British Airways prepares for OpenSkies take-off
The new British Airways (BA) subsidiary OpenSkies will launch its inaugural flight between Paris and New York later today (Thursday, June 19).
OpenSkies will operate daily flights between JFK and Paris Orly Airport, marking BA's first move into direct services between the U.S. and continental Europe.
Willie Walsh, British Airways' Chief Executive, said: "This is an exciting new chapter in our history as, for the first time, we will be flying directly between continental Europe and the U.S.
"We are confident that OpenSkies will have a successful future. It will benefit from British Airways' experience in the transatlantic market and have the ability to be innovative and respond quickly to changing customer demands."
The airline was created after the U.S.-E.U. Open Skies agreement was brokered to increase the number of flights between the two continents.
BA has said that a second Boeing 757 will join the OpenSkies fleet later this year, with six planes expected to operate by the end of 2009.
Other planned destinations from New York include Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan.
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