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British Airways further expands its US network

British Airways is ramping up its US route network this summer, taking its direct US routes to London to 26. 

BA 267: Portland, Oregon International Airport welcomes British Airways and the only direct route between London (Heathrow) and Oregon.

Portland, Oregon has become the newest destination on the British Airways route map, providing the city’s only direct route to the UK.

Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Director of Networks and Alliances said: 

This summer British Airways will be flying from 26 US cities to London and we’re very excited to be adding Portland to our list of transatlantic destinations. Not only are we the only airline to offer direct flights from Portland to London, but this new route also opens a wide variety of connections for our customers. Through Alaska Airlines, our oneworld partner, British Airways will offer codeshare connections to several destinations operated by Alaska Airlines from Portland.

British Airways has also relaunched its direct route from Pittsburgh to London.  It remains the only airline to offer a direct flight from the Pennsylvanian city to London.

The airline will resume a year-round four-per-week service – Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

On 6 June, the airline launched a new, daytime flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to London Heathrow – its third daily flight from Newark to London, to support the return of business travel.

The daytime flight will depart at 7.55am from Newark – a convenient option for travellers wishing to spend an extra night in the New York area before departing, or for those who wish to arrive just in time for an evening in London. 

With this additional flight time, British Airways along with its joint business partner, American Airlines will offer ‘the most extensive network from the New York area to London’ with fifteen daily departures this summer, including eleven daily flights from JFK to Heathrow and one daily flight from JFK to Gatwick.

This summer also marks the return of daily direct flights from San Jose, California, to London on 13 June; and the return of A380 aircraft to more North American airports.

Chicago and Vancouver were the latest cities to welcome home the Airbus.

Meanwhile, Dallas Fort Worth is preparing to welcome the A380 for the first time on 1 July. 

The aircraft, which is British Airways’ and the airline industry’s largest, offers a choice of First, Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins and has a total of 469 seats. 

There are twelve A380s in the British Airways fleet. Image shows a British Airways Airbus flying over the cliffs at Dover, taken by Wing Commander Neil Frazer from the backseat of Red 10, one of the Red Arrows jets flown by Squadron Leader Mike Ling.

Delta proposes flights between Haneda and 5 new US cities

Delta Air Lines has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation to launch daily daytime services between Tokyo-Haneda airport and Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta and Portland, as well as a twice-daily service between Haneda and Honolulu.

Delta’s proposed routes would be the only direct service offered by U.S. carriers between Haneda, Tokyo’s preferred airport for business travellers and the closest to the city centre, and the communities of Seattle, Portland, Atlanta and Detroit.

Together with the carrier’s existing service to Haneda from Minneapolis/St. Paul and Los Angeles, these new routes would bring Delta’s proven operational reliability and exceptional service to more customers travelling between a broad network of U.S. cities and Tokyo’s preferred airport.

Additionally, Delta’s proposal provides a competitive alternative for consumers to the service offered by other U.S. carriers and their Japanese joint venture partners, ANA and JAL.

Delta’s existing service to Haneda from Minneapolis/St. Paul and Los Angeles has already delivered substantial consumer benefits, including transporting over 800,000 passengers since the inauguration of daytime flights. The airline claims its proposal for additional service would:

  • Provide more attractive flight times for customers arriving and departing Haneda while enhancing connecting opportunities in the Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Northeast;
  • Facilitate the development of trade and tourism between five of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas and Tokyo;
  • Serve a geographically diverse set of markets and communities through the comprehensive route networks offered at each of Delta’s hub gateways;
  • Provide additional capacity and greater convenience for the large business communities in all of these proposed gateways.

Delta has served the U.S. to Japan market for over 70 years, and currently offers seven daily departures from Tokyo with connections to over 150 destinations across the U.S and Latin America. The airline will launch a new service in April between Seattle and Osaka in partnership with Korean Air. Additionally, last year, Delta began partnering with Michelin consulting chef Norio Ueno to create meals for all cabins of service for flights to and from Japan.

Pending government approvals, the new routes would launch with the summer 2020 flying schedule.