L'Avion, the last independent transatlantic all business class carrier, just got bought up by British Airways. The backer of the new premium airline OpenSkies directly competed with L'Avion for Paris to New York passengers--until today.
The deal cost BA €68 million ($108 million), though L'Avion had €33 million in cash in the bank. More importantly than eliminating the competition and getting two 757s, OpenSkies will also get L'Avion's landing slots at ORY.
We have two big questions. First, where will the newly-expanded OpenSkies fly? L'Avion served Newark, while the BA offshoot lands at JFK. A company press release mentions "up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and the New York area." The second question: Will OpenSkies make a dime off this deal?
The new carrier OpenSkies successfully began its New York to Paris (ORY) route on June 19, and so far things are going smoothly. The airline seeks to battle increasing operating costs with its unique model of pricey business class seats with a limited economy cabin. Says British Airways CEO Willie Walsh:
While the economic climate has worsened in recent months, we believe that OpenSkies can compete effectively. It has a low cost base and support from British Airways in key areas such as sales and marketing. This differentiates it from some new airlines that have failed recently which were operating in isolation.
First hand trip reports from the inaugural flights have been slow to roll in. But Ben from the One Mile at a Time blog was on that first flight and offers some great pictures and experiences of the Prem+ cabin:
The seat was much wider, at least around the shoulders, which made it easy to get comfortable. I also found the leather to be non-sticky and easy to find a comfortable position in, which is a big plus. Each seat included a very stylish OpenSkies pillow and comfortable blanket. Overall I can't find one thing to fault the seats for, and would find them easy to sleep in.
What fuel prices? British Airways is launching its spin-off carrier OpenSkies on June 19, and fares in the airline's "Prem+" cabin are starting as low as $720 one-way between Paris (ORY) and JFK.
We found a round-trip booking in June for $1,553 all-in, which isn't bad considering cattle class on OpenSkies for the same dates we searched is $1,250. (L'Avion is doing Newark-ORY on those dates for $2,280.)
The Prem+ cabin gets you 52 inch seat pitch, a 140 degree recline and two power plugs per seat. Not that regular economy is bad: With only 30 seats, your chances of sharing the cabin with a screaming infant are drastically reduced.
If you wanna sit in business class, the same dates will cost you $3,662. But you'll kick it with fully flat beds, more leg room than you need and a la carte dining.
Serial publicity hound Richard Branson is headed Down Under later this month to reveal the details on Virgin's latest airline, V Australia.
The start-up is a spin off of Virgin Blue, set to challenge Qantas on flights between Oz and the US before the end of 2008. Interestingly, Branson's visit is timed to coincide with the opening of London Heathrow's Terminal 5--the new home of Virgin rival British Airways.
We're guessing RB won't be taking Kendra Wilkinson along on his trip south, but he won't be hyping V Australia all alone. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes will be in Melbourne too, talking up his new routes to Malaysia.
Air travel in the Asia-Pacific region is non-stop action at the moment. With Asian LCCs forever threatening to expand and governments chipping away at open skies agreements, it almost feels like we'll be able to fly around Australasia for free in a couple of years.
The news this week is an agreement between the Australian and Malaysian governments to allow more seats on flights between the two countries. Until the announcement, the weekly traffic between Oz and Malaysia was around 35,000 seats, but there are now 5,000 more seats with another 3,500 seats allowed from March 2009.
The expansion is likely to encourage budget airlines like Air Asia X to start more routes to Australia and even compete on the domestic market--there are even rumors that they plan to cooperate with Virgin Blue. We are really hanging out for some cheap flights around this region, so watch this space.
Now that Australia and the United States have opened up competition on transpacific routes, V Australia needs some people to actually, you know, fly the planes.
The airline's ordered seven new 777s to fly its initial 10 weekly flights between LAX and Sydney, and it's searching for 280 flight attendants and 100 pilots to join the small team it's already hired. Flights are set to begin in November 2008.
Not content to let V Australia grab all the talent, Qantas hopes to hire 2,000 long-haul flight attendants in the next couple of years. The carrier is offering up a special bonus, too: the chance to work on an A380, which it hopes to have flying between Australia and the US by this summer.
The United States and Australia just finalized a deal to make flying between the two countries easier--and maybe cheaper. The Sydney-LAX route that's been in Qantas' back pocket for all these years will be open to competition, much to the thrill of V Australia, the Virgin Blue offshoot.
Of course not everyone's happy. Singapore Airlines got locked out of the newly open market because the agreement will only allow US and Aussie carriers access. (That was a move to keep the Australian flag carrier happy despite the increased competition it would face.)
Now that everything's official, it's time to start watching the newly open skies. Qantas is hoping to start A380 service on the route and has already announced plans to add more frequency. V Australia will fly 777s when it begins service. No other airlines have announced new transpacific routes, but it's possible we'll hear something soon. As long as it's from an American carrier, that is.
Now that all the American carriers are jumping to provide across-the-pond service, British Airways has finally unveiled its secret Project Lauren. The new name for the new airline-within-an-airline? OpenSkies.
Besides the unfortunately clunky moniker, the outfit promises spacious service from Brussels and Paris to New York. With only 82 seats in three classes, it won't be a direct competitor to L'Avion nor will it be the same as Delta's new JFK-Paris service, which runs like a normal flight. Expect more details to emerge as we get closer to the wheels-up date later this year.
0 Comments - Add Yours
by pbb
