BA Launches Four New Routes from London City Airport

British Airways is launching four new routes from London City Airport and increasing its network to nine destinations direct from the Docklands airport.

Starting in March next year BA CityFlyer, the airline’s wholly owned subsidiary, will launch its first new service from London City to Nice, followed by flights to Amsterdam, Barcelona and Warsaw in May.

The airline is also increasing frequency to Zurich to five flights a day, bringing the total number of domestic and European flights operating from London City Airport to 162 a week.

BA CityFlyer currently operates to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Madrid and Zurich and plans to suspend its London City to Milan service from March 30, 2008.

The airline is increasing its regional jet fleet to 12 aircraft to operate the extra routes. Last month BA CityFlyer announced it had signed leases for two new Avro RJ85 aircraft, and will now retain the two RJ100s they were originally scheduled to replace.

Peter Simpson, BA CityFlyer’s managing director, said: “The introduction of four new routes increases our flying by 32 per cent and firmly endorses our commitment to London City Airport. We have listened to what our customers have to say about where they want to fly and have hopefully delivered that with these new services and the improved schedule.”

Richard Gooding OBE, chief executive of London City Airport, said: “We welcome these exciting new routes and BA CityFlyer’s continued commitment to their growth at London City Airport. Barcelona and Warsaw are new additions to the destinations that can be reached from the Docklands, with Nice and Amsterdam already proved as popular and successful routes. The new services come at an important time for the airport as we prepare for the next stage of our development and continue to be the hub of choice for business travellers based in the City of London and Canary Wharf.”