Monday, Nov. 8, was one of the biggest days for the travel industry — and British Airways — this year.
The United States reopened to fully vaccinated international travelers after a ban on nonessential travel lasting longer than 600 days.
New York is British Airways’ most important long-haul destination, so it was fitting that this iconic city was chosen for the first flight on reopening day. For the first time ever, traditional rivals British Airways and Virgin Atlantic teamed up for a parallel takeoff of their dual A350 morning services to New York-JFK.
British Airways invited TPG along as a guest on this very special flight.
Long-time British Airways travelers and AvGeeks alike may recall the significance of the BA1 flight number.
The flight number was given to the Concorde service in the 1980s between London Heathrow (LHR) and New York-JFK before the flight number was retired in 2003 as the Concorde flew its final commercial services.
More recently, the BA1 flight number returned for the special all-business-class Airbus 318 service from London City Airport (LCY) to New York-JFK with its special fuel stop in Shannon (SNN) that also allowed passengers to pass through U.S. immigration in Ireland and then arrive in New York as domestic passengers with a quick skip through arrivals.
This AvGeek bucket list service was unfortunately discontinued in 2020 as business travel plunged during the pandemic.
While the BA1 flight number has no current regular home, British Airways decided to award this number to the first flight from the United Kingdom to the United States on reopening day — for one day only. The flight was operated by the airline’s new Airbus A350 service featuring its new Club Suite in business class.
Predeparture process
Heathrow was busy with passengers early on Monday morning before the sun had even risen with long lines even for security in the First Wing.
Despite uploading documents into the VeriFLY app before departure, predeparture tests and vaccination certificates were double-checked at check-in, which is not an unusual experience for anyone who has traveled internationally this year.
Passengers were encouraged to board a full hour before departure to ensure the dual departure could proceed smoothly, which I was told took months of planning. There was, perhaps surprisingly, little celebration at the gate beyond a few American flags casually hung in the jetbridge and announcements that this was a “very special flight.”
On board the flight
Greeting passengers on board was a more lively atmosphere on board the Airbus A350 with strings of U.S. flags hung throughout the cabins and special headrests for our special flight.
The Club Suite cabin was full of journalists and British Airways executives, including British Airways CEO Sean Doyle. There were plenty of photographs taken, introductions made and Champagne enjoyed during the somewhat chaotic but jovial mood inside the front cabin.
There was a smattering of AvGeeks on the flight, though not nearly as many as you might expect on, say, an inaugural flight. We taxied to runway 27R ready for an on-time departure at 8:20 a.m., though waited around 15 minutes for Virgin Atlantic to reach the same position on the parallel runway 27L.
The dual takeoff was really impressive as we climbed through the air and I lucked out with my window seat on the left-hand side with a fantastic view of the Virgin Atlantic A350 aircraft tracking the same path from the other runway.
A huge cheer went up in the front cabin as the wheels left the tarmac as the combination of being on such an important flight and two traditional rival airlines coming together to celebrate together hit home.
I was surprised to see the flight was completely full in all three cabins (I monitored the flight carefully as soon as the Nov. 8 date was announced, and it seemed to come on and off sale regularly as if British Airways wasn’t quite sure whether to keep this flight as a media-only service or fill the flight up with as many paying passengers as possible).
They chose the latter, and it’s a great sign for the return of demand for transatlantic travel.
British Airways CEO Sean Doyle gave an emotional speech to passengers, explaining why this was such an important day for his airline.
“We didn’t expect to be locked out for 602 days. We had expected a reopening announcement months ago at the G7 summit in Cornwall,” he explained. “British Airways has traditionally been the largest European [airline] in the United States so to have this important gateway closed has been difficult. We used to fly to 30 destinations in North America; we are only at 17 right now but hope to be back to 23 by Christmas, with all returning by next summer. Our flights to the United States this week are full and that is very encouraging.”
Arrival process
We landed at New York-JFK ahead of schedule. Although staff assured me it was not a race, I noticed Virgin Atlantic’s A350 aircraft touch down just a few minutes before us.
While the gate celebrations at Heathrow were decidedly muted, it was a completely different story in New York with an overwhelming celebration. British Airways ground staff lined the jetbridge waving U.K. and U.S. flags and clapping and cheering loudly.
Having been a very regular visitor to this airport before the pandemic, I shed a few tears. I was finally returning to New York after almost a two-year absence. In the arrivals hall, there was a flurry of local press as well as more celebrations with dozens of ground crew cheering loudly and welcoming every single passenger back to New York.
Families have reunited after 600 days apart and there were plenty of happy tears as local news crews swarmed to capture the action.
The customs and immigration process was incredibly quick (we were the first British Airways flight of the day) and the staff members were very friendly, too.
Bottom line
It was an exciting and emotional experience to be on the first flight to the United States on reopening day, from the special flight number, the dual takeoff with Virgin Atlantic and sitting just three feet away from the British Airways CEO the entire flight, culminating with a wonderfully warm welcome from local staff and press in New York City.
For many passengers like myself, it was our first long-haul flight of the pandemic and a real symbol of how quickly travel is now returning. British Airways is rapidly ramping up its New York services now that Brits can enter for any reason, and the airline plans to have at least 10 daily flights by next summer.
It’s wonderful to be back in the United States and experience such an important day for both the travel industry and British Airways, which also brought its largest aircraft, the double-decker A380, back to commercial service for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
The plane is initially operating short-haul flights between London (LHR) to Frankfurt (FRA) and Madrid (MAD) to refamiliarize the crew before resuming long-haul operations with the A380 next month. TPG’s Nicky Kelvin was on the first flight on Monday.
Reference : https://thepointsguy.com/news/british-airways-united-states-reopening-flight/
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