New French Airline to Offer Flights to New York

Elysair, a new French airline offering only business class service, said Thursday it plans to start operations between Paris' Orly airport and the New York area in December.

The airline will use a leased Boeing 757-200 converted to carry up to 90 passengers in business class, instead of 200 in a normal configuration, Chairman Marc Rochet told a news conference.

Fares would be competitive with those of mainstream airlines, he said, and fare details would be released next month.

Rochet, a longtime airline executive, said most of the investors who have put up Elysair's euro25 million (US$31 million) capital were French, but he did not give details about their identities.

Six flights from Orly are scheduled weekly to Newark, New Jersey. Elysair's business plan calls for a second aircraft to be leased in 2007, either to beef up frequencies on the Orly-Newark route or to serve other destinations in the United States.

The company also hopes to expand into the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and eastern Europe.

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