Virgin Atlantic at Port Stanley Airport, and the time it would take to improve it, would render a route to the Falklands commercially unviable, thus the idea of such a service was dropped. In its place, Hellary and Fields commenced efforts to secure a licence to operate a route Gatwick Airport, London and John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City. During May 1983, a three-day inquiry was conducted, which chose to reject the application following objections from British Airways, British Caledonian and BAA. Hellary and Fields then applied for a licence between Gatwick and Newark, New Jersey, using a 380-seat McDonnell
Newark Liberty International Airport aircraft. Newark was the only New York area airport used by Philippine Airlines (PAL), until financial problems in the late 1990s caused it to terminate this service. In March 2015, PAL resumed service to the New York metropolitan area routing to JFK Airport, and will not return to Newark, following the removal of the Philippines from the air safety blacklist of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced intentions to resume direct nonstop service between Newark and its main hub at Singapore Changi Airport. For a time, the dates were not yet announced, but the Airbus