Tried and Tested: BA A318 London City to New York

Flight review of BA service from London City airport to New York JFK, the day after the inaugural service with BA's CEO Willie Walsh.

Source: businesstraveller.com

Willie Walsh: new BA business flights 'profitable in a year.'

The BA chief executive talks to Timesonline at the launch of the service from London City - New York

timesonline.co.uk

British Airways details plans for flights from London City airport to the Big Apple

When British Airways' planned flights to New York from London City airport stop in Ireland to refuel, passengers will be allowed to go through US immigration checks in advance, the company said yesterday.

The carrier first mooted the scheme for a business class-only service from central London to the Big Apple earlier this year. But it is impossible to fly the route non-stop from City airport because the runways are not long enough for take-off with enough fuel to complete the transatlantic journey. Following an agreement with the US immigration authorities, the 40-minute stop in Shannon will be used not only to refuel, but also to put passengers through immigration and customs checks.

The immigration scheme is central to BA's plans to cut travelling time, alongside allowing fliers to arrive at the airport just 15 minutes before departure.

Robert Boyle, the commercial director at British Airways, said: "Our planned business-class only service will be the most convenient way to travel between London and New York for those people based in or travelling to the heart of London. Many city workers will be able to get from desk to aircraft in as little as 30 minutes. This, combined with Shannon airport's ability to complete USA arrival checks during the planned refuelling stop, will ensure customers can make the most of their time and travel desk to desk in the quickest time possible."

If all goes according to plan, the new service will be up and running next autumn, with a twice-daily service using Airbus 318 aircraft with 32 seats, which are the largest planes that can take off and land at London City airport. BA will make no statement as to fares for the flights.

Only the westbound flights will need the Shannon stop. Eastbound services will be non-stop because they will not have the same runway constraints on the way back into Britain.

When BA's plan was first publicised it met with some scepticism, not least because the service would be competing with similar business-only offerings from Silverjet and Eos Airlines. Both carriers have since gone bankrupt.

Source: independent.co.uk

BA subsidiary OpenSkies to go all-business

British Airways' subsidiary OpenSkies has announced the removal of all economy seats on its aircraft.

The changes will come into effect on October 1 on the airline’s Paris to New York (JFK) route.

OpenSkies currently features 28 seats in premium economy, 24 in business class and five rows of seats in economy class. The economy class section will now make way for 12 additional seats in premium economy (PREM+).

"Since our launch, we have had a tremendously positive reception to our PREM+ service," said Dale Moss, Managing Director of OpenSkies.

This seating configuration will also be used on the carrier's second service, between Amsterdam and New York, which launches on October 15.

The decision follows BA's announcement earlier this year that it plans to launch a business class-only service between London City Airport and New York.

The service will offer 32 fully-reclining seats, although a re-fuelling stop will be necessary in Shannon, due to restrictions on the size of the planes able to use the runway at London City.

BA is confident of the viability of its business-class only service, despite the failure of previous premium carriers such as Silverjet, Maxjet and Eos.

"Previous business-class airlines were stand-alone companies. BA has an existing infrastructure that offers solidity," said Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the carrier.

BA is expected to announce the full details of its London City - New York service in the next week.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

British Airways buying French airline L'Avion

British Airways said Wednesday it will purchase French airline L'Avion, which flies between Paris and New York City's Newark airport, in a 54 million pound (US$108 million) deal.

L'Avion, which is privately owned, operates two Boeing 757 aircraft.

British Airways said L'Avion would become part of its OpenSkies subsidiary, which began flying from the European continent to the U.S. in June.

"L'Avion is a successful airline that has built up a premium business between Orly and New York in a relatively short period of time," said Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive.

"It has many synergies with OpenSkies and buying it provides OpenSkies with a larger schedule and an established customer base in the Paris-New York market."

iht.com

OpenSkies gets OK to launch from Paris Orly-New York JFK

BA subsidiary gets the nod from UK and US authorities to launch flights and will codeshare with premium French airline L'Avion.

OpenSkies, the new BA subsidiary which plans to operate flights from Europe direct to the US, has received clearance from Britain's Civil Aviation Authority and the US Department of Transportation to take to the skies.

At the same time, the airline has announced that its first route will be from Orly airport in Paris to New York JFK and will be a codeshare with all business carrier L'Avion. The filghts will also carry British Airways' BA airline code as well as its own EC code.

In February, the airline originally said it would start its first flights from the French capital's Charles de Gaulle airport. Dale Moss, OpenSkies' managing director, said on the airline's blog today: "If you remember, we announced on February 21 that we planned to be flying from John F. Kennedy (JFK) to Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Even after that announcement we were working hard to obtain slots at our preferred airport, Orly. Just this week we got them through a codeshare agreement with L'Avion and made the switch."

A BA spokeswoman said that OpenSkies would seek deeper cooperation with L'Avion in the future.

Moss continued: 'We chose Orly because it is more conveniently located to the centre of Paris and offers faster access to and from the city than CDG. The distance from Orly to central Paris is roughly 19km or 12 miles, whereas the distance from CDG to central Paris is roughly 28km or 17 miles. Five miles can make all the difference—especially in rush hour."

The airline's planes will be refurbished 757s fitted with 82 seats in three classes: 24 flat bed seats in business class, 28 premium economy seats with a 52" seat pitch (larger than the existing World Traveller Plus) and 30 economy seats.

Source: travel.timesonline.co.uk

BA launches business-only flights

British Airways surprised rivals today by anouncing plans to launch its own transatlantic business-only flights.

The airline will operate daily flights from London City to New York next year on Airbus A318 aircraft with just 32 seats.

travel.timesonline.co.uk