BA subsidiary OpenSkies to go all-business

British Airways' subsidiary OpenSkies has announced the removal of all economy seats on its aircraft.

The changes will come into effect on October 1 on the airline’s Paris to New York (JFK) route.

OpenSkies currently features 28 seats in premium economy, 24 in business class and five rows of seats in economy class. The economy class section will now make way for 12 additional seats in premium economy (PREM+).

"Since our launch, we have had a tremendously positive reception to our PREM+ service," said Dale Moss, Managing Director of OpenSkies.

This seating configuration will also be used on the carrier's second service, between Amsterdam and New York, which launches on October 15.

The decision follows BA's announcement earlier this year that it plans to launch a business class-only service between London City Airport and New York.

The service will offer 32 fully-reclining seats, although a re-fuelling stop will be necessary in Shannon, due to restrictions on the size of the planes able to use the runway at London City.

BA is confident of the viability of its business-class only service, despite the failure of previous premium carriers such as Silverjet, Maxjet and Eos.

"Previous business-class airlines were stand-alone companies. BA has an existing infrastructure that offers solidity," said Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the carrier.

BA is expected to announce the full details of its London City - New York service in the next week.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

British Airways buying French airline L'Avion

British Airways said Wednesday it will purchase French airline L'Avion, which flies between Paris and New York City's Newark airport, in a 54 million pound (US$108 million) deal.

L'Avion, which is privately owned, operates two Boeing 757 aircraft.

British Airways said L'Avion would become part of its OpenSkies subsidiary, which began flying from the European continent to the U.S. in June.

"L'Avion is a successful airline that has built up a premium business between Orly and New York in a relatively short period of time," said Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive.

"It has many synergies with OpenSkies and buying it provides OpenSkies with a larger schedule and an established customer base in the Paris-New York market."

iht.com