Also sets Amsterdam as next destination from JFK

British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies Airlines, which started flying in June between New York JFK and Paris Orly, announced that it will add service on October 15 between JFK and Amsterdam Schiphol. Other transatlantic destinations from JFK being considered, the airline said, include Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan. OpenSkies will initially operate one daily roundtrip to Amsterdam, with overnight service on the eastbound leg. OpenSkies will use a 757 that it said will offer “the only true lie-flat beds in business class on the Amsterdam-New York route.” Meanwhile, OpenSkies said that it intends to reconfigure its 757s from three classes to two, eliminating the 30 economy-class seats and expanding the premium economy cabin, branded as PREM+, from the current 28 seats to 40. The airline’s PREM+ seats offer a 140-degree recline and 52 inches of pitch. The reconfiguration will leave the airline’s 757s with a total of 64 seats each, including 40 PREM+ and 24 in business class, with fully-flat beds and 73-inch pitch. The reconfiguration will take effect October 1 on the JFK-Orly route. BA also announced that it has completed its previously announced purchase of French all-business-class airline L’Avion, which flies between Newark and Paris Orly twice a day with specially-configured 757s. L’Avion and OpenSkies currently have a code-sharing arrangement, but BA said it eventually will integrate L’Avion into OpenSkies.