British Airways to launch transatlantic service, OpenSkies, in June

British Airways will launch its new transatlantic subsidiary, OpenSkies, in June this year with daily flights from New York JFK to Brussels and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The service will be launched with a single Boeing 757 that will carry up to 82 passengers in a three-class configuration of business, premium economy and economy sections.

BA's choice of name for the new carrier reflects the pending liberalization of the US/EC aviation market, effective March 31 this year, which will allow carriers from either side of the Atlantic to access any destination within the US or EC provided slots are available.

Though OpenSkies will commence services with a single aircraft it plans to add a second later on in the year with a total of six aircraft in the fleet by the end of 2009.

Former BA director sales (worldwide), Dale Moss, has been appointed managing director of OpenSkies.

The subsidiary will look to expand services to cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid and Amsterdam, eventually.