London Heathrow Terminal 4 to New York
Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers.
Are Heathrow’s runways paved with gold? That’s what Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines must have thought when these two long-standing Gatwick carriers transferred their New York routes to the capital’s main airport. But the New York route from Heathrow is dominated by carriers such as British Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. It’s difficult for newcomers to get a look-in because they lack the market clout of the big three.
Continental plies the route three times a day and Delta twice. Compare that with BA’s 11 daily flights and Virgin’s and American’s five services. Continental and Delta can’t offer the same variety of timings, and they can’t match the lavish Heathrow lounges of BA and Virgin. What’s more, both are two-class carriers whereas the others offer three or four-class cabins. And whereas Delta has just begun installing proper lie-flat seating in business class, it will be some time before Continental can follow suit.
But don’t dismiss the newcomers. By lacking route identity they have to try harder to fill their planes – and that means you, the passenger, will pay a keener price. Granted, the rates in economy aren’t much less, but anyone booking a business class ticket to New York at short notice who is not spending a Saturday night away will usually save a cool £2,000 on the equivalent tickets sold by BA and Virgin.
Both Continental and Delta fly from Terminal 4 which, since most BA flights switched to T3 and T5, is perhaps Heathrow’s least crowded terminal (although current construction work might detract from the experience).
What Continental offers
Continental’s flight CO29 is operated by a B777. It departs at 1025, arriving into Newark at 1315. CO11 departs LHR at 1140, arriving into Newark at 1505, while CO19 departs at 1600 to arrive at 1925. Both are operated by a B757. Return flights are daylight service CO18 on a B757 at 0900 (2120 into T4); CO28 on a B777 at 1825 (arrives 0645 the next day into T4); and CO110 on a B757 at 2110, arriving into T4 at 0915.
Continental’s B777s have 50 angled lie-flat seats in business class with a 170-degree recline, and 235 seats in economy. Its B757s have 16 cradle business class seats with a 157-degree recline, and 159 seats in economy.
Continental will begin installing fully lie-flat business class seats on its B777s and B757s from the autumn, but there is no indication yet of when these new seats will appear on the London route. Its business passengers use T4’s Holideck lounge.
What Delta offers
Delta’s two flights are both operated by B767-400s. It anticipated that it would be offering fully lie-flat business class seating from the middle of last month. On the B767 the new layout consists of 40 business class seats configured in a spacious 1-2-1 layout with a 78-inch-long bed. There are 206 economy class seats.
The older business product – which may still be fitted to some B767s on the route, so check when booking – features rows of six conventional seats, arranged 2-2-2, with a 160-degree recline.
Flight DL4 departs T4 at 1005, arriving into JFK at 1305. Inbound flight DL3 departs JFK at 1835 to reach T4 the next morning at 0740. Delta’s flight DL2 to JFK departs T4 at 1705 and arrives at 2025, while inbound flight DL1 leaves JFK at 2030 to arrive at T4 at 0925.
Delta business passengers currently use the Holideck lounge but will have access to a new Skyteam lounge, part of the former BA facility, from next month.
Connections
The two airlines offer a wide range of connections beyond New York. Continental serves more than 100 cities non-stop from Newark. Popular connections include Cleveland, Boston, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. Delta also has lots of connecting possibilities via JFK, including points in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Alliances
Both carriers belong to the Skyteam alliance, which in the UK lags behind Oneworld and Star Alliance for popularity, but in October Continental will defect to Star Alliance. This is significant because no Star carrier has been represented on the London-New York route since United quit several years ago, and yet this is one of the world’s main business routes.
Logically, Continental should then move to T1 to join the other Star members, but the carrier cannot yet confirm whether this will happen.
