All business class planes for British Airways

British Airways

British Airways is planning to establish a dedicated premium class operation across the Atlantic. This would move it head to head with Virgin Atlantic.

The airline will be offering services "by next summer", with the airline's Boeing 757s or 767s used in either a two-class or business class only layout. And following the success of Eos and Maxjet out of Stansted, and also Silverjet based at Luton, Heathrow might not be the London hub.

Initially a US mounted operation could serve European hubs It seems to work well for other airlines - Lufthansa has operated 50-seat Boeing and Airbus narrow bodied aircraft from both Dusseldorf and Munich to New York and Chicago since 2003, while KLM has a daily Amsterdam - Houston rotation using a Boeing 737-700 and featuring its World Business Class service.

Virgin Atlantic is also quickly moving forward with plans to introduce a similar operation also from the major continental centres to New York. However, Virgin does not have any suitable aircraft in its fleet.