Nashville Lands Non-Stop London Flight

NASHVILLE, TN — British Airways will start non-stop service between London and Nashville in May 2018, Gov. Bill Haslam, Mayor Megan Barry and airline officials announced Tuesday. The flight will operate five days a week between Nashville International Airport and London's Heathrow Airport.

It marks the first non-stop flight from Nashville to Europe since American Airlines ceased its Nashville-to-London service in 1995.

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British Airways said the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will serve the route, which begins officially May 4. The Dreamliner seats 214 and has fully reclining seats in first class and will include complimentary in-flight entertainment, meals and drinks throughout.

The Nashville-to-London leg will leave the Music City at 8:20 PM and arrive in London at 10:30 AM, with the return flight leaving London at 3:45 PM and landing in Nashville at 6:50 PM.

Barry said the airport will add a state-of-the-art international arrivals terminal.

The mayor noted that, appropriate to Nashville's reputation as Music City, local rock band Kings of Leon hosted British Airways officials at Hyde Park in London as part of the city's push to land the flight. Convention and visitors' bureau chief Butch Spyridon said that a number of musical acts, including Keith Urban, Peter Frampton and members of the cast of the TV show "Nashville" are on a social-media campaign to spread the word about the forthcoming flight.

Coincidentally, according to legend, it was Queen Victoria who gave Nashville its famous sobriquet, telling Fisk's Jubilee Singers in 1875 that their voices were so beautiful, they must come from a musical city.

Image via Wikimedia user BriYYZ, used under Creative Commons