By Sarah Arnott When British Airways' planned flights to New York from London City airport stop in Ireland to refuel, passengers will be allowed to go through US immigration checks in advance, the company said yesterday.

British Airways has reached an agreement to buy French business airline L'Avion for a total consideration of GBP54 million. The cost covers the purchase of the airline and GBP26 million of cash in its business.

By Stephenson, Marissa These small specialty carriers put the "friendly" back in the friendly skies. * BRUSSELS AIRLINES (brusselsairlines.com) Reason to book cheap fares This 2007 upstart flies to more than 50 international cities- like Paris, Rome, and London- and 33 U.S.

By Ritson, Mark They say that things come in threes. We should, therefore, not be surprised that Silverjet has now followed rival airlines Eos and MAXjet into financial difficulties. Things aren't looking good for the British business-class airline.

By Michale Janofsky Bloomberg News Imagine two scales at the airline ticket counter, one for your bags and one for you. The price of a ticket depends upon the weight of both. That may not be so far-fetched.