Fancy jetting off to America’s “Music City? It’s official: British Airways will be launching direct Dreamliner flights between Heathrow and Nashville from May 4th next year. The airline announced it will be operating five flights per week to Nashville International Airport and the journey time will be nine hours.
The aircraft used will be a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 214 seats including 35 lie-flat Business Class seats and 25 in Premium Economy. Known for being a quieter, lighter and more fuel-efficient, the Dreamliner offers a high level of passenger comfort, with large, electronically dimmable windows instead of the usual retractable blinds. At the touch of a button the windows turn from fully transparent to completely dimmed in gradual steps.
The new Nashville service will be the city’s first regular non-stop route to Europe since American Airlines ended its nonstop flight to London from Nashville in the 1990s. At the time American Airlines cited a lack of business and first class travellers as the cause for its closure, but it seems today BA has no question about demand for this service.
British Airways’ Simon Brooks says BA is confident it can fill seats in the profitable premium cabins.
“Just from the research that my team and I have done, we’re aware of some really considerable wealth in Tennessee,” he says. “We know that we’re going to be able to fill those forward cabins with people that want to enjoy a little bit of extra comfort going over to London and beyond.”
It is expected the route will be popular with entertainment executives as well as business and leisure travellers. Nashville-based rock band Kings of Leon actually helped to pitch the route to British Airways by hosting company executives at a concert last month in London’s Hyde Park.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said: “This is a big day not just for Nashville but for all of Tennessee because London is a gateway to and from all of Europe.”
In just 9 hours BA’s UK customers can touch down in Tennessee, where they can watch musicians play at the famous Bluebird Café, see the vinyls and posters that paper the Johnny Cash museum, and walk down Broadway, where neon guitars light up the roadside.
Passengers who choose to travel in Business Class will experience BA’s Club World product, featuring a comfy chair that converts into a 183cm (6ft) fully flat bed. Other features of the seat include a personal 10.4in flat screen, noise-cancelling headphones, memory foam headrest, electronic power supply and a quilted blanket. The amenity kit contains luxury Elemis skincare products and passengers also receive a complimentary treatment in the Elemis Spa at Heathrow airport Terminal 5.
The new service is part of BA’s rapid expansion plan in the US: most recently the airline has launched flights to cities such as Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Oakland and San Jose, California. Not long ago the airline promised to invest four hundred million pounds in its Club World product, with an emphasis on improved catering and sleep, and a new seat in the future.
Flights in Club World start at £1849 and the flight schedule is as follows:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
BA223 London to Nashville departing 3:45PM arriving 6:50PM
BA222 Nashville to London departing 8:20PM arriving 10:30AM (+1 day)
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