British Airways Expands US Route Network

This summer, British Airways is expanding its US route network, increasing the number of direct US routes to London to 26. Portland, Oregon, has become the newest addition to the British Airways route map, providing the city with its only direct route to the United Kingdom. It’s been a long time coming, and Portland has faced many challenges as a result of the pandemic. Hopefully, it is returning to normalcy, as it has always been one of my favorite US cities.

The new route to Portland will run five days a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will fly the Portland route. If you want to use your Avios, there should be plenty of availability starting in December.

British Airways’ Director of Networks and Alliances, Neil Chernoff said: “This summer British Airways will be flying from 26 US cities to London and we’re very excited to be adding Portland to our list of transatlantic destinations. Not only are we the only airline to offer direct flights from Portland to London, but this new route also opens a wide variety of connections for our customers. Through Alaska Airlines, our oneworld partner, British Airways will offer codeshare connections to several destinations operated by Alaska Airlines from Portland.”

British Airways also reintroduces a direct flight from Pittsburgh to London. It is still the only airline that provides a direct flight from Philadelphia to London. The airline will resume a year-round four-per-week service – Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. This will be a B787-8 as well.

To support the return of business travel, the airline will launch a new daytime flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to London Heathrow on June 6 – its third daily flight from Newark to London. Personally, I prefer daytime flights because you rarely get much sleep on overnight flights because the total flying time is frequently between 5-6 hours. Although it requires an early start, it significantly reduces jet lag as you return to the UK in the evening and hopefully get a good night’s sleep.

The daytime flight will depart from Newark at 7.55 a.m., making it a convenient option for those who want to spend an extra night in the New York area or arrive just in time for an evening in London.

On 13th June, daily direct flights from San Jose, California, to London will resume, as will the return of A380 aircraft to more North American airports. Earlier this week, Chicago and Vancouver became the latest cities to welcome the Airbus 380. Meanwhile, on 1st July, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will welcome the A380 for the first time. The aircraft, which is British Airways’ and the airline industry’s largest, has 469 seats and offers a choice of First, Club World, World Traveller Plus, and World Traveller cabins.