London City Airport has a single 1,500m (4,900ft) long runway. Only multi-engine, fixed-wing aircraft (with special aircraft and crew certification to fly 5.5° approaches) are allowed to conduct operations at London City Airport. The largest aircraft which can be used at the airport is the British Airways A318, which has been modified with a “steep approach function”.
British Airways operate an all Club World Business Class service on their sole A318 between London City and New York JFK. The outbound route from London City requires a tech stop at Shannon, where passengers are pre-cleared for US immigration and customs, before arriving at New York JFK.
I have long been wanting to fly on an A318 Trans-Atlantic, I think this flight holds the title of the smallest Trans-Atlantic commercial flight in the world. I redeemed Qatar Airways Qmiles for this flight to New York. Quite surprisingly this flight was the only flight open for redemption, out of the many BA flights between London and New York. It cost me 70,000 Qmiles plus a whopping £446 tax and surcharges!
At London City
On the day of departure, I arrived just 1 hour before my scheduled departure time. London City terminal was extremely crowded, with queues going all the way back outside the terminal. Only passengers who have a ticket within an hour of departure are allowed inside for check-in.
The BA check-in agent explained to me all the formalities that would take place in Shannon and assured me that I would enjoy the ride. There is no lounge at London City Airport; passengers travelling on BA1 can however use their boarding pass to redeem a breakfast in the cafe after security.
The British Airways A318 has 8 rows, in a 2-2 configuration, with a total capacity of 32 seats. I chose seat 8A during online check-in, as I wanted to sit at the very back of the plane; although it doesn’t really matter, as all the seats are Club World Business Class!
We had just 20 passengers joining this flight. Boarding was completed in less than 10 minutes and we were ready to depart.
There were a total of 3 cabin crews looking after 20 passengers. It took only 18 seconds during takeoff to climb out of London City’s short and narrow runway. Flight time to Shannon was 50 minutes. A quick snack was offered, along with a drink of my choosing.
I followed the blue line after landing at Shannon to go to US pre-clearance. I was through within a couple of minutes, with my passport stamped it was then back to the boarding gate.
The whole transit experience at Shannon was fantastic, it only took 20 minutes for all of the passengers to arrive back at boarding. There was a change of cockpit crew at Shannon, a new set of 2 pilots took over the duty to fly us to JFK; the same cabin crew remained on-board.
After take off, the cabin crew came around to distribute The White Company amenity kit. Each seat already had a plush pillow and The White Company bedding inside a cover. There was no built in IFE so iPad’s were distributed, along with noise cancelling headset’s.
I had the whole last row to myself; as no one else was around, I felt extremely relaxed and in great privacy.
The catering on this flight was loaded by Do & Co. I had the potato and Stilton soup as a starter, along with a nice bread roll. I like the new dining presentation, especially the silver bread tray and drinks glass.
For the main, I had the miso glazed Cod; it tasted quite dry and also looked quite average.
To save the day was the dessert, a strawberry trifle, which was quite wonderful.
After lunch, it was time for a nap. I must admit The White Company bedding was very soft, warm and comfortable. The seat goes fully flat (at a slight angle) but it wasn’t too sloppy. The bed perfectly accommodated my height, which is 6′ 0″ (185cm) without issue. I slept for 4 hours before being woken up for the arrival refreshments.
There was a choice of afternoon tea and I was shown both choices. I chose to have the sandwiches with a nice cup of tea.
The crew told me that July is generally a slow month for the BA1, the service will be temporarily discontinued for the summer month of August and will restart in September. They also shared with me that frequent business travellers prefer to save time when they travel (after business hours) so usually the outbound is less crowded than the return from JFK to London City.
We flew past Long Island before our descent into JFK. We landed on runway 22L 15 minutes ahead of schedule. We taxied past several BA B747-400s; I could only imagine how long the immigration and customs queues were.
The friendly pilot allowed a flight deck visit after landing. The Shannon to JFK sector took 6 hours 34 minutes and we cruised at 39,000 ft.
Perhaps saving the best till last, it took me just 5 minutes from walking outside the plane to the street at JFK.
What’s the link to buy the ticket? I thought the trip looked really cool and I really want to check it out. Thanks in advance!
I travelled this flight May 19 as part of round the.world trip from Australia. The flight was full and the service was excellent. The only criticism I have is the time it takes through security at LCY.
Hi Sam,
Great review. I also saw your youtube video of this flight and this seems to be a unique experince. I’m planning to try this one out next year in May.
Also, do you remain airside at Shannon or do you have to clear immigration and then proceed to the US Pre Clearance? If so, I will have to look at getting a Schengen Visa for this flight.
Cheers!
Yes remain air side during transit at Shannon. The US pre clearance is at the airside.
I often take this flight for the 3 main reasons:
1. London City is easy to get to especially in the morning. I can arrive around an hour before take off, have a quick breakfast and board.
2. The outbound flight is only ever half full at best so the experience is fantastic. Every time I take this flight the cabin crew service is much better than any other BA flight. The seats are also much more comfortable than the terrible standard BA club world offering.
3. The stop to clear US entry means I have certainty on my hotel check in time and afternoon NYC arrangements rather that the potential of getting to town earlier IF I can clear quickly at JFK. On 001 I’ve never been more than an hour from landing to Manhattan hotel check in.
The outbound tends to not be full of city suits in contrast to the return which I don’t take because it is too early for me. Also for Garry, this flight is the same price as other club world flights. Finally, if you love to travel this flight is unique and great to experience.
Can u fly more rare aircraft types. E.g. ILs and Tupolevs and other snot so common in the western world?
I have pretty much flown all the types, check out my Youutbe videos for those. Sadly there aren’t many Tupolevs and IL flying these days. Watch out for a Moscow Air Show update.
Its basically a operation for City-Slickers and High Flyers rolling in dosh!
Its quicker from the office to get to another office in NewYork! Or for those who like exclusivity and smaller planes but i think you would be better of flying First-class for similar money i guess from Heathrow as this service i assume is more money than ClubWorld and i am not mad on the idea of such a small plane flying over the Atlantic!
Yes i know they fly a route for any emergency the plane is near enough to land for an emergency but it just feels abit reclusive to me,ideal for a ‘loner’ though but basically its a ‘tool service’ for ‘city-folk’ but it does not get you there any faster as that was the whole point of Concorde to get business men or women across the Atlantic as quick as possible and do feel a return to super-sonic flight is coming back! The Arabic new-comers will push the market for a small pool that will operate in years to some me thinks.
Another great review. U obviously like to do this and it shows. Thanks.
I flew LHR -> JFK and back again on Concorde in 2003. Quicker than this flight and far more stylish. No lie flat beds but great canapés, champgane and staff.
I will probably never get to see the world from 70K ft again but it changed my life – an experience to remember. We live in a fragile blue bubble.
BA understands there is a profitable business that connects the City of London to New York. Good to see a review of BA1.
A couple of Things Sam . 1 A pocket rocket take-off roll 18 secs!
Now hold out your Hand 🙂 SMACK – surprised at you of all people not having— in many shots, your seat belt at loosely fastened. Although to be fair on that great circle probably less chance of CAT or other WX issues. However, when near the equator routes always a good idea to have the belt on
Re Cat see https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/clear-air-turbulence
But a unique and pleasing review ( as always ) For Cabin crew that must be a sweet spot on bidding for routes. My hat always goes off to cabin crew and ground staff as some of the self-loading cargo (pax) are not all that situationally aware
Great review Sam, thank you. I will maybe look to try this service in the future. Apart from the departure from London, how would you rate the smoothness of the ride across the Atlantic in the A318?
It is reasonable smooth above the clouds. I was wondering the same thing but out of my flight, not much turbulence observed.
I have read that this aircraft does not have the range to get to New York without stopping in Shannon to refuel. Can you confirm and mention why you did not mention that in your article?
The A/C has the range, it is the restriction at London City Airport (short runway with 5.5 degree climb gradient) prevent the nonstop. Watch my video as the pilot explains.
To add on to what Sam mentioned, the eastbound (JFK to LCY) is nonstop, so yes the aircraft absolutely has the range. The only reason the westbound makes the stop is for the aforementioned reasons.
On the LCY > JFK route I don’t believe you can get the 318 out of LCY with all pax and baggage and fuel, as the weight plus runway length does not compute.
Thus the Shannon stop is for both fuel for the ‘craft and immigration pretty clearance for the pax.
The best thing about Sam Chui flight reviews is Sam talking, not some edited poshness. Bleh, totally boring. Thanks for the review though, a flight I’d like to take sometime.