OpenSkies Airline Approved for Launch

BA Subsidiary will fly from JFK to Paris

OpenSkies, a transatlantic airline from British Airways, has just received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin operations. The new airline will offer flights between Paris’ Orly Airport and New York’s JFK Airport starting in June. This formal approval by the DOT enables OpenSkies to start selling tickets for its services.  The company will start taking bookings next week via its website www.flyopenskies.com or by phone.  OpenSkies will also be available for booking through BA.com and by travel agents using the global distribution systems (GDS) as British Airways codeshare flights.  

OpenSkies says it plans to provide six-foot, fully flat beds and personal entertainment units in business class. Service will initially operate using a Boeing 757; a second Boeing 757 is scheduled to join OpenSkies later this year from the British Airways fleet. There will be six OpenSkies aircraft in total by the end of 2009, according to plans. OpenSkies says it plans to service additional routes from European cities including Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan to New York.

The DOT also approved OpenSkies’ codeshare arrangement with French airline L’Avion, whose code will be placed on OpenSkies’ flights between Orly and JFK.

OpenSkies is the first to be created as a result of the Open Skies agreement, which allows airlines to fly between any U.S. and E.U. destination.