From today (October 27), London City Airport (LCY) will receive up to 5,000 more seats a week from Dublin when British Airways and FlyBe join Cityjet on the Dublin to London route.

British Airways commenced a five-a-day service from Dublin to London City Airport yesterday using a mix of Embraer 170 and 190 jets.

Willie Walsh (pictured), the Dublin-born chief executive of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, said: “[The DUB-LCY route] complements our existing London Heathrow service and the excellent schedule means customers will have plenty of choice whether flying for business or leisure.”

The airline hopes to attract business travellers with an early morning departure from Dublin (07:00).

Regional airline FlyBe’s new service launches today.  The airline is also targeting business travellers with four daily flights starting at 07:00 as well.

Dublin’s US immigration pre-clearance facilities are an attractive feature for westbound travellers in Britain.  FlyBe recently signed an interline deal with Aer Lingus that allows travellers from Britain to connect on the Irish carrier’s transatlantic services using the same ticket.

However, FlyBe chief executive Saad Hammad has suggested the airline will not immediately target this niche.

Another Dublin native, Declan Collier, CEO of LCY, naturally welcomed the two new routes.

“Our vision to position LCY as the airport of choice for both business and leisure passengers has received a huge boost as a result of this news,” he said.  “We believe that the increased capacity on the route is good news for passengers, offering more choice of when and how to travel.  And I can’t deny that I privately welcome the news as it greatly enhances my own options for flying back home to Ireland.”

The route will now be serviced by 15 daily flights from three three airlines.