United will cease flying to Newark on October 5, following American Airlines, which quit flying from Birmingham to JFK in January after only a year.
A Birmingham airport spokesperson told TTG: “We are in negotiations with another airline, we are hoping to secure a non-stop route shortly. We are negotiating two non-stop routes to the US.”
She added: “We are pretty certain about it, it’s in the final stages of being agreed, it should be announced by the end of the month.”
Budget airline Norwegian denied it was about to step in to fill the gap. A spokesperson for the airline said: “We have only short-haul flights from Birmingham and have no plans for long-haul.”
Until a non-stop service returns, United’s departure means the most logical way for Birmingham travellers to reach New York will be via Dublin with Aer Lingus or Reykjavik with Icelandair. Air France and KLM also offer connections.
United blamed poor financial performance for the loss of the route. It will also suspend flights from Glasgow and Shannon to Newark next winter. Shannon-Newark will cease on November 26 and return on March 10 2018. Glasgow-Newark stops on October 29 and resumes on May 5.
