Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 19:58:54 on Tue, 17 Jan
2017, John Levine remarked:
https://50skyshades.com/news/business-aviation/bliss-jet-to-launch-laguardia-to-london-private-jet-service-in-january

This looks like the next dead cert failure.

This looks like vapourware. It says the New York end of the flights
will be at the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia airport, correctly
noting that it's considerably closer to midtown Manhattan than either
JFK or Newark.

But LaGuardia is a domestic airport. It has no customs or immigration
facilities and its only international flights are from Canada, where
flights are precleared. It seems rather unlikely that the US would set
up a preclearance station at Stansted.

Does it say the flights are non-stop?

I'm pretty sure they're non-stop.


Perhaps they'll clear customs/immigration en-route, as BA does at
Shannon for its flights from London City Airport.

No need. LGA already handles long haul business jets, providing customs and
immigration facilities, just as are available at many other small airports
used by private jets. Just because they aren't provided for larger
commercial jets doesn't stop them being available for small business jets
carrying a handful of people, whose identities will already have been
notified.

Presumably they have to be pre-booked, to ensure that the staff are
available. For example, I don't think the Harrods terminal at Luton is busy
enough to have full-time customs and immigration staff, but they come over
when needed.

Also, many private jet flights are not physically checked. Like boats, they
notify customs, but if the passengers say they have nothing to declare,
customs may choose to accept their declaration without physically being
present, just as most pax going through the green channel aren't stopped.
Presumably they need, at most, one immigration officer, but perhaps even
that may not be needed.


As for the business model - perhaps they have one (or two) customers who
have commissioned a regular trip, and this is a way of selling a few
more seats on the plane?

Unlikely, I'd have thought. Surely regular passengers would rather fly
first class from Heathrow, or on the existing LCY JFK flights? And people
who routinely use business jets won't want to share them with strangers. A
packed business jet will be less comfortable than a commercial flight.