BA Broadens its Base

Look out for a new British Airways serving the US from continental Europe in June. The new carrier will be called OpenSkies, in a nod to the signing of the U.S.-European Union Open Skies deal of last April. The agreement takes effect on March 30.

BA said the first OpenSkies route will be between JFK and either Paris or Brussels. They hope to include a second aircraft by year-end to serve the remaining of those Francophile destinations. The carrier intends to operate six 757s by the end of 2009.

OpenSkies will fly three classes: business, with 24 lie-flat seats; premium economy, with 28 seats with a 52" pitch; and economy, with 30 seats.

When the Open Skies agreement goes into action Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and US Airways will all fly to Heathrow for the first time.

Virgin Atlantic had announced that it too would launch a business-class carrier between the continental Europe and the US. However, Virgin decided to scrap those plans, out of a fear that Open Skies may collapse in 2010. A second phase is called for by this is the date.