Words by Hugh Morris
Residents in the south-east wishing to fly to New York received a boost after British Airways announced a new direct route from Gatwick to the Big Apple.
It is now only the second airline, after Norwegian, to fly direct to the US city from Gatwick, meaning those living on the south coast have more options if they wish to avoid an often tedious rail journey to Heathrow. A train from Brighton, for example, reaches Gatwick in less than 30 minutes, but it takes two hours and a change in the capital to arrive at Heathrow.
BA’s new route, due to start in May next year, also makes it the only carrier to fly to the east coast city from Gatwick, Heathrow and London City.
The flights will run daily using a Boeing 777, with three classes of tickets available at prices from about A$900 return. It will depart Gatwick at 4.40pm, reaching JFK at 7.30pm local time.
Lynne Embleton, BA’s managing director at Gatwick, said the route will also provide a further connection to New York for other European cities via Gatwick’s short-haul network.
“New York is British Airways’ flagship Atlantic route and will always be one of the most popular destinations for holidaymakers and business travellers alike,” she said.
It is not the first time BA has flown the route. The airline ran Gatwick to New York for more than 25 years before pulling it in 2009 in favour of the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh. Virgin Atlantic, too, has run the route previously, before dropping it.
BA also announced three new European routes from Heathrow for next summer: Biarritz in France, Mahon in Menorca and Palermo in Sicily.
The airline will fly twice a week to Biarritz and four times a week to Menorca from April 29, and from May 2 it will fly daily to Palermo.
Additional flights expected next year also include an extra summer-only daily flight to Budapest, three further flights a week to Venice, and more flights to Split, Palma, Berlin, Gibraltar and Olbia.
This article was written by Hugh Morris from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
