In the section that is marked “Why did it take so long?” British Airways French Transatlantic unit – OpenSkies is to join oneworld as an affiliate carrier.
Oneworld cardholders from other airlines apart from British Airways will be able to earn and redeem miles on BA Openskies services, as well as earning tier points. For those holders with Oneworld Emerald they will also be granted lounge access when flying with the Openskies.
The kick off date is 1st December 2012.
At the moment, Openskies operates solely between Paris Orly and Newark International Airport. From 31st March 2013, OpenSkies will return to New York-JFK, operating from Paris Orly.
OpenSkies has had a bit of history in its time, being a competing service between BA and L’Avion, then becoming a business class only airline before switch back recently to a three-class airline.
Those who are interested in seats, as mentioned above it is a three class service operated aboard Three Boeing 757-200’s
- Biz Bed – 20 Seats that do the flat bed trick, sold akin to Club World in a 2-2 configuration
- Prem Plus – 28 Seats in 2-2 configuration, sold akin to World Traveller Plus/ Premium economy
- Eco – 66 seats in 3:3 configuration offering World Traveller/ Economy class
Well, it’s about time this happened, and with OpenSkies trying to operate to JFK again, providing extra oneworld codeshares will help drive traffic to Paris.
Is there an announced date for their ascension into the alliance?
Oops. Missed that bit. 1st December.