Openskies, BrItIsh Airways' new subsidiary, last month (June) launched its first commercial flights between Paris Orly and New York JFK.
It's the first airline created specifically to take advantage of the EU/Open Skies aviation agreement, and it is operating a daily service on the route, with a Boeing 757 seating just 82 passengers.
"Openskies will become a test-bed for new customer service and on-board products that we hope to integrate into British airways' fleet," says BA chief executive, Willie Walsh. "While the economic climate has worsened, we believe that the new airline can compete effectively.
"It has a low cost base and support from BA in key areas, such as sales and marketing. This differentiates it from some new airlines that have failed recently, which were operating in isolation, without the backing of an established carrier."
Customers have a choice of three cabins: Biz, the Business Class cabin, has 24 seats that convert into the only fully-flat beds on the Paris-New route; Prem+ offers 28 reclining leather seats with a 52-inch pitch; and Economy, with the remaining 30 seats.
All seats have personal entertainment units with more than 50 hours of programming
Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan are also being considered as destinations for the new airline's transatlantic operations.