CLAYTON — Regional leaders on Wednesday cheered a new international flight that will take St. Louis travelers directly to London.
The new service by British Airways begins in April next year, with four nonstop flights each week between St. Louis Lambert International Airport and the U.K.’s capital.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and other regional leaders were on hand to announce the new flight at the St. Louis County government building in Clayton.
“This is a great day for the future of St. Louis,” Kevin O’Malley, chairman of the St. Louis County Port Authority, said in a statement. “Obtaining nonstop service between St. Louis and London has been a goal of the Port Authority and one which we are happy to announce today.”
Incentives helped pave the way for the latest flight: The port authority has committed up to $4.5 million over three years, but only if the airline meets “performance criteria” based on the number of flights operated.
Explore St. Louis, which runs the downtown convention center, will also help with public relations and marketing for the route.
The news marks the second direct route to Europe from Lambert announced in recent years.
The other is a direct flight on Lufthansa from Lambert to Frankfurt. Those flights were announced four years ago.
The St. Louis County Port Authority, along with private donors, provided Lufthansa a revenue guarantee prior to the start of the service.
The Frankfurt flights have continued from Lambert even after the two-year incentive package expired in 2024.
Other recent efforts to lure international routes to the St. Louis airport — including a flight to Dublin, and another to Vancouver — have failed to take off.
In an application for state support, economic development nonprofit Greater St. Louis Inc. said in 2023 that passengers weren’t using the Frankfurt flight in large numbers to travel to the United Kingdom and far western Europe region.
“Our corporate community will benefit from direct service to the British Isles,” the application said.
The Frankfurt flight reestablished a direct connection between St. Louis and a major European city for the first time since 2003, when a direct flight to London ended.
Michael Boyd, a Colorado-based aviation consultant, said the addition of direct service to St. Louis makes sense for the British airline.
“They’re after the American business traffic,” Boyd said. “They want what St. Louis can deliver.”
In addition to drawing passengers from companies operating in the St. Louis metro area, he said, British Airways also can use its Lambert link to bring in customers from other industrial markets in the Midwest.
“It’s going to do very well,” Boyd predicted, adding that “they should have been there two years ago.”
He said Lambert should be able to draw additional European service in coming years. He said Air France should be a possibility.
“They should plan on more announcements like this,” he said of St. Louis area officials.
The addition of the London flights comes as Lambert continues to plan a $2.8 billion revamp.
The overhaul calls for the airport’s two passenger terminals to be consolidated into one larger rebuilt facility and other major changes.
British Airways started selling tickets Wednesday for the new flight to London.
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Jack Suntrup | Post-Dispatch
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