Although it’s no secret that British Airways has been looking to expand in the transatlantic market, the airline made an announcement yesterday that it is starting an “airline within an airline”. OpenSkies, as the new entity is called, will start flying in June with a single Boeing 757-200 from New York to either Paris or Brussels. Another 757 is planned to join the fleet later this year, with six aircraft in all by 2009. In a statement, Willie Walsh, BA CEO, said that "by naming the airline OpenSkies, we're celebrating the first major step in 60 years towards a liberalized US/EU aviation market which means we can fly between any US and EU destination”. Future cities will probably include Milan, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Madrid.
This is a smart move on BA’s part – the Open Skies agreement signed between the US and the EU would add a lot of pressure at BA’s London Heathrow hub. Currently, only United Airlines, American Airlines, BA, and Virgin Atlantic can fly from the US into Heathrow, but this is expected to change soon as more US carriers add the airport. It’s also a smart idea that British Airways decided to buck the “premium transatlantic” trend that pushed MaxJet into bankruptcy last month – OpenSkies will have business class, premium economy, and economy class (each with 24, 28 and 30 seats, respectively). But BA isn’t alone in this area – British carrier bmi, Delta Air Lines, and Air France/KLM are all expected to follow suit with Heathrow-US routes.
5 comments:
I have just booked a flight with BA and have been charged an additional £30 as i accidentally made a typo on spelling the last name of a friends name wrong.
All i can say is that your company is a thieving bunch of cretins with no morals what so ever. I am disgraced that as a frequent flyer and user of the airline on a regular basis that i would be treated like this. My company spends many many thousands of pounds a year on your services and we will be doing our absolute best to never ever use you again.
I really hope that your shambles of a company gets exactly what it deserves, being led by Willy Walsh one of the most incompetent men on the planet i'm sure this wont be an issue.
Is anyone out there having a problem getting a refund from BA due to the Eruption in April 2010?
Yeh I'm having problems with the refund. BA keep delaying, using every possible excuse not to pay. Like the guy above I will now use other airlines where possible.
I've just had to pay £30 for a typo after calling them immediately. VERY ANNOYING!!!
Easy Jet and other budget airlines change this for free... they could give you a 24 hour grace period.
I agree with "All i can say is that your company is a thieving bunch of cretins" since (a) they charge USD 275 as a date change fee (+ change of far) --- the change of fare I understand, but a change fee of almost 300$$$, pure extortion!! esp when there is no change of fare on the change I'm checking on!! (b) no where on the website does BA list its change fees - it lists its service fees which are pretty much zero everywhere as per the website for changes through a contact centre (but not zero when you speak to the contact centre person). All I can say is BA is one big large scam that is extorting the public to pay the unions.
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