OpenSkies

OpenSkies

IATA EC ICAO BOS Callsign MISTRAL
Founded	2008
Hubs	Orly Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Executive Club
Airport lounge	Terraces Lounge
Alliance	Oneworld (affiliate)
Fleet size	3
Destinations	3
Company slogan	The transatlantic airline, par excellence
Parent company	British Airways International Airlines Group
Headquarters	Rungis, France
Key people	Patrick Malval (Chief Executive Officer)
Website	www.flyopenskies.com

OpenSkies is a transatlantic airline owned by British Airways (BA), and is headquartered in Rungis, Paris.^[1] The airline launched as a brand of BA European Limited in June 2008 but in April 2009 the name was transferred to Elysair (which had operated as L'Avion). The airline is a full-service carrier and offers three class service cabins on board its aircraft.^[2] It has a fleet of three Boeing 757-200, of which it owns two and leases the third from BA.

The airline currently operates between Paris-Orly Airport in France and both Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in the United States.^[3] Potential future routes for the airline include Dublin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Brussels, Rome, and Milan.^[4] The Amsterdam-JFK route was dropped in August 2009 due to weak customer demand.^[5] In December 2009, the airline announced a change of its New York operations: in January 2010, all OpenSkies flights were shifted from JFK to Newark.^[6] The airline restored service from JFK to Orly on 31 March 2013.^[7]

History

OpenSkies' first aircraft, G-BPEK

British Airways wanted to reduce the over-dependence on their Heathrow Airport hub by flying between the United States and cities in continental Europe.^[8] The bypass was only able to be done after the open skies treaty between the United States and the European Union would allow any airline to fly between airports in the two continents starting in March 2008.

The first flight, from New York, was on 19 June 2008, using a single Boeing 757 transferred from the BA fleet.

In July 2008 BA bought French airline L'Avion for £54 million.^[9] The operations of BA European merged into L'Avion on 4 April 2009, which became BA OpenSkies.

On 24 July 2009, the airline announced that the route from New York-JFK to Amsterdam Schiphol would be suspended as of 16 August, due to economic reasons.^[10] On 30 September the airline announced that the Washington to Paris service would be suspended from 29 October.^[11]

Service

The new airline was initially rumoured to be planning business-class-only flights, with the first flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to Orly Airport in Paris.^[12] However, the airline changed its plans to include a very small five row section of economy class seats in the rear of the aircraft in addition to premium economy and business class seats. In October 2008 the economy section was eliminated in favour of more premium economy seating.^[13] With the integration of L'Avion, the Prem+ section was changed to 'Biz Seat', making the airline a business-class-only airline.

The third destination for Openskies was Amsterdam, when flights began on 15 October 2008, and Newark became an additional destination when L'Avion was integrated into OpenSkies on 4 April 2009.

OpenSkies joined the Oneworld alliance as an affiliate member on 1 December 2012, of which parent British Airways is a founding member. British Airways Executive Club members are able to claim tier points and BA miles on OpenSkies flights.

The airline announced a codesharing agreement with American Airlines which will put American's "AA" code on its flights between Paris and Newark.^[14]

Destinations

Fleet

Boeing 757 landing at Frankfurt Airport

OpenSkies operates a single type of aircraft, the Boeing 757-200.^[16] British Airways transferred one Boeing 757 G-BPEK for the start of operations, with an additional aircraft G-BPEJ transferred in December 2008. All of OpenSkies' aircraft are fitted with blended winglets to increase range, improve fuel efficiency and decrease CO
2 emissions. The cabin on all the aircraft is divided into two sections which together provide seating for 64 or 84 passengers depending on configuration.^[2] L'Avion's fleet of two 757s was converted to OpenSkies' specifications and transferred into the fleet.

The fleet retains the British Airways tail fin logo, but features a grey underbelly instead of the dark blue that features on British Airways aircraft. The engine nacelle is painted silver while the winglets are painted red further distinguishing OpenSkies from British Airways.^[2] The first Boeing 757 G-BPEK was named Lauren after OpenSkies' code-name prior to launch, Project Lauren. This aircraft has subsequently been re-registered to F-GPEK. The other two aircraft in the fleet are named Gloria F-HAVN and Violette F-HAVI. G-BPEJ was sold to Privateair in August 2012.^[17]

In February 2009, British Airways announced that they would not transfer additional 757s to its OpenSkies subsidiary by the end of 2009, as originally planned, but instead would sell them to a third party. OpenSkies was originally to expand to six aircraft by the end of 2009, but BA said this plan had been cancelled.^[18]

Approvals

The routes that OpenSkies intends to fly are only possible because of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, which permits any American or European airline to operate services to and from any European or American location. The availability of landing slots limits the impact of the agreement at certain airports, such as London Heathrow Airport.^[20]

BA European Limited, trading as Openskies, holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. This permits the airline to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.^[21] The operating licence was suspended on May 6, 2009 for three months following the transfer of the name to Elysair, at BA European's request.^[22]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to OpenSkies.

• Official website
• Official Blog

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