I toured the most iconic British Airways jet since the Concorde just before its abrupt retirement. See inside the plane that shuttled VIP flyers between New York and London.

Thomas PalliniAug 5, 2020, 21:48 IST

A British Airways Airbus A318 aircraft.Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

British Airways just retired its exclusive all-business class jet that only served the incredibly lucrative London-New York route.
The single Airbus A318 used for the service stretched only eight rows and was fitted with luxurious lie-flat business class seats.
With 32 seats in total, the aircraft is more like a private jet that used London's smaller City Airport to directly connect the Big Apple with the UK capital's financial district.

British Airways just dealt another blow to its premium customers by retiring its all-business class aircraft offered on the billion-dollar London-New York route, the airline's flagship.

The service was operated by a VIP-configured Airbus A318 aircraft, the only one of its kind in the British Airways fleet when its retirement was announced in July, and boasted enhanced convenience and luxury to the business travelers that frequented the route. With capacity for only 32 passengers in a premium-configuration, it was the closest thing to a private jet in the airline world.

Launched six years after the Concorde's retirement, the service once again solidified British Airways as the route's go-to premium carrier and was the new crown jewel of the airline's transatlantic offering. While heavy-hitters like the Boeing 777 and now-retired Boeing 747 still dominated the route, the smaller and more exclusive A318 service catered to the airline's top spenders with a direct link between New York City and London's financial district.

It was also a bucket list flight for many aviation enthusiasts since the A318 was already itself a rare aircraft on which to fly, let alone on a transatlantic journey and in an all-business class configuration.

Take a look inside the most exclusive aircraft to connect New York and London since the Concorde.

Most people traveling between New York and London on British Airways before the pandemic found themselves either flying on a Boeing 747-400...

A British Airways Boeing 747-400 at JFK Airport. Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

Or Boeing 777-200.

A British Airways Boeing 777. Reuters

The two make up the majority of flights flying the $1 billion route between the two economic hubs but most don't know about the third aircraft that flew British Airways' top clients: the Airbus A318.

A British Airways Airbus A318 aircraft. Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

The two make up the majority of flights flying the $1 billion route between the two economic hubs but most don't know about the third aircraft that flew British Airways' top clients: the Airbus A318.

The smallest member of the Airbus A320 family, the A318 was a commercial flop for Airbus that only saw a handful of customers, mostly in Europe.

An Airbus A318 aircraft in house colors. Regis Duvignau/Reuters

The aircraft is out of production and though British Airways was among the last and smallest operators of the type, it made the aircraft an icon in transatlantic aviation by flying it between New York and London.

A British Airways Airbus A318 aircraft. Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

The aircraft is out of production and though British Airways was among the last and smallest operators of the type, it made the aircraft an icon in transatlantic aviation by flying it between New York and London.