It looks like British Airways’ next destination in the United States may be… Indianapolis?!
Continue reading: British Airways Wants To Fly To Indianapolis
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Indy based flyer here.
Delta had a IND-CDG flight pre-COVID which was very popular. DL used a 767 for the service, which was initially supported by the State of Indiana but ultimately supported itself. BA may be trying to get ahead of DL in establishing a European gateway. There are a few multinational companies here who used the DL flight extensively and would probably do the same with a BA flight.
Does this mean BA would put a lounge in? American doesn't have a lounge at IND for BA to share.
Indianapolis has a GREAT airport, so it could easily support this. I used to live in Indy and it's frustrating flying overseas because you always have to fly to DTW, ATL, ORD, etc. first, and that adds time and annoyance, not to mention expense. With zero competition I am sure this flight will not be cheap, but it's a good option. I have several Indiana friends who went to Paris when Delta started its direct flight, so there is definitely some demand there, and I know the typical Hoosier would be much more interested in visiting England than they would France, so I think this flight would do reasonably well, if priced correctly.
I would love to see an IAG airline fly to CLT. We have many AA flights to Europe but the more options the better.
Remember Portland was the next big U.S. destination? That was dropped in June 2020 before it started.
Disruptive and violent events over the past year or so made it an undesirable destination for business or leisure travel, so perhaps BA went looking elsewhere. Why not Indianapolis?
Very unlikely.
In secondary US destinations where AA doesn't have a lounge, or 3rd-party lounge hours aren't conducive to use; then BA's solution has been to hand out meal/drink vouchers to whatever the nicest eatery/winery in the airport is, to their premium passengers.
If they launch IND, that's more than likely what'll happen there.
There is a good amount of Asian American population in the indianapolis metro area. This will be great addition. My family used delta flight to Paris for one stop connection to india
Having used CDG to IND before I found it easy to clear customs there. With current UK to IND flights being very expensive compared to UK to ORD flights they can charge a small premium without much issue. Just wonder what they mean by summer at the moment.
IND has some incredibly good restaurants, they chose a lot of great local places to put outposts at the airport instead of the usual chains, and it's an absolute delight. I'd take a Harry & Izzy's meal voucher over lounge access any day.
Love seeing international expansion from the midwest. I'm hoping some airlines will start to pick up on Cincinnati or Columbus too. Delta just announced they're bringing back their CVG-CDG service next August, and it'd be cool to see another route or two across the Atlantic added. KLM service to Amsterdam would be cool, or Delta/BA adding a London flight could open up a lot of connection opportunities. Columbus feels like more of a stretch, but they have decently sized Indian, Somali, and Ghanaian populations, and both airports are about an hour away from Dayton as well.
....Gee, just imagine how air service to D.C. would've been curtailed it it weren't for a brave & resilient multi-agency LEO response to a disruptive event that occurred on January 6th, 2021. Imagine if that event had escalated into a multi-day affair.
In other words, Michael, to hell with your undertones.
I find it surprising. I wonder if AA has a large FF base in IND (that's just one of the reasonings AA is using for their ongoing Austin expansion; though obviously AUS is also growing through the roof....Indy, by comparison?)? You'd think cities like St Louis or Kansas City had larger AA FF bases given their place in AA/TWA history, and comparable populations.
Anyways, glad to see the US Midwest getting some international airline interest. Grew up in KC...
I’d love this to happen as I fly to the UK 2-3 times a year to see my family and have to get a flight from Indie to Chicago with quite a long layover. Please please please!!!!!!
Does IND have port authority center? To interview international travellers and provide I94 with a stamp?
Local here...This has been planned by the business community and state of Indiana for a while. The presence of Eli Lilly and Rolls Royce Aviation in Indy is what makes this possible. They both have considerable travel volumes between Europe and Indy.
A few months ago, I was on an AA flight that had to divert to Indianapolis due to weather. AA does not have a full-service ground team and support for a diverted flight was wanting. But, the entire airport seems "small town" -- all services (staff, restaurants, etc.) within the terminal effectively shut down when the sun goes down.
Add to that, there is no One World affiliated lounge. There is a sports bar in the middle of one terminal that is affiliated with Priority Pass . . . but it shuts down with everything else. Logistically, a very odd choice.
This is a good development. There are several IT (Salesforce), pharmaceutical (Eli Lilly) and manufacturing giants (Cummins, Rolls Royce) located in Indiana. Until now, most have had to travel to use O'Hare (air or car) as their Int'l hub. Indiana has one of the highest population of international students at some of the most prestigious R1 institutions (Purdue, IU, Notre Dame) in the country. BA will surely capitalize on this seasonal traffic as well. Having lived around the greater Indy area for a while, my experiences in flying into and out of IND have always been pleasant; efficient, fast, clean and courteous. This is a good regional Int'l airport and a fantastic development!
@Lucky - I have mentioned this in an earlier post. Please treat it as constructive criticism. It helps to do a little research on the commercial and strategic interests, especially in regions you are frankly unfamiliar with, before using sarcasm ("...Indianapolis?") or providing your take. It's your blog so it doesn't matter to me what you write, but I think a little research around an action would make a stronger article and provide more weight to your conclusions. Just my two cents.
I believe that this filing also includes the restart to Calgary.
Anybody know when this would be likely to start?
Thanking you in anticipation.
BA may be looking at this as a toe in the water experiment, 5 a week service, probably with a B787.
They would not want to dilute the LHR ORD service just up the road, but also probably will use it to connect to AA which has about 40 flights a day out of IND.
I keep holding out that MCI (KCI to locals, though technically incorrect from an IATA perspective) will get something beyond Toronto and various Mexico destinations. Alas, ORD/ATL/DFW are a short hop away so I'm not so sure they'll start adding long-haul international flights any time soon...even with that brand new terminal.
IND is international primarily as a freight destination. It get daily FEDEX flights from Asia and Europe. Seasonal service to Mexico and year-round flights to Toronto are also available but it’s Customs for international freight that is the main reason. BA to LHR would be a major passenger expansion. Hope it happens!
The wife and i live in Indianapolis and travel to England and the continent just about every year. It would be great to have have direct service from our home town.
Delta’s nonstop flights between Indianapolis and Paris (suspended due to the pandemic) exceeded expectations, with the original schedule of three flights a week expanded to five flights per week. I would predict BA’s IND-LHR flight would be equally successful.
Airline lounges are typically located in hub airports so as to allow “members” a refuge from the masses that congest the airport. IND is not a hub, and having been the first US airport built post 9/11 is spacious enough that it is rarely congested with too many people. Plus, Hoosiers are known for their polite hospitality, so why would anyone want to exile themselves in a lounge?
Indy flyer here
this flight would be great for the state. Our previous Paris flight was very successful went from 3x weekly to daily in a little over a year! London has more demand for a European dest from IND! Plus throw in our business community, Eli Lily, Rolls Royce, Anthem ETC. Plus the European race teams we have here. And the Month of May traffic! as well as every October we have a 8 Hour International Endurance race. I attended and asked drivers what was the worst part about the race being here and they all said getting here was a pain due to no Europe Flights. so this would be a big Success!
Yes please for a direct flight to Indy. The airport is beautiful and is never too busy but this would of course change with more direct flights from Europe. Indianapolis is a lovely little city and yes, the people are very friendly. My son lived there and has a Fish and chip shop in the city. It would be nice if there were some flights from Edinburgh or Glasgow for us Scots.
Definitely a great idea. Have family there and we would all use a few times a year.
My wife is from the UK we would definetely support a more direct flight to the UK. I have a big issue with the lack of connection (no pedestrian bridge/tunnel/ moving sidewalk link) between Terminal 5 (international only) and 3 (domestic) forcing passengers to wait 30 minutes out in the -2 degree cold/ 30 mph winds (never again) with lack of shuttle buses when the airport tram train is out of service at O'Hare (this happens every winter) tracks will freeze why build them outside. Until they build the new Gateway terminal at ORD we have decided to give our business to Air Canada from Indy via Toronto (all terminals connected under one roof with moving sidewalks) to UK without changing a single airline. I will not do Newark it's another step down from O'Hare. I think Atlanta is by far the best layed out airport (more organized). There are moving sidewalks parallel to the tram line should the trains break down below ground connecting to any concourse Main-A-E - Intl. (no buses or wating out in that mess). Unfortunately, it is out of the way. Orlando is pretty good but is even more out of the way. If British Airways doesn't fly out of Indy then either way another international carrier like Air Canada will do just fine. It's between Tornoto or London to connect to another UK city no big deal. When Chincago's new Gateway is completed I will return because that design looks awsome with having everything under one roof. IND has plenty of potential. I think it has the best looking terminal in the Midwest. Looks like a modern museum. In the mean time O'Hare needs an over haul as everything is pieced mealed together to some terminals that are down right out dated (with the exception of the United Terminal). However, the new Gateway should change all that.