Rome, Rotterdam, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Robin Glover-Faure, British Airways’ head of short-haul, said: “The hand baggage-only fare at Gatwick has proved very popular with our customers so we’re now introducing it on a selected number of short-haul routes from Heathrow and London City.

“If it proves as successful, we plan to roll it out across the whole short-haul network in the coming months.”

“We have also listened to our customers and we’re introducing a new fare type, the semi-flex ticket, which gives travellers a range of new options, including the opportunity to change their ticket on the day of departure for no extra fee.”

The semi-flex option offers customers an option between a standard ticket and a fully-flex one.

It gives people the opportunity on the day of travel to change their booking for free.

For example, if a customer’s meeting runs over or finishes early, they can simply switch to a later return flight provided there are still seats available in their cabin. There will be no change or service fees and customers won’t have to pay the difference between the cost of their original ticket and the price available on the day.