British Airways has re-launched its daily Gatwick to New York service and believes offers big advantages to Kent business people.

Despite the credit crunch and BA's plans to cut flights from Gatwick by 15 per cent involving the loss of more than 100 jobs, the airline believes there is still strong demand for transatlantic travel.

The falling value of the pound against the dollar should make it more attractive for Kent firms to do business in the United States, and recent seminars in the county have encouraged businesses to explore the American market.

The open skies policy introduced earlier in the year led to many airlines concentrating their services into Heathrow but BA believes Gatwick will be an attractive alternative for business and leisure.

A BA spokesman said: "The launch of the Gatwick-New York service is strategically very important to British Airways. We already serve New York with several flights a day from Heathrow, but now passengers on this side of the M25 have easy access to a key transatlantic destination.

"Gatwick serves a wide area from Kent to Sussex and beyond and the launch of the new route has been very well received by our customers, particularly from the business community.

"We hope Kent business travellers will continue to support the new route and take advantage of the ease of journey through Gatwick.

"With well-timed daily flights and the advantage of flat beds in the British Airways premium cabins they are able to fly home overnight from New York and arrived refreshed to still manage a full business day in Kent."

BA hopes to reduce its Gatwick workforce by voluntary redundancy. The flag carrier is in talks about a possible merger with Qantas, the Australian airline, and Spanish operator Iberia.