Thirteen years after San Diego International Airport (SAN) began offering daily flights between San Diego and London on British Airways, the route has become so popular that British Airways is increasing the frequency from one flight per day to two.
Since 2011, British Airways has served about 2 million passengers traveling between San Diego and Europe. The market for this flight has grown 50 percent from 2019 to 2023.
While London is the final destination for roughly 60 percent of the passengers flying this route, 40 percent connect to other cities, including Edinburgh, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Cairo, Rome, and Mumbai.
“We are looking forward to giving passengers on both sides of the Atlantic more options to fly nonstop between San Diego and Europe, while providing the same comfort and convenience of the popular route with British Airways that we already offer,” said Kimberly Becker, President and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
Adding this second daily flight, which began April 20, is expected to help SAN attract some of the local San Diego-area passengers who choose to fly to London from other nearby airports. The second daily flight is seasonal and will end Oct. 25.
“We are delighted to launch this second daily flight from San Diego, further supporting the growth of business and leisure travel in the city and demonstrating our commitment to the region,” said Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer.
With this second daily flight, the current flights will be retimed, arriving in San Diego from London at 6:10 p.m. and departing San Diego for London at 8 p.m. The new second flight will arrive in San Diego at 3:25 p.m. and depart for London at 5:15 p.m.
The route will be served by the airline’s Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft.
