BA CityFlyer

BA CityFlyer is a British regional airline, and a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways with its head office based in Didsbury, Manchester, England.[2] It operates a network of domestic and European services from its base at London City Airport. All services operate with BA's full colours, titles and flight numbers.[3] BA Cityflyer Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, meaning that it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[4]

BA CityFlyer
IATA ICAO Callsign
CJ[1] CFE FLYER
Founded25 March 2007 (2007-03-25)
AOC #2314
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer programExecutive Club
AllianceOneworld (affiliate)
Fleet size20
Destinations26
Parent companyBritish Airways
HeadquartersManchester, England, UK
Key peopleTom Stoddart (MD)
Websitewww.britishairways.com

History

A former BA CityFlyer Avro RJ100 in 2005 wearing one of the British Airways ethnic liveries.

British Airways' sale of BA Connect to Flybe in 2007 did not include the London City Airport operations and its associated fleet of ten Avro RJ100 regional jet aircraft.[5] This led to British Airways' decision to resurrect erstwhile Gatwick-based CityFlyer Express (which BA had integrated into its Gatwick mainline short-haul operation in 2001, following the acquisition of CityFlyer Express in 1999) as a new wholly owned subsidiary to take over this operation, as of March 2007. BA Cityflyer was awarded an Air Operators Certificate on 8 February 2007, and started operations on 25 March 2007.[6]

In summer 2008, two Avro RJ85 aircraft were added to the fleet for performance and economic reasons - this included overcoming payload restrictions in the summer that could limit existing aircraft to 60 passengers on some days.[5]

In the second half of 2008, BA CityFlyer announced an order for 11 aircraft from the Embraer E-Jet family compromising of six 76 seat Embraer 170 and five 98 seat Embraer 190SR aircraft, plus options for three additional 190SRs with the first aircraft due in the second half of 2009.[7] The first Embraer 190SR was received in 2010.[8]

In February 2016, BA CityFlyer announced that it would commence operating flights from London-Stansted in May 2016. In January and February 2017, it announced that it would commence summer seasonal services from Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Dublin and Birmingham to a variety of destinations in Spain, Italy, Greece and France. This marks the return of BA to the regions after an absence of nearly 10 years. Flights will also operate in the summer between London City and Manchester, operating with Embraer 190SR aircraft.

In 2018, the airline reported nearly doubled profits,[9] with profits increasing 28% and revenue up by 18%. Recently, the airline has pulled out from operating at both Birmingham and Bristol on weekends and has made several changes to its schedule increasing frequency and adding new services to Rome.[10]

In July 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic it was announced that the crew base at Edinburgh Airport would close on 31 October 2020, with the loss of several ground based office jobs and the option for cabin crew and pilots to relocate to London City Airport.[11] On 9 December 2020, it was announced that BA Cityflyer would operate from Southampton Airport starting in May 2021 with flights to 14 European destinations mostly operating on weekends.[12]

Destinations

In addition to their scheduled flights from London City, the airline also operates a number of scheduled and charter flights from Edinburgh,[13] Glasgow,[14] London-Stansted[15] and Belfast City[16] airports primarily to leisure destinations. The airline focuses on serving the financial market, though it has recently expanded into the leisure market, offering routes to Ibiza, Palma and Venice.[17] In 2021, BA Cityflyer started operating 14 weekend flights from Southampton.[12]

Fleet

BA CityFlyer Embraer 190
A former BA CityFlyer Embraer 170 which was retired in 2021.

Current fleet

As of September 2023, BA CityFlyer operates the following aircraft:[18]

BA CityFlyer fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Embraer 190 20 98
Total 20

Former fleet

In the past, BA CityFlyer has operated the following aircraft:[18]

Aircraft Total Introduced Retired References
Avro RJ85 2 2008 2010 [5]
Avro RJ100 10 2007 2010 [5]
Embraer 170 6 2009 2021 [19]

Statistics

BA CityFlyer carried over 2.8 million passengers in 2019, a 4.8% increase from 2018.[20]

YearTotal passengersTotal flightsLoad factorPassenger change YoY
2008 713,67015,68743.9%
2009 699,67014,19749.0%Decrease002.0%
2010 798,52314,33066.0%Increase014.1%
2011 1,125,75819,09968.0%Increase041.0%
2012 1,184,81021,74565.2%Increase005.2%
2013 1,371,99323,89369.3%Increase015.8%
2014 1,710,92029,32671.0%Increase024.7%
2015 1,933,15532,80572.0%Increase013.0%
2016 2,192,84736,35172.8%Increase013.4%
2017 2,379,94237,14373.5%Increase08.5%
2018 2,697,95641,06875.3%Increase013.4%
2019 2,827,616 42,406 73.9% Increase04.8%
2020 500,001 8,929 61.2% Decrease0082.3%
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority [20]

Accidents and incidents

The BA CityFlyer Avro RJ100 involved in the February 2009 incident

On 13 February 2009, BA CityFlyer Flight 8456 (an Avro RJ100, registered G-BXAR, flying from Amsterdam) suffered a nose-gear collapse whilst landing at London City Airport. None of the 67 passengers or five crew members were seriously injured in the incident, but three passengers suffered minor injuries, two of whom were kept in hospital overnight. After a normal approach the nose landing-gear fractured as it was lowered onto the runway, due to the presence of a fatigue-crack in the upper internal bore of the landing-gear main fitting. It was found that the crack had formed as a result of poor surface finish during manufacture, and the incomplete embodiment of a manufacturer's service bulletin, which the landing-gear maintenance records showed as being implemented at its last overhaul in June 2006.[21][22] The aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair, and was written off by insurers in May 2009.[23]

References

  1. "IATA – Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  2. "BA CITYFLYER LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  3. "UK & Ireland Airlines Guide 2011". Airliner World. March 2011. p. 4.
  4. Civil Aviation Authority – Operating Licence Holders Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Bonnassies2008-04-21T14:43:00+01:00, Olivier. "Peter Simpson: All change at BA CityFlyer". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  6. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. p. 83.
  7. Ionides2008-12-22T07:15:00+00:00, Nicholas. "British Airways orders 11 Embraer 170/190s for CityFlyer". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  8. Bonnassies2010-03-12T10:38:00+00:00, Olivier. "BA CityFlyer starts introducing Embraer 190s". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  9. "BA CityFlyer doubles full-year profits". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  10. "How BA CityFlyer Managed To Double Its Profits In A Year". Simple Flying. 11 September 2019.
  11. "BA CityFlyer plans Edinburgh base closure". www.businesstravelnewseurope.com. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  12. Airways, British. "FLY TO EUROPE FROM SOUTHAMPTON WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS". mediacentre.britishairways.com. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  13. routesonline.com – BA CityFlyer Plans for Florence Take Off From Edinburgh 18 December 2017
  14. Airways, British. "BRITISH AIRWAYS TO 'BASQUE' IN NEW ROUTE". mediacentre.britishairways.com.
  15. austrianaviation.net – "BA Cityflyer takes off from Stansted" (German) 9 February 2016
  16. "Weekly Palma Flight From Belfast City Airport For Summer Season". Business Eye. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  17. "About BA CityFlyer". Bacityflyerjobs.com. 2013. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  18. "BA Cityflyer fleet". Planespotters.net. 9 March 2023.
  19. "BA takes delivery of next-generation LCY jets". Business Traveller.
  20. "UK Airline Data". UK Civil Aviation Authority. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  21. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (13 February 2009). "Air Accidents Investigation: Avro 146-RJ100, G-BXAR". Aaib.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  22. "London City Airport crash jet 'not properly serviced'". BBC News. 11 February 2010.
  23. "BA jobs go after plane write-off". BBC News. 25 May 2009.

Media related to BA CityFlyer at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.