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BA criticised for dropping Manchester-New York flights

06/05/2008

The decision by British Airways (BA) to stop direct flights from Manchester to New York has been condemned by Manchester Airport Group boss Geoff Muirhead.

Last month, BA announced it was transferring the daily service to Gatwick from October because the Manchester-New York route had been loss-making for some time.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, at least 413,000 people flew between Manchester and New York last year.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Muirhead said that BA "does not seem able or willing to serve" the north of England.

"It was disappointing inasmuch as BA only two months ago told us that route was profitable. So I don't know exactly what the motivation is," he stated.

"BA is still a customer of ours so I don't want to be too critical of them. We don't criticise customers generally."

Delta and Continental Airlines are still operating flights from Manchester to JFK and Newark, which is about 15 miles south of New York City.

Moreover, both BMI and Virgin offer flights from Manchester to US destinations.