British Airways customers will be able to Basque in Bilbao next year when the airline starts a new double-daily service to the northern Spanish city on March 29th, 2015.

The new route is matched by Spanish carrier Vueling, who currently fly from Heathrow and are moving their four times a week service to Gatwick, giving customers an even greater choice of flights between London and Bilbao.

British Airways customers will be able to choose from seats in Club Europe and Euro Traveller cabins, when it begins flights, using Airbus A319s and A320s on the route between Heathrow’s Terminal 1 and Bilbao, with each aircraft offering up to 143 seats and up to 168 seats, respectively.

Vueling will operate the route using an Airbus A320, with 180 seats.

Stephen Humphreys, British Airways’ head of UK&I sales and marketing, said: “Bilbao is a brilliant business city with a fantastic cultural heritage offering a superb gateway to northern Spain for our customers.

“We’re extremely happy to be flying to Bilbao and offering our customers another route to Spain, which now becomes our twelfth destination to this culturally diverse country.”

British Airways operates flights from the UK to numerous Spanish destinations, including Alicante, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria Granada, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Tenerife.

Earlier year British Airways added its flight code to Vueling services, as part of a codeshare agreement, which now covers 184 Vueling flights.

Together the two airlines, which are part of the International Airlines Group, will double the choice for customers to fly between London and Bilbao.

As well as being a bustling business centre, with its own stock exchange and banking base, Bilbao is also the centre of the Basque culture and is famous for its gastronomy, with a wide range of traditional and nouvelle cuisine.

With a stunning mix of modern and traditional architecture, Bilbao burst onto the international scene with the opening of the spectacular and controversial Guggenheim Museum, to add to its list of fine museums and theatres.

Sports lovers can also watch top football club Athletic Club Bilbao play, bask on the beautiful beaches of Sopelana and Mundaka or go hiking or rock climbing in the nearby mountains.