La Tribune reports this morning that Air France is planning to go head to head with EasyJet and Ryanair by launching a range of low-cost domestic flights linking French cities. The plan is to use Nice as a base for the operation. I checked in with my contact at Air France who said the company had no comment at this time.The story says Air France will use its sister brand, Transavia, to offer cheap flights linking Nice with the rest of France, using 186-seater planes. Until now, Transavia has specialised in European short-haul tourist services from Orly. Air France is understood to have picked Nice as the base because EasyJet of the high numbers of leisure travellers who pass through the airport to visit the Côte d'Azur. EasyJet already has a strong presence there, with flights to Paris, the UK and Geneva.
The low-cost plan is part of a series of measures Air France is looking at to save money on its domestic flights by bypassing Paris. It wants to improve efficiency by about 20% at the regional airports it serves--with faster flight turnarounds, fewer check-in staff and more outsourced work.
EasyJet and Ryanair are both well-established in the French domestic flights market. Ryanair uses Marseille as a base to serve Biarritz, Tours, Lille, Nantes and Beauvais, while Easyjet offers flights from its Lyon base to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Biarritz and Nantes.
Dear Julie,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog and love it ! This message concernes me, as I think that flying is too cheap so that the number of flights has grown that much, that earth pollution is not stoppable anymore. Furthermore your beautiful landscape will maybe be crowded with tourists and therefor hotels need to be build and typical provence houses may disappear. I hope that your beautiful country will remain as it is.
Have a wonderful day !
Eve
I wish someone would start doing flights to Nimes from Stansted! Most of the flights from London to Provence go from Gatwick or Luton.
ReplyDeleteOh I hope so! EasyJet, not so easy. I flew them once and swore them off for good. Thanks for letting us know, Jules!
ReplyDeleteTransavia has been flying from Nice to Copenhagan for awhile now. Perhaps Air France is buying that small airline to use for this purpose. I say great if they can pull this off ! Air France gives great service on short flights and this would open things up flying out of Nice.
ReplyDeleteTransavia is a small airline in Europe flying between Nice and Copenhagen already. This sounds like Air France is going to acquire them. There are more and better flight options out of Nice everyday, which makes me happy not to have to connect through Paris.
ReplyDeleteHawaiian airline does such a great job with their inter-island flights, I don't know why Air France wouldn't pull it off.
ReplyDeleteI must say that i have flown both easy jet and Ryan air and while the two the Gatwick Express to the airport to take that flight was almost the same price one way ticket on one of the major carriers
ReplyDeleteI must say that i have flown both easy jet and Ryan air and while the two the Gatwick Express to the airport to take that flight was almost the same price one way ticket on one of the major carriers
ReplyDeleteI must say that I have flown both Easy Jet and Ryan Air, and while the two the Gatwick Express to the airport to take that flight was almost the same price. ... one-way ticket on one of the major carriers
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information..I totally agree with Eve..Now a days availability of cheap flights is so much that its totally confusion which to opt..All the airlines are providing there best to attract the passengers..I always get confused while choosing because one provides some great options and the other airlines provide best in another way..
ReplyDeleteGreat read! I found your blog post really interesting and informative. The tips you shared are practical and seem easy to implement. Looking forward to trying them out on my next trip. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHow to Save Money on Online Flight Booking With My Flight Trip