For a decade, OpenSkies offered an unusual blend of boutique comfort and big-airline backing on routes linking Paris and Amsterdam to the United States. Launched by British Airways in response to liberalized transatlantic rules and later merged into International Airlines Group’s low-cost brand LEVEL, the French-based carrier has now disappeared as a standalone name. Yet the legacy of OpenSkies continues to shape how travelers cross the Atlantic from secondary European hubs, particularly Paris Orly, and its evolution into LEVEL France holds important lessons for anyone planning their next trip between Europe and North America.
From “Project Lauren” to Boutique Transatlantic Carrier
OpenSkies was conceived within British Airways in the mid-2000s as “Project Lauren,” a plan to capitalize on new open skies agreements that allowed European airlines to fly from any point in the European Union to the United States, regardless of their home country. The idea was to reduce dependence on London Heathrow by building direct links from continental Europe to key U.S. gateways, while still trading on British Airways’ reputation for service and reliability.
The airline’s first scheduled flight took off in June 2008 between Paris Orly and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. Based in France and ultimately operated through Elysair, the French company behind the business-class-only carrier L’Avion, OpenSkies quickly established Orly as its hub. For travelers, Orly offered a less congested, more compact alternative to Charles de Gaulle, with easier access from central Paris and shorter connection times for domestic French flights.
OpenSkies positioned itself as a boutique transatlantic airline with a strong emphasis on service. Early aircraft were configured with a mix of cabins, but the clear focus was on a premium experience, both for business travelers seeking lie-flat seating and for leisure passengers willing to pay for extra comfort on overnight crossings. The brand’s messaging framed it as “the transatlantic airline, par excellence,” a deliberately niche alternative to the mass-market service on larger carriers.
Paris Orly and Amsterdam: A Different Map of the Atlantic
Unlike many transatlantic operators that concentrated on large hubs, OpenSkies set out to redraw part of the map between Europe and the United States. From its Orly base, the carrier connected to New York and later to Washington Dulles, while an additional path opened via Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to New York JFK. These routes were designed to attract passengers from France, the Benelux countries, and beyond who wanted to avoid the additional step of transiting through London or Charles de Gaulle.
The Paris Orly to New York services quickly became the heart of the network. Orly’s location south of Paris, and its strong domestic and regional connections, made it particularly convenient for French business travelers and affluent leisure passengers heading to Manhattan or New Jersey. Some itineraries also drew connecting traffic from provincial French cities that fed into Orly, allowing OpenSkies to offer a through-journey under one brand and one frequent flyer ecosystem.
The Amsterdam to New York route was more experimental and ultimately shorter lived, as competition from entrenched carriers via Amsterdam and the effects of the global financial crisis limited demand. By late 2009, OpenSkies withdrew from the Amsterdam market and doubled down on Paris–New York, adding Newark Liberty as a key destination and cycling capacity between JFK and Newark according to demand. For travelers, this meant more choice on the Paris–New York axis, but fewer boutique options from Amsterdam.
Business-Class DNA and the Shift Toward a Broader Cabin Mix
OpenSkies inherited part of its DNA from L’Avion, the French business-class-only airline that had been operating between Paris Orly and Newark since 2007. When British Airways acquired L’Avion and folded it into OpenSkies, the merged carrier effectively became a Franco-British boutique transatlantic specialist, with cabins tailored around premium seating. This period saw configurations that emphasized large pitch, generous recline, and in some cases full flat-bed seating.
Cabin branding reflected that emphasis: “Biz Bed” denoted the top business-class product with fully reclining seats, while an intermediate “Biz Seat” or premium cabin offered deep recline and significantly more space than standard economy. For a time, OpenSkies experimented with a small economy section, but as the airline refined its model it prioritized higher-yield seating, eventually phasing out traditional economy on certain aircraft in favor of more premium seats.
Customer feedback during these years often highlighted the quieter cabins, more personalized service, and relative ease of boarding and disembarkation compared with larger transatlantic operations. Travelers also noted perks such as lounge access through British Airways partnerships, and in-flight amenities like personal entertainment devices of the era. The trade-off was a more limited network and schedule: fewer daily frequencies and a narrower set of departure times than established legacy competitors.
Competitive Pressures and the Low-Cost Long-Haul Wave
As OpenSkies matured, the competitive environment for transatlantic travel changed rapidly. Traditional network carriers continued to expand joint ventures and alliances, offering dense schedules between major hubs. At the same time, a new generation of low-cost long-haul airlines began to appear, using fuel-efficient aircraft to undercut traditional fares on key routes between Europe and North America.
International Airlines Group, parent company of British Airways and OpenSkies, responded by creating LEVEL in 2017 as a dedicated low-cost long-haul brand targeting price-sensitive leisure travelers. LEVEL launched first from Barcelona and then from Paris Orly, directly overlapping with OpenSkies’ core transatlantic geography. For IAG, this presented both an opportunity and a redundancy: the group now had two brands, both based in France and both flying across the Atlantic, but with very different cost bases and product philosophies.
Internal decisions soon followed. In late 2017, OpenSkies confirmed that its own-branded operations would cease in 2018, with its aircraft and crews redeployed under the LEVEL name. By September 2018, the final OpenSkies-branded Boeing widebody aircraft completed its last Paris–Newark service, marking the end of the airline’s visible identity even as the underlying French operating company continued flying, now effectively as LEVEL France.
From OpenSkies to LEVEL France: What Changed for Passengers
For travelers, the most important shift in the transition from OpenSkies to LEVEL France was the move from a boutique premium model to an unabashedly low-cost long-haul offering. Under the LEVEL brand, the Orly-based operation pivoted toward high-density cabins, aggressive base fares, and a highly unbundled service structure. Checked bags, seat selection, onboard meals, and other extras that had once been included in OpenSkies fares now became à la carte options on many LEVEL tickets.
The route map also changed. LEVEL from Paris Orly focused on a mix of North American and Caribbean destinations, including New York Newark as well as cities such as Montreal and leisure-focused points in the French Caribbean. While New York remained a cornerstone of the network, the schedule, aircraft types, and onboard products were designed around volume and price competitiveness rather than the boutique, business-first concept of OpenSkies.
At the operational level, much of the OpenSkies workforce and infrastructure transitioned into LEVEL France. For frequent travelers, this meant some continuity in terms of French-based crews and Orly familiarity, but also a different loyalty dynamic. Under OpenSkies, passengers could earn and redeem Avios through British Airways’ Executive Club in an affiliate Oneworld framework. Under LEVEL, loyalty earning and redemption have been more limited and have evolved over time, with less of the traditional alliance depth that business travelers often value.
The Impact of the Pandemic and the Fate of LEVEL’s French Operation
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to long-haul airlines worldwide, and the Orly-based operation at the heart of the OpenSkies-to-LEVEL story was no exception. In early 2020, LEVEL suspended many of its Paris services as border restrictions and collapsing demand made transatlantic flying unsustainable. By mid-2020, the French airline entity that had once traded as OpenSkies and more recently as LEVEL’s local operator was closed.
However, the LEVEL brand as a whole did not disappear. IAG maintained LEVEL as a pan-European low-cost long-haul concept, with operations and branding continuing from other bases such as Barcelona. For travelers, this created a nuanced situation: the specific French airline that had made Orly–Newark a boutique route and then a low-cost link ceased to exist, but the LEVEL name remained present in the market, sometimes leading to confusion about what exactly had changed.
As travel demand has recovered, transatlantic capacity from Paris has been rebuilt by a mix of carriers. Traditional network airlines, French leisure-oriented operators, and niche business-class specialists have moved to fill gaps left by OpenSkies and by the contraction of LEVEL France. The Orly–Newark market in particular is now contested by other airlines positioning themselves either as low-cost disruptors or as dedicated premium players, giving travelers a variety of product types but no direct successor with the same combination of boutique service and big-airline backing that characterized OpenSkies at its peak.
What Today’s Travelers Need to Know About Former OpenSkies Routes
For passengers who once relied on OpenSkies, the most practical question is how to replicate or replace that experience today. The answer depends on what made the airline attractive in the first place. Travelers who valued Orly’s convenience for reaching New York will find that non-stop options still exist from the airport on other carriers, but the product mix is now polarized: on one side stand low-cost long-haul operators with aggressively priced basic fares and paid add-ons, and on the other side business-class specialists or full-service carriers operating from different Paris airports.
Those who were loyal to OpenSkies for its Avios integration and Oneworld connectivity may need to recalibrate. British Airways and its partners continue to operate a dense schedule between major European hubs and U.S. cities, but these flights typically depart from Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle rather than Orly. For travelers prioritizing alliance benefits, lounge access, and traditional frequent flyer earning patterns, routing via these larger hubs may be more logical than seeking a direct Orly departure.
Passengers who were drawn to the airline’s boutique atmosphere and relatively intimate cabin may now gravitate toward either all-business-class carriers on select routes or premium-heavy cabins on certain long-haul aircraft operated by major airlines. While no current operator precisely mirrors the OpenSkies formula of French base, Orly operation, and BA-linked premium cabins, the broader trend toward segmented cabins and upgraded premium economy means that travelers can still find comfort-focused options, albeit spread across multiple brands.
Planning Your Next Transatlantic Trip in the Post-OpenSkies Era
The disappearance of OpenSkies as a brand and the subsequent shutdown of LEVEL’s French long-haul airline illustrate how quickly the transatlantic landscape can shift. For travelers planning trips today, especially between secondary European airports and the United States, the key is flexibility and careful product comparison. The choice is no longer between a boutique carrier like OpenSkies and a handful of legacy competitors; instead, it is between a wide spectrum of offerings ranging from ultra-low base fares to highly curated, high-touch premium experiences.
From a practical standpoint, travelers should begin by mapping their priorities: airport convenience, cabin comfort, schedule, alliance benefits, or price. Those for whom Orly’s ease of access is non-negotiable will likely consider current non-stop operators at that airport and then evaluate whether to pay for extras like checked baggage and onboard meals. Others may choose to travel via Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, or Amsterdam to maintain alliance accruals and connect to broader networks, even if that adds a step to the journey.
The story of OpenSkies also underscores the importance of scrutinizing what lies behind a brand name. The French airline that once linked Orly and Newark under the OpenSkies and later LEVEL marks is now gone, but its former routes and passenger base have been absorbed into a wider ecosystem of transatlantic offerings. For travelers, the lesson is clear: brands can be fleeting, but the key questions about service model, cost structure, and network support remain constant. Understanding how those elements fit together on any given airline will be more important than the livery on the tail when planning a smooth and satisfying crossing of the Atlantic.