BA reportedly plans to unveil premium-class transatlantic subsidiary

According to The New York Times, British Airways is expected to announce this week the creation of a new “mini-airline” that will start flying transatlantic in May, using a 757 “configured mostly with premium-class seats.” The newspaper said the new operation, code-named Project Lauren within the company, will bypass BA’s London hub and instead will fly non-stop between Newark or JFK and a European capital like Paris or Brussels. BA officials in recent months have made no secret of their desire to begin new non-stop service between the U.S. and the Continent, but details have been sketchy. The London bypass would be made possible by the new Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and European Union, which takes effect at the end of March 2008. In fact, the Times said that BA is considering calling its new operation Open Skies Airlines. Virgin Atlantic is also expected to launch a transatlantic all-premium division within the next couple of years.