BA buys up French rival carrier

Airlines are changing their business models to meet new industry problems

British Airways has bought L'Avion - a French business-class only airline that flies between Paris and New York.

The �54m deal increases the number of flights BA runs between the two cities - weeks after BA launched OpenSkies, which also serves the route.

L'Avion flies two Boeing 757 jets - each with a 90-seats.

The move comes after the collapse of several business-class only carriers operating between London and New York - including, most recently, Silverjet.

Maxjet and EOS have also fallen by the wayside after failing to make the business-only model work successfully.

'Many synergies'

L'Avion flies between Paris Orly and Newark airport, while OpenSkies goes between Olry and JFK Airport.

The French carrier will be integrated into the BA subsidiary - with the combined airline running up to three daily flights

"L'Avion is a successful airline that has built up a premium business between Orly and New York in a relatively short period of time," said BA chief executive Willie Walsh.

"It has many synergies with OpenSkies and buying it provides OpenSkies with a larger schedule and an established customer base in the Paris-New York market."

Christophe Bejach, co-founder and chairman of L'Avion, said he was happy with the merger.

"This transaction will strengthen our current base and enable the combined airline to grow faster and stronger," Mr Bejach said.

"Our staff will benefit from the ambition and recognised expertise of the buyer and our customers will have access to an even better service, on a larger scale."

OpenSkies became possible thanks to an transatlantic air agreement between the European Union and the US, which came into force in March.

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