British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies today announced the completion of the acquisition of its French counterpart L'Avion, the last of the standalone transatlantic all-business-class carriers following the late 2007 and 2008 collapses of Eos Airlines, Maxjet and Silverjet.
OpenSkies' €68 million L'Avion purchase was first announced last July
(BTNonline, July 2, 2008). The airlines have been operating under a codeshare agreement since last June.
The combined entity has a mix of executives from both airlines, including Dale Moss, who remains managing director, and former L'Avion CEO Marc Rochet, who now is executive vice president.
The airline flies four planes on transatlantic routes from Paris-Orly Airport to New York-JFK International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, and from Amsterdam-Schipol Airport to JFK.
The combined carrier has adopted its British namesake. Plane paint and logo conversion will be completed by mid-May. Its operating certificate now resides in France and its headquarters in Orly, Paris. The Boeing 757 airplanes the carrier operates will maintain a two-class configuration of up to 84 seats.