British Airways is canceling flights on this major route from NYC to London
British Airways was recently named one of the best airlines in the world, but after this week, it probably won’t be named the most reliable.
The airline just announced that it’s halting a significant number of its long haul flights between the U.S. and U.K., including a pretty significant route from New York City to the British capital.
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The reason for the mass cancellations? Delivery delays on aircraft engines and parts that were supposed to be used in the newest batch of the airline’s Boeing 787 fleet. “We’re disappointed that we’ve had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft,” British Airways said in a statement. The Airline announced the cancellations were made now in order to avoid forcing passengers to change their travel arrangements last minute.
Although we don’t know much about aircraft parts, we do assume that these route cancellations will create a greater strain on the existing routes from New York to London. Specifically, British Airways is cutting its route between London Gatwick and New York’s JFK from December until March (or beyond, depending on when the parts are delivered).
New Yorkers won’t be the only ones to suffer. All in all, the British Airways global cancellations will affect 200,000 people, including thousands of passengers in Kuala Lumpur, where the airline is halting service until April of next year.
If you were planning a trip to London, though, don’t panic just yet: British Airways will continue flying into other London area airports, including Heathrow, from New York City. Other airlines that fly directly from New York to London on a weekly basis include Air France, Delta, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Jet Blue and Norse Atlantic.