British Airways passengers will gain a “new” route from London Gatwick to New York this autumn, but those based in the north will lose its Manchester service to the Big Apple.
As rumoured by a reader on the businesstraveller.com forum yesterday, BA will launch a daily service from Gatwick to New York JFK on October 27, using a Boeing 777. This is a revived route rather than a brand-new one for British Airways – it previously served the two airports before dropping flights after 9/11.
BA’s booking engine at ba.com shows flight BA2173 leaving Gatwick at 1110 and arriving into JFK at 1505, with the return leg departing the US at 1900 and arriving back into London at 0605 the next day.
Good news for London-based travellers, as it will increase the total number of BA flights from London to New York to 62, from the current 55. But London’s gain is the north’s loss, as BA is to drop its daily service to JFK from Manchester in October.
The Boeing 767 that is currently being used to ply this service will be redeployed to Heathrow. This will leave just Continental and Delta as the major carriers serving the Manchester-New York JFK route.
For more information visit ba.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
