British Airways Gives Bankers a New London-NY Flight Option

Posted by: Justin Bachman on September 28

British Airways (BAY) launches its new, 32-seat, all-business-class service on Sept. 29 from London’s City Airport to JFK. The flight is designed around bankers, with the small airport situated near the Thames only three miles from Canary Wharf, the center of London finance. Tickets are $2000 each way, plus taxes and fees, ($4548 return) with a two-week advance purchase. The walk-up fare is an additional $3000 return, with all taxes and fees. The westbound flight stops in Shannon, Ireland for fuel; passengers clear U.S. Customs there and can avoid the queue at JFK on arrival.

The new bankers’ flight is either risky or prescient, given the times and the state of high finance. It could be read as a sign that corporate travel is beginning to regain some of its historical normality and BA is positioning itself smartly for that rebound. Investment bankers can’t remain homebound for too long, if business is to show any sign of growth, goes the thinking. The other way to view this flight is that BA is scouring for every last shilling of revenue and is willing to try nearly anything amidst desperation. Will the banks be willing to spend on this while much of European government (and even a top banker from JP Morgan) is condemning their salaries, bonuses and general foolhardy behavior with regards to financial risk?

Other airlines have gone this path and failed, for various reasons. There was Eos, maxjet, and Silverjet. BA subsidiary OpenSkies is still making a go of it between Paris-Orly and JFK and Newark airports after leaving the JFK-Amsterdam market in August. All those airlines used 757s or 767s, both far larger than the modified Airbus A318 BA has acquired for the new service. In fact, with 32 seats, it is the smallest commercial cabin flying trans-Atlantic. Sixty-four seats is not a high daily quota to meet. The flight, if it works, could also demonstrate whether BA may be able to further pare its short-haul flying in Europe as a way to feed its massive Heathrow hub, Bloomberg News suggested today in a story exploring the airline’s troubles. Sales are moving about as expected, without any advertising or promotion so far, BA spokesman John Lampl said in an email. “It’s a very late booking service, as we have expected.”