Air France Announces 5.5% Increase in Capacity
For the 2017-2018 winter season, Air France-KLM is continuing its growth strategy by offering 52 new services.
The group is increasing capacity by 5.5% compared to the previous winter season. Growth will be driven by the long-haul passenger network (+ 4.7%), the medium- and short-haul passenger network (+ 5.5%) and Transavia’s low-cost operations (+14.6%).
“With an increase in capacity of 5.5% this winter, Air France-KLM is resuming the offensive in the air transport market and is maintaining its growth commitments. Thanks to our powerful network, our strategic partnerships and more flexible management, we are able to adapt and respond to the stronger demand on both leisure and business routes. This growth is an illustration of the positive momentum initiated almost a year ago with our strategic plan Trust Together” said Jean-Marc Janaillac, Chairman and CEO of Air France-KLM.
Long-haul
In the United States, Air France will take over Delta Air Lines’ flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Chicago-O’Hare by Airbus A330 up to 5 times a week. On the Paris-Charles de Gaulle – San Francisco route, a Boeing 777, equipped with the La Première cabins, will operate daily, all year round. To Boston, the Boeing 787 will operate daily. Finally, on departure from Point-à-Pitre, Air France will offer 2 weekly frequencies by Airbus A320 to Atlanta, Delta Air Lines hub. KLM will continue to serve Minneapolis from Amsterdam-Schiphol, which started on 27 March 2017, with 3 weekly frequencies. The route will be operated by Boeing 787 as from 29 October. This offer will be in addition to the 2 weekly frequencies operated by Delta Air Lines, the Air France-KLM group’s transatlantic partner. KLM will operate flights to Miami until the end of the 2017-2018 winter season.
In Canada, customers will benefit from the Boeing 787 on the Paris-Charles de Gaulle-Toronto route by Air France and Amsterdam-Schiphol – Calgary by KLM.
In Mexico, Air France will continue to expand on departure from its hub. To Mexico City, seat capacity will be significantly increased with a daily flight by Airbus A380, in continuation of the summer season. To Cancun, a frequency will be added by Boeing 777, i.e. 5 weekly flights.
In Costa Rica, Air France will increase capacity to San José with an additional flight, i.e. 3 weekly services for the winter season. KLM will launch flights to the new destination of San José from its Amsterdam-Schiphol hub with 2 weekly frequencies, operated by Boeing 787. Customers will also be able to fly to Costa Rica thanks to the Amsterdam-Schiphol – Panama route which offers an onward flight to San José operated on a code-share basis by Copa Airlines or thanks to the direct flight operated by Air France from Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
In Brazil, the group will respond to the strong demand on the Brazilian market. Air France and KLM will increase capacity to Sao Paulo, respectively offering up to 14 and 7 weekly frequencies. Air France will operate the route by Boeing 787 as of February 2018. KLM will also increase its flight frequencies to Rio de Janeiro thanks to a daily flight by Boeing 787.
In Panama, both airlines will operate flights to Panama City with 7 weekly frequencies, notably by Boeing 787 operated by Air France as of December 2017.
In Argentina, KLM will increase capacity to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile (Chile) with an additional frequency. Air France will suspend services to Montevideo as a continuation of Buenos Aires to increase daily capacity to the Argentine capital.
To the Caribbean, KLM will respond to strong demand by offering additional flights to Curaçao from December 2017 to February 2018. Finally, KLM will continue to serve Cartagena, started during the 2017 summer season, as a continuation of Bogota, with 3 frequencies weekly operated by Boeing 787.
In Greater China, passengers to and from Hong Kong will benefit from the latest Air France travel cabins daily on board its Boeing 777, in continuation of the 2017 summer season. KLM will increase seat capacity by 9% to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in China as well as Seoul in South Korea.
In Japan, Air France will increase capacity with an additional flight to Tokyo-Haneda and a 29% increase in seat capacity to Tokyo-Narita. KLM will offer an additional frequency to Osaka with 6 weekly frequencies.
To Thailand, customers will benefit from more seats in the Business cabin on a daily basis on flights operated by Air France.
In India, the Air France-KLM group will benefit from the commercial cooperation with its partner Jet Airways, thanks to better connections to Chennai from Paris and Bangalore from Amsterdam. These two new code-share routes will enable Delta and Air France-KLM to benefit from a stronger network over the North Atlantic and to offer customers continuous and improved service. Air France will operate a daily flight to Bangalore by Boeing 777 equipped with the latest travel cabins. Finally, KLM will strengthen its position in the region by launching its new Amsterdam-Schiphol – Mumbai route operated 3 times a week from 29 October 2017 and by adding an additional flight to Colombo by Boeing 787, operated 3 times a week.
In West Africa, Air France will operate 3 weekly flights to Accra (Ghana), a daily flight between Bamako and Abidjan by Boeing 787 and a direct service to Ouagadougou with 5 weekly frequencies.
In Angola and Congo, Air France’s multi-stop flight Paris-Charles de Gaulle – Luanda – Kinshasa will be replaced by direct flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle with 3 weekly flights respectively in continuation of the 2017 summer season.
In Nigeria, Air France will adapt its flight schedule for the winter season with a daily flight to Lagos and four weekly frequencies to Abuja-Port Harcourt.
In Liberia and Sierra Leone, KLM will continue to service Monrovia and Freetown with 3 weekly frequencies.
In South Africa, Air France will increase the number of frequencies to Cape Town from 3 to 5 weekly flights. Johannesburg will be served by the Airbus A380.
To the Indian Ocean, the Group will respond to the strong demand of tourist travellers by launching flights to two new destinations. Air France will serve Malé (Maldives) with 2 weekly flights as from 1 November. KLM will launch the Amsterdam-Schiphol – Mauritius route operated by Boeing 787 on the basis of 3 flights a week as from 30 October. Air France will also operate 11 weekly frequencies to Mauritius during the high season, in addition to those operated by Air Mauritius as part of the joint venture.
Medium- and short-haul
On its medium- and short-haul network, the group will offer 16 new services this winter:
• From Paris-Charles de Gaulle operated by Air France: Marrakech (Morocco), Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Porto (Portugal);
• From Amsterdam-Schiphol operated by KLM: Catania (Italy), Gdansk (Poland) Graz (Austria), London-City Airport (United Kingdom), Malaga (Spain), Porto (Portugal);
• From the French regions operated by HOP! Air France: from Montpellier to Algiers (Algeria), from Nantes to Hamburg (Germany), from Lyon to Nuremberg (Germany) and Rouen (France), from Bordeaux to Düsseldorf (Germany), from Strasbourg to Rennes (France) and from Caen to Toulouse (France).
On departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air France will operate three new services this winter: Marrakech (Morocco), Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Porto (Portugal) in continuation of the summer season.
Joon will launch its medium-haul flights as from 1 December to:
Barcelona (Spain): 51 weekly flights
Berlin (Germany): 37 weekly flights
Porto (Portugal): 3 weekly flights
Lisbon (Portugal): 28 weekly flights
This new offer meets the Group’s strategy to win back market share as part of the Trust Together strategic project. The capacity offered by the new airline Joon, combined with a more intensive use of its aircraft will enable it to serve new destinations in Europe during the winter season.
In continuation of the summer season, KLM will continue to serve Catania (Italy), Gdansk (Poland), Graz (Austria), London-City (UK), Malaga (Spain) and Porto (Portugal). For the 2017-2018 winter season, the company will reinforce its medium-haul network by increasing flight frequencies to Athens (Greece), Aalborg (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), Helsinki (Finland), Gothenburg (Sweden), Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Nuremberg (Germany), Rome (Italy) and Stuttgart (Germany).
On departure from the French regions, HOP! Air France will increase its network capacity with 7 new routes:
To Germany: Nantes – Hamburg and Bordeaux – Düsseldorf with 3 weekly flights;
To Algeria: Montpellier – Algiers with 2 weekly flights;
To the French regions: Strasbourg – Rennes and Caen – Toulouse with 4 weekly flights, as well as Lyon – Rouen and Lyon – Nuremberg in continuation of the summer season.
Transavia
Transavia maintains sustained growth and is developing its network on departure from all its bases in France and the Netherlands with 26 new routes**:
– On departure from Eindhoven: Marrakech (Morocco), Seville (Spain), Tel Aviv (Israel), Stockholm (Sweden);
– On departure from Rotterdam: Al Hoceïma (Morocco), Lisbon (Portugal), Bergerac (France), Venice (Italy), Valencia (Spain);
– On departure from Paris-Orly: Casablanca, Dakhla and Tangiers (Morocco), Beirut (Lebanon);
– On departure from Nantes: Agadir (Morocco), Faro (Portugal), Berlin (Germany), Algiers (Algeria);
– On departure from Amsterdam: Belgrade (Serbia), Helsinki (Finland), Katowice (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Munich (Germany), Sofia (Bulgaria), Zurich (Switzerland), Olbia (Italy);
– On departure from Lyon: Oujda (Morocco).
For the 2017-2018 winter season, the group’s low-cost airline will serve a total of 106 destinations in 33 countries operated with its 70 Boeing 737.
Partnerships
Air France-KLM is constantly building new alliances to offer its customers the best network opportunities and easier connections on all continents.
For the 2017-2018 winter season, the group will offer a wider choice of destinations and connections for passengers travelling between India and Europe via Paris and Amsterdam thanks to the extension of existing code-share agreements with Jet Airways.
The joint venture between Air France-KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines will provide customers with access to more than 270 destinations beyond 27 North American cities and offers more than 215 destinations beyond the 30 European gateways.
To maintain its position as European leader in terms of capacity from Europe to China, Air France-KLM will continue its strategic joint venture with China Eastern from the main hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol to Shanghai, while maintaining its agreements with China Southern and Xiamen Airlines.
The signing of a new joint venture between Air France and Vietnam Airlines, partners since 2010, will soon enable customers to benefit from a combined offer as well as improved and enhanced connections thanks to adapted flight schedules to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Hanoi-Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City-Tan Son Nhat.
With its partner GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, customers of the Air France-KLM group will benefit from 50 Brazilian destinations.
The partnership between KLM and Kenya Airways will provide customers with access to a vast network to East Africa and several connecting opportunities from Nairobi. The two partners will continue to develop their code-share network, among others with the addition of KLM’s code-share to the new destination Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), operated by Kenya Airways.
Fleet
The Group continues to upgrade its fleet and improve its products and services with the arrival of 15 new Boeing 787s in its fleet by the end of the winter season.
Ten aircraft operated by KLM will serve 18 destinations, partially or fully operating routes to Dubai (Emirates), Mauritius, San Francisco (USA), New York (USA), Washington (USA), Minneapolis (USA), Calgary (Canada), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Bogota (Colombia), Cartagena (Colombia), San José (Costa Rica), Osaka (Japan), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Mumbai (India), Beijing, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Chengdu and Shanghai (China).
Five aircraft operated by Air France will serve 7 long-haul destinations: Cairo (Egypt), Toronto (Canada), Boston (United States), Panama City (Panama), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) as a continuation of Bamako (Mali).
By the end of the winter season, Air France will be operating 49 Boeing aircraft equipped with its latest travel cabins on its long-haul network, 19 Boeing 777-300 and 25 Boeing 777-200, representing the entire Boeing 777-200 fleet, as well as 5 Boeing 787.
At the end of the 2017-2018 season, KLM’s entire Boeing 747 (12 aircraft), Boeing 777 (30 aircraft) and Boeing 787 (11 aircraft) fleet, representing 53 aircraft, will be equipped with the latest World Business Class cabins.
