France’s LaCompagnie shuts premium UK route on Brexit concern

French business class-only airline LaCompagnie announced plans to halt flights between London and the New York area as a result of the UK’s vote to quit the European Union, just days after British Airways said it was reducing its own premium service between the cities. LaCompagnie will cease its four-times weekly operations between Luton, northwest of London, and Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 25, after beginning the service in April last year, it said Monday in a statement. BA is reducing its own business-only operation from London City airport to New York John F. Kennedy International to one daily flight from two at the end of next month. The French carrier is responding to a lack of long-term visibility following the Brexit vote, it said, even though the Luton flights had recently been operating with a healthy 77% load factor. “Despite the positive returns the airline was getting from British and American customers on the route, the position of LaCompagnie remained fragile,” the airline said. Capacity freed up by quitting the UK will be used to add a second daily flight to Newark from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on some days starting Oct. 25, it said. Passengers who had been booked to fly to or from Luton will be reimbursed or can switch their flights to Paris at no extra cost.<br/>