The addition of the newest international route at Louis Armstrong International Airport puts New Orleans firmly on the map of direct international destinations for both business and leisure travelers, NOLABA President/CEO Quentin Messer writes:

With British Airlines’ arrival in New Orleans, impact on city ‘cannot be overstated,’ business leader says

The British have indeed arrived! The addition of the newest international route at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport puts New Orleans firmly on the map of direct international destinations for both business and leisure travelers.

British Airways (BA) strongly enhanced New Orleans’ global reputation and opened the door for greater business connectivity to the United Kingdom and other economic centers in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. We congratulate the New Orleans Aviation Board, the City of New Orleans, GNO, Inc., and Louisiana Economic Development on this collective accomplishment. Direct BA flights to London make international commerce easier for local companies and add a new economic development tool in our regional toolkit, particularly, as we pursue greater growth for our incumbent companies and seek to compete more successfully for national and regional headquarter relocations.

NOLA-London nonstop flights begin in time for Collision 2017, American’s fastest growing tech conference, which arrived in New Orleans earlier this year and welcomed over 4,000 international visitors.

For our growing entrepreneurial community, this nonstop opens the door for potential investment and interest from Europe and beyond. For more mature businesses, it means improved access to customers, suppliers and partners of all kinds, enhancing our region’s ability to retain these companies at home. This flight, alongside those of Copa and Condor, bolsters the connectivity of New Orleans’ life sciences and health care delivery innovators and becomes additional wind beneath the wings of the region’s expanding medical tourism.

New Orleans is a global brand. Making it easier for the world to visit and invest here, especially as the city’s Tricentennial nears, cannot be overstated. As work on the new North Terminal continues, we celebrate this tremendous regional “touchdown.” But, as Coach Sean Payton would say, we face ‘a long season’ of creating more inclusive and sustained economic growth for our city and region. Today, let’s raise a celebratory Pimm’s and lemonade! At NOLABA, we are thrilled to welcome British Airways to our region, and will redouble our efforts to ensure more New Orleans businesses are equipped to take full advantage of the opportunities this new connectivity creates.

Quentin L. Messer

President and CEO, New Orleans Business Alliance

Read the original letter published by The Advocate 

Read more coverage of British Airways’ new NOLA-London nonstop flights from NOLA.com and The Advocate.