BA starts business-only flights from City Airport

The service will start next year and is aimed at workers in the City and Canary Wharf who currently have to make the journey to Heathrow to catch their planes.

It is also a first for London City, which has never been able to offer flights outside Europe before because of its short runway. BA is buying two A318 Airbus jets with just 32 seats, convertible into flat beds, to operate the service. Prices are expected to be "in line" with current Club Class return fares, which vary from £1,300 to around £4,600, depending on demand.

BA hopes that with a 15-minute checkin, compared with two hours, it will attract many business travellers who want to avoid "Heathrow hell."

However, the flight time to New York is nine and and a half hours - almost two hours longer than from Heathrow - because the plane will have to refuel before it sets out across the Atlantic - probably in Ireland or Scotland. This is because it cannot depart fully laden with fuel from the short runway in Docklands. However, the return flight will be non-stop and only around 15 minutes longer than the current seven hours from JFK to Heathrow.

The flights from London will be during the day, while the returns from New York will be overnight.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: "This niche service will fly passengers between the heart of the two largest financial centres in the world. London City is minutes away from some of our key corporate customers and is in one of the fastest growing areas of the capital.

"We will offer a 15-minute check-in for customers in both London and New York. London City's size means that it is a quick and easy airport to use and, with a maximum of 32 passengers on board, getting on and off the aircraft will be a smooth process."

BA expects the service also to attract wealthy leisure passengers keen to avoid Heathrow. The carrier, which today revealed a 35 per cent rise in profits, already operates 75 services a week from London to New York, 55 to JFK and 20 to Newark.

The route will be in direct competition with the generation of all-business class airlines such as eos and Silverjet. However, they operate from Stansted and Luton. A third carrier Maxjet collapsed just before Christmas.