New U.S.-to-Europe subsidiary will bypass London

British Airways formally confirmed plans leaked a week earlier that it will begin a new transatlantic subsidiary this spring to offer non-stop service between the U.S. and continental Europe, bypassing its London home base. However, the new operation will not be an all-premium-class airline as some observers had speculated. It will use 82-passenger 757s with no first class cabin, but with three classes of service: business, premium economy and economy, BA said. The economy section will reportedly include just 30 seats, and about three-fourths of the seating will be business class. The subsidiary will be called OpenSkies, a tribute to the new U.S.-European Union aviation agreement that permits European carriers to operate between the U.S. and any E.U. member country without stopping first in their home country. BA said the first OpenSkies aircraft will start flying in June 2008, flying between New York and either Brussels or Paris CDG. “A second aircraft will be added to the fleet later this year to fly to the other destination,” a BA spokesman said. “The plan is to operate six 757s by the end of 2009, all of which will be sourced from the current British Airways fleet.”