British Airways (BA) has long been a frequent visitor to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City. Over the years, the UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member has flown some of its most iconic long-haul aircraft to the Big Apple, including Concorde and the Boeing 747. However, a more confusing sight could be seen between 2009 and 2020, when BA also flew two Airbus A318s to JFK.

Lovingly known as the ‘Baby Bus,’ the A318 is the smallest variant in the A320 family, and it was much more accustomed to operating short-haul and domestic flights at the height of its popularity. However, BA took a rather different approach, fitting the jet with just 32 ‘Club World’ business class seats in an all-premium configuration, allowing passengers to fly in style from London to New York.

A Transatlantic Flight Like No Other

Credit: Great Circle Map

These services, which operated up to twice a day, served as an unusual flagship service for British Airways, and, correspondingly, used the BA1, BA2, BA3, and BA4 numbers that the airline had previously reserved for Concorde operations to JFK. However, unlike Concorde flights, these flights didn’t depart from British Airways’ main hub at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) but instead from London City Airport (LCY).

Given that the A318’s all-premium layout was aimed at business travelers, LCY was a natural fit due to its proximity to London’s financial district. As seen above, the flight stopped at Shannon (SNN) in Ireland enroute, both to refuel and for passengers to complete US border checks there. As such, they arrived at JFK as domestic passengers. The return leg operated nonstop.

“Of the hundreds of commercial aircraft crossing the Atlantic every day between the UK and the US, these two purpose-built new A318s will produce the least amount of carbon dioxide,” the airline said in a statement obtained by The Guardian.

British Airways’ Small But Mighty Airbus A318 Fleet

Credit: British Airways

All in all, British Airways flew its small but mighty fleet of A318s across the North Atlantic Ocean from September 2009 to March 2020. By then, it had already reduced its frequency on the route, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, which showed that in January and February 2020 it operated just 24 rotations apiece. The final flight was scheduled for March 24.

According to fleet data from Planespotters.net, two different Airbus A318s served British Airways in this capacity over the years. G-EUNA was the first to arrive, joining the carrier in August 2009. It stayed at BA for its entire career, and, after just over a year of pandemic-induced storage in Madrid and Enschede, it was broken up at the latter airport in October 2021, aged just 12.1 years old.

BA’s second A318, G-EUNB, joined the UK flag carrier a month later, in September 2009. However, it had a more varied service life, and actually left the airline in 2017. Thereafter, it flew for Titan Airways, although the onset of the pandemic meant that it was also broken up in 2021. Both had 32 business class flatbeds on board in a four-abreast 2-2 layout. The one-stop run to JFK took just under ten hours.

The Airbus A318 Is A Rare Bird Today

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Fast forward six years from the withdrawal of the Airbus A318 from British Airways’ unique transatlantic route from London City Airport to New York-JFK via Shannon, and the type is now a very rare aircraft indeed. Cirium data shows that French flag carrier and SkyTeam founding member Air France is the only airline operating scheduled flights with the A318 this June, with 283 departures out of Paris CDG.

The most popular route for the type is the domestic corridor to Marseille, with 51 rotations planned. Otherwise, the remaining flights all operate below a daily frequency, although Warsaw and Malaga come close with respective totals of 28 and 24 rotations. Air France has just four A318s left in its fleet according to ch-aviation, with these small twinjets clocking in at 19.8 years old on average.