British Airlines subsidiary OpenSkies has just announced a new premium flights from Amsterdam to New York; this service has come about because of the US EU OpenSkies agreement which is slowly allowing overseas carriers to service routes between US and the EU outside of their own country.  In terms of competition It this is great, but unfortunately the cost of oil is going to more than negate any reduction in the cost of a flight, because of increased competition.

Below is an excerpt of the OpenSkies/BA press release:
 

OpenSkies, the new premium transatlantic airline from British Airways, announced today that it will offer daily service between Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport beginning on 15 October 2008. As the first airline created from the Open Skies agreement, OpenSkies continues to differentiate itself by offering a premium travel experience across the Atlantic with a range of compelling service offerings while expanding to new cities in Continental Europe.
 

“Since our launch on 19th June with our premium service between Paris-Orly and JFK, the response to OpenSkies has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Dale Moss, Managing Director of OpenSkies. “We’re expanding to Amsterdam because of its significance as a business and cultural capital in Continental Europe and the opportunity to bring premium service to travellers on another route across the Atlantic. By offering the only true lie-flat beds in business class on the Amsterdam-New York route along with our unique PREM+ offering – an entirely new service category featuring a business seat with 140cm pitch – we want to provide a combination of great value and a premium experience for business and leisure travellers alike.”
 

Tickets for the Amsterdam-New York route will go on sale in early August. The daily flight departs from Amsterdam-Schiphol at 1:20pm arriving in New York-JFK at 3:35pm and departs New York-JFK at 8:05pm arriving in Amsterdam-Schiphol at 9:40am the following morning.
 

OpenSkies offers guests superior service, competitive fares and exceptional value. The Amsterdam-New York route will be served by the current OpenSkies’ 757 flying the Paris-New York route. An additional 757 from the British Airways fleet is now undergoing modification and will join OpenSkies when the Amsterdam route launches this Autumn. Other European destinations being considered for the airline include Brussels, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Milan.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of British Airways, OpenSkies combines the expertise of one of the world’s largest and most successful airlines with the passion of a start up. In addition to its high-quality in-flight experience, OpenSkies offers professional concierge services that provide passengers with a premium travel experience from the moment they book their flight through the end of their trip. Multilingual concierge agents are available to assist OpenSkies guests with requests including hotel reservations, sightseeing tours, quick translations and other services. OpenSkies guests can also benefit from participation in British Airways’ Executive Club frequent flyer programme.