British Airways has further increased its transatlantic network with the launch of a new service from London Heathrow to Portland in Oregon.

The new route, which operates five times per week, was introduced on Friday (3 June) and is the only direct service between London and the US city. British Airways has also relaunched its Heathrow to Pittsburgh route, with flights to San Jose in California due to resume on 13 June.

Other moves see the airline launching a new daytime flight from Newark to London to meet increased demand from business travellers on Monday (6 June). There are now three daily services on this key corporate route.

In another sign of returning transatlantic demand, BA will be flying the Airbus A380 to more destinations in North America including Chicago and Vancouver, plus Dallas Fort Worth from 1 July.

Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ director of networks and alliances said: “This summer British Airways will be flying from 26 US cities to London and we’re very excited to be adding Portland to our list of transatlantic destinations. 

“Not only are we the only airline to offer direct flights from Portland to London, but this new route also opens a wide variety of connections for our customers.”

BA customers flying to Portland will be able to use codeshare connections with Alaska Airlines, which is also a member of the oneworld airline alliance.