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BA Trans-Atlantic flights from LCY

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G21Agoose

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Posts
409
Great- westbound fuel stops- just what every business pax wants................







BA all-business flights to include westbound fuel stop
Max Kingsley-Jones, London 01Feb08

British Airways will include a westbound refuelling stop as part of its new all-business Airbus A318 transatlantic service from London City next year.
It has yet to decide where the stop will be on the New York-bound service. Eastbound flights will be non-stop.
The airline today revealed it had placed its first A318 order, with a deal for two aircraft for delivery in 2009. The aircraft will be powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.
Nominally a 100-seat aircraft, the A318 will be configured by BA with 32 lie-flat seats. The service will operate twice a day to New York, although BA has yet to disclose which specific US airport it will serve.
“The flights will operate non-stop from New York to London City but will make a refuelling stop when flying westbound,” says BA. The airline adds that it is “talking to a number of airports” about where the stop will be, although sources say that Shannon is the frontrunner.
BA says that the A318s will be operated by its mainline division and will not be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks.
According to London City Airport, the westbound technical stop is required as the aircraft cannot lift sufficient fuel for the transatlantic flight from the downtown airport’s short runway, which has a take-off run of 1,199m (3,930ft), given the airfield’s “obstacle environment”.
The connection will be the first scheduled service from London City to use the A318, which has been certified to conduct the steep approach required to serve the airport.
It is also the first transatlantic airline service from the airport, although flights have been operated by Falcon 900EX business jets.
The move to launch an all-business service marks a departure for BA and pitches it into competition with transatlantic premium players such as Eos and Silverjet.
Silverjet, which operates Boeing 767s on non-stop flights from London Luton, is playing down the impact of the BA move. Chief executive Lawrence Hunt claims BA’s plan is a “ringing endorsement for Silverjet’s business model”.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
 
I can see the advantage for people traveling to London from a time perspective. LCY is right next to the financial district (one mile or so). So, you'll get tons of Investment Bankers and Hedge Fund managers who will instantly love the convenience.

There is a convenience factor with the West-bound trip too but I wonder how long the fuel stop in Iceland will last? One additional hour tacked onto the flight?
 
Isn't this airport the one with a 5.5 degree glideslope?
Yep! 5.5deg...fun stuff once you get the flare figured out. And beleive me, I've made several attempts at trying to lower the runway elevation! :laugh: Also, it's less than 5000', 98' wide and surrounded by H2O. It will be interesting to see the A318 in there. Right now there's no parking for an aircraft that large, but they are extending the ramp.

LCY is a very fun airport to fly in and out of...exhilarating when you have a gusting crosswind, right at the mean limit, a wet runway, 5.5 slope, and the GPWS freaking out at you for no reason at all!!!

BTW it's the only airport I've flown into that has lights at the aiming point. Mains need to be down by then or you need to go around...and they monitor the touchdowns.
 
I can see the advantage for people traveling to London from a time perspective. LCY is right next to the financial district (one mile or so). So, you'll get tons of Investment Bankers and Hedge Fund managers who will instantly love the convenience.

There is a convenience factor with the West-bound trip too but I wonder how long the fuel stop in Iceland will last? One additional hour tacked onto the flight?

That's the question. If you can depart from LCY and get a quickie 20 minute quick-turn then yes, MAYBE. But my guess you're going to be WAY ahead by taking the NS. The intermediate stop just doubles the changes of a mechanical, weather, frozen fuel trucks, etc...

Just not worth it.

Head to Gatwick and get the NS.
 
The drive from the financial district to Gatwick is over an hour, with no traffic. There is almost always traffic.

Better bet would be to head up to Stansted and take Eos.
 
The 318s have pretty good runway performance, all the wing of an A321, while weighing 55,000 pounds less. The V speeds on my last turboprop were often higher than on average A318 flight. A practical limit to how much fuel you can haul out of a 4000' runway, obviously.
 
I read that Shannon, Ireland will be the refueling point for the West-bound A318s. Shannon is not a busy airport so I would expect relatively quick turnarounds....
 
I would have thought Iceland, it's more of an intermediate point, albiet way north of most of the tracks.
 

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