BA to start LCY-NYC with A318

BA seem to have suprised quite a few people with todays announcement that they will be ordering two Airbus A318 aircraft to commence an all business class service from London City to New York. I am guessing the service will be to JFK. Route expected to start in 2009. I wonder how this will effect the likes of EOS/Silverjet and VS.

Here is the press release

Originally posted by willd
BA seem to have suprised quite a few people with todays announcement that they will be ordering two Airbus A318 aircraft to commence an all business class service from London City to New York. I am guessing the service will be to JFK. Route expected to start in 2009. I wonder how this will effect the likes of EOS/Silverjet and VS.

Here is the press release

Good news indeed - I got an email from Exec CLub this morning outlining these facts. I for one will be a regular user of it - mainly because city airport is around a mile away from our pied-a-terre in Town.

If you follow on Flyertalk it seems it will stop as Shannon on the way, and as it is slower it won't be much of a time saving vs LHR.

Originally posted by jimbob247
If you follow on Flyertalk it seems it will stop as Shannon on the way, and as it is slower it won't be much of a time saving vs LHR.

Yes that is true but with a short stop in SNN pax will be able to clear US customs and immigration there rather than having to join the long immigration lines in the US on arrival. And there wont be the long time taxiing and waiting for take off as there can be at LHR. I think this will make journey times roughly the same if not about an hour quicker than ex LHR. Of course by stopping in SNN and clearing immigration there it means that LGA could be a possibility as the NYC airport to be used.

Seems like a very good idea to me.

Why is one able to clear US customs in Ireland?

45.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by VS045
Seems like a very good idea to me.

Why is one able to clear US customs in Ireland?

45.

Because US immigration have field sites there, makes life a lot easier.

Very interesting move by BA, it's a shame that they can't get extra tanks fitted so it could go non stop, with that move EOS would have major problems.

If BA had ordered the A319LR's that PrivatAir operate on behalf of Lufthansa for their all-business class flights then non-stop flights 'across the pond' would've been possible, but don't forget the A318 Elite is the only Airbus jet certified to operate out of London City (and Boeing has none) so I can see why they ordered this.

The comparison of ranges between the Airbus aircraft are below...

A318 Elite - 4,000nm
A319 - 3,900nm
A319LR - 4,500nm

So in theory they could've picked any aircraft and be able to do London-NYC non-stop (except LCY).

Also the US immigration facilities at Shannon date back to the latter days of "The Shannon Stopover" when aircraft lacked the range of doing trans-atlantic flights non-stop (refuelling was either done in Shannon or in Gander, Newfoundland), and also when the US-Ireland bilateral agreement was in place where many flights bound for Dublin had to call at Shannon en-route. I understand that this bilateral agreement has now ceased so airlines are free to fly Dublin-USA without needing to include Shannon in the equation.

Shannon, along with Dublin, is one of a very few airports in the world that boast US border pre-clearance facilities (the others are in Canada, Aruba, Bermuda and the Bahamas).

[Scrooge]

The A318 is the only Airbus certified for LYC use I think, otherwise you are right, the 319 would be a no brainer...As it is clearing immigration in SNN should make up for the time used in the fuel stop.

I think this is a very smart move on BA's part and one I'd definitely consider - having an office in CW makes it appealing. Initially the stop over sounded like to much of a distraction and added to much time, but with the information posted here perhaps not. I'd be even keener if LGA was the New York destination rather than JFK or EWR.

So in theory they could've picked any aircraft and be able to do London-NYC non-stop (except LCY).

Yes but the whole point of this route is avoiding the inconvenience of LHR, STN etc.

45.

I'm sure there will be takeoff weight restrictions even for the A318 Elite ex-LCY, hence the need for the fuel stop.

I'm assuming the Eastbound flight won't normally make a fuel stop?

Mike

I too assume that the eastbound flight will be non-stop, helped by the tailwinds.

Originally posted by slinky09
I think this is a very smart move on BA's part and one I'd definitely consider - having an office in CW makes it appealing. Initially the stop over sounded like to much of a distraction and added to much time, but with the information posted here perhaps not. I'd be even keener if LGA was the New York destination rather than JFK or EWR.

LGA doesn't have customs, so it can only accept international flights from airports that have US pre-clearance, like Bermuda for instance. LGA also has a rule that prohibits flights that exceed 1500 miles except on Saturdays. So it'll either be EWR or JFK.

LGA doesn't have customs, so it can only accept international flights from airports that have US pre-clearance

Like SNN where the stop-over will be.

45.

[Scrooge]

SNN will not have a customs clearing place till the end of the year.

East bound is non stop.

[mcmbenjamin]

Was all happy that on my DUB to IAD flight we would pre-clear BUT not the case. Seems to be only ORD, NYC and ATL flights IIRC that pre-clear in DUB. ISTBC.

Originally posted by Scrooge
SNN will not have a customs clearing place till the end of the year.

And as the flight doesn't start until 2009 there is a real possibility that LGA could be used then. But then I looked at what EWR said!

VS-EWR
LGA also has a rule that prohibits flights that exceed 1500 miles except on Saturdays. So it'll either be EWR or JFK.

I think this could all hinge on where Open Skies flies into. If Open Skies goes for EWR then I would expect to see the LCY route follow the same path.

Personally I believe this to be an excellent move by BA and could be a real killer to the likes of Eos. VS may well also struggle, sure the UC security channel is excellent but currently it takes about 35 minutes on the tube to get to Paddington from CW and then the HEX time. It really is a no brainer to use the LCY flight. Must also remember that LCY is now linked by the DLR to Bank as well so all the major banks and lawyers still over in the City will seriously look at this.I would not be suprised if we see Eos attempting to offer some kind of hellicopter transfer like the offer in New York.

With two flights a day, a 15 minute before departure check in closing time and something like 35 seats I think BA could be onto a real winner here. Is a shame the A319 can't be used but until we see an increase in runway length at LCY its not going to happen.