Route of the month - London to Stockholm

Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers. This month, London to Stockholm

London-Stockholm

Will British Airways succeed where others have failed? I am referring to BA Cityflyer’s newish London City airport (LCY) to Stockholm route, which launched in January. Two previous attempts have been made to make this route a success. Sweden’s Malmo Aviation served it twice in the early 1990s with flights to Stockholm’s “close-in” Bromma airport (7.5km from downtown) and the city’s main airport, Arlanda (37km out). More recently, Scandinavia’s SAS operated out of LCY to Arlanda but that route ended in 2009. BA is hopeful it will be third time lucky. It says market research carried out indicates strong business traveller potential from London City to Arlanda from nearby Canary Wharf, and this is supported by the number of passengers who are using the service. “Stockholm is performing above target and forward bookings are strong,” a spokesperson says. BA’s service from LCY will appeal to UK passengers thanks to the strength of its Executive Club. Scandinavian travellers, although more likely to be members of SAS’s loyalty scheme, will appreciate BA’s scheduling, which allows a productive working day in London thanks to LCY’s convenience both for Canary Wharf and the City.

What BA offers

Twice-daily flights between Monday and Friday (with a reduced frequency at weekends) are operated by newish 76-seater Embraer 170 jets configured 2-2 for both business and economy. Usually there will be 16 seats allocated to Club Europe, BA’s business class brand, with the other 60 given over to economy class. Outbound flight BA8491 departs LCY at 0935 to arrive in Stockholm at 1305, with the evening service BA8493 leaving at 1905 to arrive at 2230. Inbound flight BA8490 leaves Stockholm at 0735 and arrives in LCY at 0905, while the second inbound service, BA8492, departs at 1655 and arrives back into LCY at 1825. BA’s main services to Stockholm Arlanda operate five times a day out of Heathrow with a mixture of A319s, A320s and B767s, offering the usual product in business (middle seat unsold) and economy class. Timings allow a long working day for business travellers starting their trips at either end of the route.

What SAS offers

Scandinavia’s national carrier operates seven times a day out of Heathrow. A speciality of Star member SAS is its early and late scheduling, which extends the working day. SAS is also the most punctual airline in Europe. But the SAS product differs in that economy passengers have to pay extra for food and drink on board. As with BA, you can make flight changes for a fee, but cancellation involves a hefty penalty. SAS is one of the few carriers to provide Economy Extra, a sort of “poor man’s business class”, within Europe. Economy Extra offers some business class benefits such as a separate cabin, faster ground handling, free food and drink, and ticket flexibility, but this comes at a substantial hike in price – as much as 400 per cent more than basic economy. So only you, the traveller, can decide whether it is value for money. Business class with SAS provides the usual benefits. The middle seat of three is guaranteed to be unsold but SAS operates both B737s and older MD80 aircraft. So on the B737, with six seats across the cabin, you will be seated 2-2 with the middle seat free, whereas on the MD80s, which have a 2-3, five-across layout, you may lose the advantage of having an adjacent empty seat.

Budget carriers

Norwegian operates twice daily from Gatwick into Arlanda. Ryanair does not use Arlanda – instead, it operates once a day from Gatwick to Stockholm Skavsta, 88km from downtown. It also flies out of Stansted into Skavsta twice a day, and Vasteras (96km from downtown) once daily.

Fares

Both BA and SAS have lead-in rates of about £120 for economy returns. SAS charges about £600 for premium economy and £800 for business class. These prices barely fluctuate. By contrast, BA’s business class rates are variable – between £344 and just over £600, depending on when you book and when you travel. In response to why its business fares can be higher than those of BA, bearing in mind that both carriers offer the same standards, SAS says: “We have a consistent pricing policy in that there are not large variations in our business class prices according to when you book a seat.” Budget carriers charge less but the price gap narrows when the ancillary fees are included.