British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies on Aug. 16 will suspend all Amsterdam-New York flights to focus solely on its flagship Paris-New York route.
In the nine months since the airline launched Amsterdam-New York as its second route, it had captured 16 percent of the traffic between the cities, but that "was not enough to sustain a profitable service at this time," said CEO Dale Moss, citing "a significant drop in market demand" and ongoing economic pressure.
Moss, in a blog post on the company's Web site, said, "My most sincere wish is that someday OpenSkies will return to Amsterdam and make it another signature route." In the meantime, Moss said the carrier would focus on its remaining route, between Paris and New York, and "ride this challenging time out this winter, building on our strengths and waiting for market indications of improvement."
The future of the premium-class-focused OpenSkies had been in question in recent weeks amid reports of a potential sale or shutdown, while its parent company faces its own struggles in a depressed economic landscape that has claimed a sizable portion of its bread-winning premium traffic
(EuroBTN, July 15).
Moss said of OpenSkies last week, "We stand ready for charters and new route opportunities and can rally resources in a most surprisingly quick fashion. Our team has a number of scenarios planned for further growth and development but the times call for a more conservative approach at the moment, so we await our signs from the market."