OpenSkies to fly to New York from Orly

Monday 12 May 2008

Airline & Airport Updates

British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies will begin transatlantic flights between Paris Orly and New York JFK on June 19th, the company has announced.

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has cleared OpenSkies to run the route and the company is hoping to get official US approval in the near future.

Writing on his official blog, Dale Moss, OpenSkies' managing director, also announced that contrary to earlier plans the flights would depart from Orly and not rival Paris airport Charles de Gaulle (CDG).

Dale Moss said of the move: "We chose Orly because it is more conveniently located to the centre of Paris and offers faster access to and from the city than CDG.

"The distance from Orly to central Paris is roughly 19km or 12 miles, whereas the distance from CDG to central Paris is roughly 28km or 17 miles. Five miles can make all the difference – especially in rush hour."

It was also announced that the route will be run under a code share agreement with French airline L'Avion.

A BA spokesman told businesstravelworld that the codeshare with L'Avion is a first stage in a longer term agreement. "We are looking at deepening our relationship with them," she said.