Right from the city centre
British Airways has launched a new intercity service using two relatively small Airbus A318s to fly its premium passengers direct on the first long-haul flights between London City Airport and New York’s JFK International Airport in super-luxury.
In standard configuration the smallest jet of the Airbus “family” normally carries eight first-class passengers and 99 in economy.
But the British Airways version is configured for an all-business service, with just 32 seats that convert into fully-flat beds, with on-board connectivity provided by an Airbus-SITA joint venture called OnAir, so passengers can work during the flight via e-mail, web surfing and mobile phone text messaging.
The attraction of London City Airport is that passengers avoid the long journey to London Heathrow Airport, where the bulk of British Airways’ transatlantic flights depart.
The A318′s ability to land at steeper-than-usual gradients and its low noise characteristics make it ideal for operations at downtown airports like London City – which can be reached in just 10 minutes from the British capital’s financial district.
To enable that, the two specially-equipped A318s are equipped with “steep approach” capability, developed in an extensive four-year development and test programme carried out by Airbus with EASA and airport authorities. During the trials the A318 successfully performed compatibility tests, including steep approaches, at London City Airport. The tests also demonstrated that the A318 is an excellent neighbour, ideally suited to downtown sites, as it has ultra low noise characteristics.
To mark the importance of the new route, the mid-day outbound service was given the BA001 designation previously used for transatlantic flights of the supersonic Concorde. The new operations became double-daily this month using both of BA’s A318s and operating under the BA001-004 numbering. Departures from London City are at mid-day and early evening, with return flights leaving John F. Kennedy International in the late evening and late night.
Australian carriers have often explored possibilities for using secondary airports using smaller aircraft, but no exciting new initiatives have resulted.
