New flight brings City of London closer to Wall Street

British Airways (www.ba.com) has launched new business-class only flights from London City Airport to New York, but it is expecting passengers to pay a high price for the convenience of being able to fly direct from the City to the Big Apple.

The airline says the flights cost only 10 per cent more than its transatlantic fares from London Heathrow, yet according to reports in The Times, some seats on the flights from the Docklands airport are more than a third more expensive.

The service is being launched to give bankers based in Canary Wharf and The City easier access to the Big Apple.

Though the actual flight time is two hours longer than the service from Heathrow, the journey time from door to door will be less, according to British Airways.

Passengers based in the City will avoid the long trek out to Heathrow, and they need check in at London City only 15 minutes before departure, instead of two hours at Heathrow.

Also they will clear immigration during a refuelling stop in Shannon in the west coast of Ireland, saving time when they arrive at JFK.

Seating just 32 passengers, the aircraft will be installed with email and WiFi access, allowing passengers to continue working during the flight. Voice calls will not be allowed.

Only a handful of short-haul airlines allow passengers to make telephone calls mid-flight. Long-haul carriers are concerned that voice calls will disturb other passengers who want to relax inflight.

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