British Airways will launch its new transatlantic subsidiary, OpenSkies, in June with daily flights from New York JFK to Brussels or Paris Charles de Gaulle using 757s carrying up to 82 passengers in business, premium economy and economy sections.

The name of the new carrier reflects the pending liberalization of the US/EC aviation market effective March 31 that allows carriers from either side of the Atlantic access to any destination within the US or EC provided slots are available. "It also signals our determination to lobby for further liberalization in this market when talks between the EU and the US take place later this year," BA CEO Willie Walsh said in a statement released yesterday.

Initially, OpenSkies service will be launched with a single aircraft with plans to add a second later this year and increase the fleet to six by the end of 2009. All will come from the BA fleet and will be retrofitted with Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets. Dale Moss, a former director-worldwide sales for BA, will be OpenSkies MD.

"They want to start slowly," BA spokesperson John Lampl told ATWOnline. "We think there is a market out there for it. It gives customers more choice. We are not competing against ourselves but the other guys out there: Delta, United, Air France and everybody else."

Lampl said that "70% to 80% of the airplane is focused on business class but there are still 30 seats to fill in the economy class." After initial service is launched, OpenSkies will look to expand to cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid and Amsterdam, he said. The subsidiary has yet to receive its operating license and certificate from the US Dept. of Transportation.

"This is an interesting development," said aviation analyst George Hamlin, who also noted that using smaller 757s would keep operating costs down. "BA is a very strong brand with business traffic. The bulk of service is business and first class. They are probably looking at thrifty travelers rather than backpackers. I suspect they have done their sums and believe this is possible to do."