Route of the Month

Published: 26/09/2008 - Filed under: Archive » 2008 » October 2008 » Special Reports » Features » Features » Special Reports »

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Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers

Gatwick-New York JFK with British Airways

Why Gatwick-New York?

Because it’s inconceivable that London’s second airport should be without a link to New York’s main hub.

This year, three airlines will have stopped JFK flights from Gatwick. Delta moved to Heathrow to take advantage of Open Skies, while Continental will cut its Gatwick service from October 26 and Canadian budget carrier Zoom suspended operations at the end of August. BA itself once served this route following its takeover of British Caledonian (see box), but suspended it in the post-9/11 downturn.

This time, BA believes it can succeed. For starters, it will be the only one on the route. It will also point to its reputation for service, the fact it will be operating a four-class B777 (with some of the best premium products around), the strength of its Executive Club loyalty programme, and its connecting possibilities at both Gatwick and JFK.

Gatwick must have potential. Its catchment zone covers some of the UK’s most affluent areas, and numerous multinational firms are located within a 30-mile radius. Richard Tams, head of BA’s corporate sales, said: “We are starting Gatwick-JFK because we’ve received a lot of interest [in this route] from corporate clients and because of the connecting possibilities available to us. Flying from Gatwick gives us the opportunity to offer our customers the choice of a three-airport service to New York. [The third airport will be London City, starting in September next year.]”

Such flexibility will enable passengers to depart from one airport but return to another (or vice versa) for the most convenient schedules.

Timings

Flights start on October 27. BA’s B777 will have a typical configuration of 14 First, 48 Club World, 40 World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and around 122 World Traveller (economy) seats.

Timings from November onwards will see BA2173 departing Gatwick at 1120 arriving into JFK at 1415. Return service BA2172 is set to depart JFK at 1800, reaching London at 0605 the next day. Between October 27 and the beginning of November (when the US adopts winter times), BA’s westbound service arrives in JFK at 1515, returning at 1900.

How much?

According to data displayed on ba.com in August, BA will be charging upwards of £340 for World Traveller, £748 for World Traveller Plus, £1,856 for Club World and £4,662 for First. Premium fares can be higher depending on how far ahead you book, while economy rates may be cut depending on the marketplace. FFP members can expect to be offered bonus miles.

Connections

BA uses Gatwick’s North Terminal – arguably an easier place to transfer flights than Heathrow’s T5. The minimum connection time is 45 minutes. Gatwick offers great coverage of the many secondary destinations in southern Europe, plus the Canary Islands, Madeira and so on. Many if not all these points have no transatlantic air service. So it’s feasible that BA fans will fly up the day before, overnight at Gatwick (a wise precaution given winter weather problems) then continue the following morning.

Capital connections

These are excellent. No other London airport has fast direct links from its own station to so many areas of the capital. Gatwick Express trains leave every 15 minutes and take passengers to Victoria in the West End in around 30 minutes.

Equally useful is First Capital Connect (with similar frequency and journey times), which covers East Croydon (gateway to South London), London Bridge and Blackfriars (serving the City) then on to King’s Cross/St Pancras (serving these two stations with trains to the North) before continuing to Luton and Bedford.

HISTORY LESSON

The Gatwick-New York route has had a chequered history and has seen various carriers come and go. Its significance for history buffs is the way this route has pioneered aviation firsts. Some notables:

In pre-liberalisation days it was the first important long-haul route to see competition among UK airlines. In 1973, privately owned British Caledonian (BCal) won the right to compete with state-owned BOAC (later to become BA) out of Heathrow. In 1987, BCal was taken over by BA and this is why the latter split its operations between Heathrow and Gatwick.

Gatwick-JFK was the test-bed for Freddie Laker’s few-frills Skytrain service, launched in 1977. The world’s first long-haul budget service saw one-way tickets being sold for £59 (there were no taxes, fees or charges in those days), which was a fraction of what traditional carriers were charging. Although Skytrain later ceased trading (because the big carriers cut prices to compete), the seeds had been sown for low-cost transatlantic travel. Prices today (when you allow for taxes and so on) are little higher than they were 30 years ago.

US carrier People Express brought its own brand of no-frills flying in 1983. The company’s bare-bones product, although shocking at the time, is now accepted by more and more carriers.

The New York run from Gatwick was Virgin Atlantic’s first long-haul service. It defined Virgin’s products and competitive skills. Virgin was the first to offer passengers a quasi-first class product (Upper Class) at a business class rate. It also vied with Taiwan’s Eva Air as the first to launch a premium economy cabin.