Airliner World – April 2018

94 AIRLINER WORLD APRIL 2018

operating base, however the admin-
istrative headquarters remained in
Didsbury. London City’s location – at
the heart of one of the most important
financial centres in the world – makes
BA CityFlyer’s proposition attractive to
the business community. The
airline claims passengers can travel
from kerbside to airside in just 20
minutes at LCY, much quicker than
at London’s bigger gateways. Its
schedule is also built to enable
business passengers to do a full day’s
work in some of Europe’s major cities
with a same-day return.
In 2008, two wet-leased 146s joined
the fleet from Southend-based
Flightline alongside two new
RJ85s (chosen for their longer range),
formerly with Finnish carrier Blue1.

Enter the E-Jets
September 2009 marked the start of
a major overhaul of the fleet with the
introduction of new Embraer 170 and
190 jets. The BAe fleet was beginning
to show its age and with four engines
its fuel economy could not compete
with the newer generation aircraft.
The E-Jets provide better range
and payloads, the latter particularly
important given the relatively short
runway at LCY.
The E190s are limited to 98 seats
under the British Airways Pilot Scope

clause, which states non-mainline

aircraft can have no more than 100.

Despite these restrictions the aircraft

is still profitable and with just 98 seats,

passengers enjoy a 34in (86cm) pitch.

As is standard for E-Jet operators, the

cabin is laid out in a 2+2 configuration

ensuring everyone has either an aisle

or window seat. The Club Europe

cabin accounts for 38 of the seats on

the E190, with the remaining 60

in Euro Traveller. Food and drink

in the latter is ‘buy on board’ but

remains complimentary in the

Club Europe cabin.

Because of LCY’s unique geography,

close to Canary Wharf in the heart of

the city, aircraft must make a steeper

approach than they would at other

airfields. As a result, both the aircraft

and flight crew are required to hold a

rating for operations at the airport.

Branching Out

Since its inception, BA CityFlyer had

been pitched at business travellers,

but in 2010 it introduced its first

leisure routes from London City, to the

Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Majorca.

This was partly due to the increased

performance of the E-Jets and, having

proved popular, these routes are now

year-round services.

Encouraged by the success of this

change in strategy the carrier has

added flights to Menorca, Venice,

Florence, Amsterdam and Granada

from LCY. Expansion was not limited

to leisure routes, with the likes of

Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Aberdeen

and Dublin also added to the

growing network.

In May 2016, BA CityFlyer launched

flights from Stansted Airport for the

first time, initially as a summer opera-

tion with connections to Berlin, Faro,

Ibiza, Malaga and Palma. However, in

August that year it announced Berlin

would become a year-round service

with the addition of seasonal flights to

Chambéry for the ski season.

Despite being a wholly-owned British

British Airways retained

ten RJ100s and its LCY

operations when it

disposed of Connect

to form the basis for

BA CityFlyer.

MARTYN CARTLEDGE

TOP • BA CityFlyer has

wet-leased Saab 2000

G-CDKA (c/n 006) from

Eastern Airways,

predominantly to ply

the route between LCY

and the Isle of Man.

MARTYN CARTLEDGE

General Manager Luke

Hayhoe. BA CITYFLYER