British Airways expands to Cincinnati, its 27th US city

British Airways is touching down in Cincinnati, giving the city its second transatlantic flight.

Beginning June 5, BA will offer nonstop service from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) to its primary hub at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR). The airline will fly between the cities on 214-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners that include 35 lie-flat seats and 25 in premium economy.

British Airways will operate the flight five times per week during the summer before dropping to four weekly flights during the lower-demand winter schedule.

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Cincinnati will become British Airways’ 27th destination in the U.S., where the airline has by far the biggest footprint of any European carrier.

“Not only will this open up these destinations to customers on each side of the Atlantic, but it will also improve connectivity between the Cincinnati region, Europe and beyond, with opportunities to connect to our wider network via London,” Neil Chernoff, director of networks and alliances at British Airways, said in a statement announcing the new service.

For Cincinnati, however, landing the nonstop service to London is a boost for an airport that once was one of the nation’s top connecting hubs. Delta Air Lines ran a hub there that grew to be the airline’s second-largest in the early 2000s. The carrier flew hundreds of daily flights from CVG, including several high-profile transatlantic routes.

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However, CVG’s importance to Delta declined following its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008, and the carrier pared its schedule there numerous times over the next decade before dropping it as a hub altogether in 2017. As of 2022, CVG was left with just one regular route to Europe – Delta's nonstop to Paris.

Now, the London service gives the airport a second transatlantic route – and a shot of prestige for an airport its size.

“British Airways’ nonstop service from CVG to London-Heathrow is an all-around win for the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana region,” airport CEO Candace McGraw added in the statement. “The economic impact of this transatlantic flight is exponential for business travel, economic development, and tourism between the UK and our area of the United States.”

BA's new Cincinnati flights come amid broader U.S. flight additions for the carrier; it has also announced plans to add more flights on its existing London routes from both Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) and Oregon's Portland International Airport (PDX).

Oneworld travelers might appreciate the route as another option for mileage tickets to Europe. Using BA's loyalty currency, award tickets for June were available for 20,000 Avios one-way to London in economy and for 60,000 in business. BA partner American Airlines also showed award availability on BA's Cincinnati-London nonstop, with one-way tickets available in June for 30,000 miles in economy or 57,500 miles in business.