OAG Travel News

Passengers achieved 34 minute pre-clearance in Shannon according to carrier

British Airways carried out the first trial of its all-business-class service between London City and New York JFK yesterday in advance of its launch at the end of the month.

The airline recently took delivery of the first Airbus A318 plane in its fleet, which has been fitted with just 32 business class seats.

A BA spokesman said: “Members of the British Airways team responsible for delivery of the new service were travelling onboard the flight to ensure it meets the exacting expectations of our customers when it launches and officially goes into service on September 29”.

He added: “The OnAir in-flight miniature cell network and satellite link, which allows customers to use their mobile phones, BlackBerry-type devices or laptops via a dongle to connect in-flight was also successfully trialled.”

The progress of the flight was posted on microblogging service Twitter using in-flight internet. @British_Airways, the airline’s official Twitter presence in the UK, tweeted: “Now in air, en route to JFK. The OnAir services are working well.”

Because of take-off restrictions at London City, the service has to stop at Shannon in Ireland on the westbound leg to take on extra fuel but the airline is using the time to pre-clear US immigration and customs. This process took 34 minutes, according to BA’s Twitter feed. Both the in- and outbound services arrived early, the airline said.

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk report by Mark Frary