An effort by New Orleans business leaders to secure nonstop air service on British Airways between London’s Heathrow Airport and Louis Armstrong International Airport has come up short. San Jose, California, beat out the Crescent City for British Airways’ newest international route. However, business leaders say the decision was merely a setback and that discussions with the airline are ongoing.
“We were disappointed because we would have liked to have had that flight as early as 2016,” says GNO Inc. President Michael Hecht. “But we are still very much in the running for a future flight and we continue to be in regular contact with BA.”
Baton Rouge business leaders working through the Super Region committee were supportive of efforts to secure the international air service and have been playing an important role in helping New Orleans try to attract additional flights. The entire region would benefit from the increased air service, and New Orleans alone, even with its robust tourism industry, isn’t large enough to secure a nonstop, international flight.
“It’s a top civic and business priority here in New Orleans and the Baton Rouge business community is working with us and we will continue to push,” says Transoceanic Development CEO Gregory Rusovich, who is chairman of the Louisiana Board of International Commerce and has been active in the negotiations with British Airways. “New Orleans and Baton Rouge together are a force, and when you throw in the entire Gulf Coast region we’re really a formidable force.”
While New Orleans and Baton Rouge jointly make a more attractive market than either city individually, the area doesn’t have as much business activity as San Jose, which is why it lost out to the Silicon Valley city in the quest to secure the British Airways flight.
“If you’re looking at the markets, they felt the business market there was more developed today, while the business market in southeast Louisiana is developing,” Hecht says. “I think there is a timing thing but we know that our numbers were very favorable for a flight.”
Both Hecht and Rusovich say they are optimistic they could ink a deal with British Airways for flight service beginning in 2017 or 2018. Additionally, they are in talks with at least one other international airline for nonstop service to another European city.
As Business Report recently detailed in its “Executive Flight” cover story, limited air service in southeast Louisiana is an economic development issue. Companies have relocated their headquarters to markets with better air service, including Albemarle, which is moving to Charlotte, North Carolina.
—Stephanie Riegel
