Starting on 2 October 2011, Air France will be launching a commercial offensive on departure from Marseille by offering 13 new non-stop routes:
in France: Bâle Mulhouse, Biarritz and Brest;
in Europe: Athens, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow and Prague;
in the Mediterranean: Beirut and Istanbul;
in Morocco: Casablanca.
Air France will also be increasing capacity on existing domestic routes, with over 80% more seats in some cases. This strategy will continue in spring 2012 from Toulouse, Nice and Bordeaux.
In the long term, Air France intends to increase seat capacity by over 30% by launching 54 new non-stop routes on departure from Marseille, Toulouse, Nice and Bordeaux to major cities in Europe and the Mediterranean as well as by increasing capacity on domestic routes.
Attractive fares with the same Air France services
On departure from Marseille, Air France will offer one-way fares starting at €50 including tax. Tickets can be purchased as one-way tickets online, by phone, at Air France ticket offices or from a travel agent as from today, Monday 11 July 2001.
On all flights, passengers will benefit from free Air France services that are highly appreciated: one piece of baggage checked free in the hold, a choice of daily newspapers at boarding, a snack, a choice of seat, etc. Air France is therefore preserving the same products and services that have become its trademark on this market.
Cost reductions in the order of 15%
The implementation of this new strategy is based on a significant reduction in operational costs, of around 15%. To reach this objective, Air France is relying on various different factors including:
. the use of a single aircraft type (Airbus A320 with between 142 and 178 seats), optimizing fuel consumption and rationalizing maintenance costs,
. an optimized daily use of aircraft with departures earlier in the morning and return flights later in the evening as well as turnaround times reduced by five minutes at stations,
. cabin and flight crews based in the provinces,
. optimized use of human and material resources on the ground throughout the day.
With more sustained activity in Marseille at first, followed by Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice, Air France will benefit from productivity gains that will help reduce production costs.
“With this new project involving all its employees in France, Europe and the Mediterranean, Air France intends to initiate a virtuous circle that will enable its medium-haul operations to regain profitable growth, the foundation of the Air France-KLM group’s strategy, while offering customers attractive fares and ensuring long-term employment” declared Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of Air France KLM.
This issue always tends to bring a whole lot of positive and also negative comments.