Flights grow, and airfares dip, from USA to Heathrow
Thanks to Open Skies, flights to Heathrow are cheaper and more plentiful.
— -- In the past six weeks, it's gotten easier and slightly cheaper to fly between the USA and London Heathrow.
Before March 30, federal regulations restricted access between the USA and London's central airport to just four airlines — British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American and United.
The major U.S. airlines shut out of Heathrow flew to London Gatwick, an airport about 30 miles south of the city.
But since the "open skies" agreement between the United States and European Union opened the trans-Atlantic market, there's been an influx of service at Heathrow.
After years of waiting, airlines such as Northwest, Delta and Continental rushed into Heathrow, in some cases moving flights from Gatwick and in other cases launching new routes. The increase in flights means new options to consumers — especially higher-paying business travelers such as Delta frequent-flier Randy Jones of Marietta, Ga.
Jones flies to London about 10 times a year, and even though his client is located just 10 minutes from Heathrow, he used to fly to Gatwick to take advantage of direct, non-stop service and Delta frequent-flier miles. Flying to Heathrow would've meant taking another carrier and enduring a lengthy layover at New York John F. Kennedy.
So Jones was thrilled when Delta moved one of its Atlanta-Gatwick flights to Heathrow. He paid the same — $2,186 round trip — that he normally paid for Gatwick, yet he gained time and even saved money.
"The convenience, ability to have more billable hours and $300 savings in limo service is great," he says.
As of June, trans-Atlantic travelers can choose from 95 flights a day each way between Heathrow and the USA, or 18 more than a year ago, according to an analysis of flight schedules by Sabre Airline Solutions.
New Heathrow service includes Delta's daily flight from Atlanta and twice-daily flights from JFK, and US Airways' daily round trip from Philadelphia. Continental also launched twice-daily flights from both its Newark and Houston hubs, while Northwest launched daily flights from Detroit, Minneapolis and Seattle.
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