British Airways is to buy French airline L’Avion for £54 million.
The Paris-based carrier was privately owned and operates two Boeing 757 aircraft between Paris Orly and Newark airport in New York.
After the deal which buys BA the business and £26m of the business’ cash, is completed later this month, L’Avion will become a BA subsidiary and will be integrated into OpenSkies, BA’s new EU-US airline which began operations on June 19 with daily flights from Paris Orly to New York JFK operated with a L’Avion codeshare.
The airline will then operate up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and New York JFK/Newark airports on three Boeing 757 aircraft.
BA’s chief executive Willie Walsh said: “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. 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.â€
By Dinah Hatch
