EC BOS Hubs Orly Airport Destinations 3 Headquarters Rungis, France Fleet size 4 | BOS MISTRAL Frequent-flyer program Executive Club Alliance Oneworld (affiliate) Founded 2008 Hub Paris Orly Airport | |
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Company slogan The transatlantic airline, par excellence Parent organizations British Airways, International Airlines Group, British Airways plc (ADR) Profiles | ||
Openskies airways
OpenSkies is a transatlantic airline owned by British Airways (BA) that is headquartered in Rungis near Paris. 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. 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.
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History
British Airways wanted to reduce its dependence on its Heathrow Airport hub by flying between the United States and cities in continental Europe. This only became possible after the open skies treaty between the United States and the European Union came into effect, allowing any airline to fly between airports in the two regions starting in March 2008. The routes that OpenSkies flies are only possible because of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, which permits any American or EU airline to operate services to and from any EU or American location. The availability of landing slots limits the impact of the agreement at certain airports, such as London Heathrow Airport. 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. The operating licence was suspended on 6 May 2009 for three months following the transfer of the name to Elysair, at BA European's request.
OpenSkies' 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. BA European's operations merged with L'Avion on 4 April 2009, forming OpenSkies. In 2008, potential future routes for the airline reportedly included Dublin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Brussels, Rome, and Milan.
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. On 24 July 2009, the airline announced that the route from New York-JFK to Amsterdam Schiphol would be suspended as of 16 August, for economic reasons. On 30 September the airline announced that the Washington to Paris service would be suspended from 29 October.
In December 2009, the airline announced a change of its New York operations: in January 2010, all OpenSkies flights were shifted from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Newark. The airline restored service from JFK to Orly on 31 March 2013. Also in 2013, the airline announced a codesharing agreement with American Airlines which will put American's "AA" code on its flights between Paris and Newark.
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.
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. 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.
Former destinations
Fleet
The OpenSkies fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2016):
The fleet retain the British Airways tail fin logo, but it does not necessarily retain the British Airways navy blue underbelly or paint on the engine nacelles. On aircraft that have them, the winglets are painted red, further distinguishing OpenSkies from British Airways.
In February 2009, British Airways announced that it would not transfer additional 757s to its OpenSkies subsidiary by the end of 2009 beyond the one already transferred, 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.
On 8 April 2016, Openskies announced the addition of a Boeing 767 aircraft in a three-class configuration, transferred from parent British Airways which was retiring its 3-class 767 fleet. The aircraft is assigned to the Newark – Paris-Orly on select days, which also provides OpenSkies with a spare aircraft and entered service in August 2016.