British Airways has an impressive transatlantic route network, in particular the extent to which it serves smaller long haul markets that don’t see much transatlantic service. Along those lines, the airline has just revealed its latest transatlantic flight, which is another fun one.
British Airways adds London to St. Louis flights in April 2026
As of April 19, 2026, British Airways will launch 4x weekly summer seasonal flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and St. Louis (STL). The flight will operate with the following schedule:
BA221 London to St. Louis departing 4:25PM arriving 7:30PM
BA220 St. Louis to London departing 10:00PM arriving 12:05PM (+1 day)
The 4,200-mile flight is blocked at 9hr5min eastbound and 8hr5min eastbound. It’ll operate on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in both directions.
British Airways will use a Boeing 787-8 for this route, which is its smallest long haul aircraft. This plane is equipped with 204 seats, including 31 business class seats, 37 premium economy seats, and 136 economy seats. Hopefully by the time the service launches, all 787-8s will feature the carrier’s Club Suites business class.
Here’s how Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, describes this new service:
“St. Louis is a fantastic addition to our US network – it’s a destination in itself as a city with a rich history and a vibrant cultural scene, as well as a gateway to exciting destinations beyond this. As the only direct route from the UK, this service will open up exciting new opportunities for our customers and further strengthen ties between the UK and the US Midwest.”
This is an awesome route addition for St. Louis!
It’s always awesome to see secondary airports get more long haul routes, as that’s a huge value-add for passengers. This will be St. Louis’ second transatlantic route, as Lufthansa also operates service to there from Frankfurt (FRA).
At the end of the day these routes make sense on a few levels:
- American Airlines and British Airways have a transatlantic joint venture, so between the two airlines, they should have no problem filling these planes with passengers connecting from the area to London and beyond
- I imagine that the local government is providing significant incentives for this service to be offered, and that this played a major role in the service being added; the economics of long haul routes work a lot better when there’s government support
- This appears to be a summer seasonal route, so it’s hard to go wrong with that, given the level of demand across the Atlantic, especially in a market with limited direct options
I appreciate how British Airways has increasingly experimented in secondary markets. Most of the routes have worked out pretty well, while some have been pulled after a couple of years (presumably after incentives dry up). Let’s see how this route performs.
Bottom line
As of April 2026, British Airways will launch service to St. Louis, Missouri. The airline will offer 4x weekly summer seasonal flights with a Boeing 787-8. So this is about as low risk as British Airways long haul flights can get, in terms of service being summer seasonal, less than daily, and with the carrier’s smallest airplane. But it’s cool nonetheless.
What do you make of British Airways launching St. Louis flights?
