BA's OpenSkies To Add Paris-D.C. Service

British Airways' premium class subsidiary OpenSkies today said it would launch in May service between Paris and Washington, D.C., its first sign of network growth since the carrier abandoned its Amsterdam-New York route last August to focus solely on service between Paris and Newark.

OpenSkies on May 3 expects to launch five weekly flights between Paris Orly Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, and expects to increase frequency in the following months. Using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft, OpenSkies plans to offer 72 seats, 12 of which convert to a fully flat bed with the other 60 to offer 140-degree recline with a 52-inch seat pitch. The carrier said it would begin selling tickets for the new service today.

The carrier retracted Amsterdam service last year amid a dwindling appetite for premium services, but British Airways stressed its commitment to OpenSkies. British Airways CEO Willie Walsh today told BTN, "The business clearly launched at a difficult time with the crisis in financial services and then the global economic downturn, but I'm pleased to say its performance in recent months—certainly the last four, maybe five months—has been very encouraging. Now, they've decided to renew their growth strategy."