The Air France-KLM Group’s summer schedule (25 March – 28 October 2012)
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Given the uncertain economic environment, the Air France-KLM Group’s increase in capacity in available seat-kilometres (ASK) will be limited to +0.6% including +0.8% on long-haul and -0.2% on medium-haul, excluding the provincial bases. With the launch of the bases in Marseille, Toulouse and Nice, where Air France is significantly reducing its operating costs, the group’s medium-haul operations will post an increase of +3.0%, bringing the total increase in capacity to +1.4%.
The Air France summer schedule (25 March – 28 October 2012)
•Stable capacity, + 0.1% on long-haul and +0.2% on medium-haul excluding the provincial bases
•Wuhan, fifth destination in China
•An offensive and reactive strategy on departure from the French regions
For its summer schedule, Air France is adapting to changing market conditions and is offering stable capacity* (+0.1%) compared with summer 2011, excluding the development of the provincial bases and +1.7% including the bases.
On its long-haul network, Air France is posting capacity* of +0.1% and is increasing activity to Latin America (+9.7%), Asia (+6.3%) and Africa (+4.9%). Air France is reducing capacity* to North America (-6.5%), the Middle East (-17.5%), the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean (-2.2%).
To China, Air France will be launching a new route on 11 April to Wuhan, its fifth destination in China, operated three times a week by Boeing 777-200.
Air France will also be offering a new daily service by Airbus A380 to Los Angeles as from 28 May and will be resuming its daily flights with this superjumbo to Tokyo. There will also be three weekly frequencies to Shanghai by Airbus A380**.
Within the framework of the transatlantic joint venture, the route to Seattle will be taken over by Delta and the route to New York – Newark will be suspended at the beginning of the summer season.
After significantly modifying capacity to destinations affected by geological or political crises in 2011 (Japan, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Tunisia), Air France has adjusted its schedule to reflect recent developments in the demand for these destinations.
In Africa, Air France plans to launch a new route to Port Gentil**in Gabon and will be resuming service to Abuja** (Nigeria), previously operated by KLM. Air France will continue to increase capacity* to Abidjan, Lomé, Malabo and N'Djamena. To these last two destinations, the daily flights operated by Airbus A319 Dedicate will be replaced by three weekly flights by Airbus A330.
On the medium-haul network, the growth in activity remains stable (+0.2%) excluding the provincial bases and stands at +6.5% with the launch of the provincial bases in Marseille, Toulouse and Nice.
23 new international routes will be offered on departure from these three cities:
•From Marseille, services to Barcelona, Berlin, Hamburg, Marrakech and Venice will be added to the 12 destinations already served since October 2011.
•From Toulouse, 14 new international destinations will be offered as from 1 April 2012: Athens, Berlin, Casablanca, Hamburg, Istanbul, Malaga, Malta, Marrakech, Naples, Prague, Tunis, Seville, Venice and Vienna.
•From Nice, 4 new international destinations will be offered as from 3 April 2012: Athens, Naples, Tel Aviv and Venice.
Capacity will be increased to Nice and Toulouse on departure from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Excluding the provincial bases, Air France’s medium-haul capacity remains stable (+0.2%).
*expressed in ASK – available seat-kilometres
** subject to obtaining traffic rights
ANNEXES
The long-haul schedule (+0.1%)
The long-haul fleet
To provide a more homogeneous product on predominantly leisure destinations, 12 Boeing B777-300s will be equipped in June 2012 with Premium Voyageur seats instead of Alizé seats. These aircraft will then be able to serve indifferently all predominantly leisure destinations worldwide.
Late summer 2012, Air France’s seven Boeing 747-400s will all be equipped with the latest generation seat in Business class and individual video screens in Voyageur.
As part of its fleet rationalization policy, Air France is continuing the replacement of its B777-200s with 247 seats (including 170 in Voyageur) with a new version equipped with 309 seats (including 250 in Voyageur). The number of aircraft offering this new configuration now stands at 14 aircraft.
A reduction in capacity coordinated with JV partners on the North Atlantic
In North America, in coordination with its partners Delta, KLM and Alitalia, Air France is significantly reducing seat capacity (-6.5%).
Air France is suspending services to Seattle (taken over by Delta) and Newark from the beginning of the summer season, then Orlando as from 3 September. In the same way, Air France is reducing seat capacity whilst maintaining the number of frequencies to Miami and Toronto.
Furthermore, Air France is introducing the A380 on its route to Los Angeles: 7 weekly frequencies operated by A380 and 8 frequencies operated by B777-200 will replace the 20 frequencies operated last summer by B777-200 and B777-300.
Redeployment of activity to high growth areas in Latin America and Asia, and ongoing adaptation of capacity to demand in areas affected by geological and political crises in 2011
The Latin American network is posting a strong increase in capacity (+9.7%).
Air France is adding one weekly frequency operated by B777-200 to Santiago de Chile, services now becoming daily.
Furthermore, to Rio de Janeiro, the night flight is operated by the B747 with new improved Business class and Voyageur cabins.
In Asia, Air France is posting an increase in capacity of +6.3%.
The launch of flights to Wuhan (3 weekly frequencies operated by B777-200) complete Air France’s flight offering to China.
The introduction of a night flight from Beijing to Paris-CDG contributes to the improvement of the Air France flight schedule to and from the Chinese capital.
Air France is increasing capacity to Shanghai by introducing the A380*, which will operate 3 of the 14 weekly frequencies.
To Singapore, Air France is adding 3 weekly frequencies by B777-200, in addition to the daily flight operated by B777-300.
Services to Japan are returning to pre-crisis levels to Tokyo-Narita (resumption of a daily flight by A380 in addition to the daily service operated by B777-300).
However, Air France is reducing capacity to Hong Kong (12 weekly frequencies), Delhi, Bangalore and Bombay (6 weekly frequencies each). Services to Bangkok are changing, with the suspension of the leg on to Phnom Penh (now served via Ho Chi Minh), and 3 weekly frequencies operated by B777-300 instead of 7 weekly frequencies operated by B777-200.
In Africa, Air France is posting increased capacity of +4.9%.
Air France intends to launch services to Port Gentil* and is resuming a daily flight to Abuja which up to now was operated by KLM, with a daily leg on to Port Harcourt.
As in winter, Air France will be operating a daily service to Abidjan, and will continue to increase capacity to Lomé with 5 weekly frequencies this summer compared with 4 last summer.
* subject to obtaining traffic rights
As from mid April 2012, seat capacity is being significantly increased to Malabo and N’Djamena, with the replacement of a daily frequency operated by A319 Dedicate by 3 weekly frequencies operated by A330.
In the same way, Air France is adjusting capacity by using a more adapted aircraft to Douala (A340) and a smaller aircraft to Cairo (A330), where demand remains low.
In the Middle East, Air France is significantly reducing seat capacity (-17.5%).
In addition to the suspension of flights to Abu Dhabi, Air France is adapting capacity to Damascus, with 4 weekly flights operated as an extension of the flight to Amman (instead of 5 non-stop flights).
Readjusting services to the Caribbean and Indian Ocean
Finally, in the Caribbean-Indian Ocean, Air France is reducing capacity by -2.2%.
Air France is changing capacity to Mauritius and Havana by replacing the B747 by the B777-300. To Havana, Air France is also removing one weekly frequency (6 weekly frequencies instead of 7).
Furthermore, Air France is suspending services to Mahé on a code-share basis with Air Seychelles, as Air Seychelles has suspended operations to Paris-CDG.
However, in line with the winter 2011/2012 schedule to Pointe à Pitre and Fort de France, Air France will continue to offer one weekly flight from its hub at Paris – Charles de Gaulle in addition to the services from Orly, expanding its offer of connecting opportunities to over 40 destinations in Europe.
* subject to obtaining traffic rights
Stable capacity on medium-haul excluding the provincial bases
The international medium-haul schedule excluding the provincial bases -1.6%
On medium-haul routes (excluding the provincial bases), capacity remains stable compared with last summer.
On departure from Paris-CDG, Air France is increasing capacity to Tunis with an additional daily frequency (4 daily flights).
However, services to Leipzig (2 daily frequencies) and Oviedo (3 daily frequencies) are being suspended.
Air France is also suspending 1 daily frequency to Vigo (2 daily flights), Stockholm (3 daily flights), Athens (5 daily flights) and London (7 daily flights).
Finally, the new flight schedule implemented to Milan in winter 2011/2012 and which consists of grouping together all Air France flights at Linate airport, is maintained.
On departure from the French regions, Air France is suspending its Lyon-Hamburg, Lyon-Birmingham, Clermont-Ferrand-Amsterdam and Bordeaux-Lisbon routes.
Furthermore, Air France is suspending one daily Bordeaux-Barcelona service, now operated by one daily flight.
The domestic flight schedule excluding provincial bases (+3.2%)
On departure from Paris-Orly, Air France is increasing capacity on its shuttle services to Toulouse (27 instead of 26 daily flights) and Nice (21 instead of 19 daily flights) and is adjusting capacity to Mulhouse (5 instead of 6 daily flights).
On departure from Paris-CDG, Air France is also adding one daily frequency to Nice and Toulouse (7 daily flights to each of these destinations).
On departure from the French regions, Air France is suspending one daily frequency on the Nantes-Clermont Ferrand route (1 daily flight), Bordeaux-Strasbourg (2 daily flights), Bordeaux-Lille ( 3 daily flights) and Bordeaux-Nantes (2 daily flights).
An offensive and reactive strategy on departure from the French regions
The schedule on departure from the provincial bases
The bases at Marseille, Toulouse and Nice are the main new features of Air France’s medium-haul summer schedule in summer 2012. By significantly reducing its operational costs, Air France is able to offer unrivalled capacity on departure from these 3 major cities.
Marseille
In summer 2012, Air France will be making a few adjustments at the Marseille base.
There will be 4 new international destinations: Barcelona (2 weekly flights), Berlin (2 weekly flights), Hamburg (4 weekly flights), Marrakech (3 weekly flights)and Venice (5 weekly flights).
Moreover, Air France is increasing capacity to Prague by adding one weekly frequency (3 weekly flights).
In the same way, flights to Eindhoven are being suspended, whereas those to Düsseldorf are being decreased (3 instead of 7 weekly flights)
Furthermore, on the domestic network, services to Biarritz (3 weekly flights) and Nantes (24 weekly flights) will increase, whereas services to Mulhouse are being slightly adjusted (6 weekly flights).
Toulouse
In summer 2012 with the launch of the new base, 14 new international destinations will be offered on departure from Toulouse: Athens (4 weekly flights), Berlin (4 weekly flights), Casablanca (3 weekly flights), Hamburg (5 weekly flights), Istanbul (3 weekly flights), Malaga (3 weekly flights), Malta (2 weekly flights), Marrakech (2 weekly flights), Naples (2 weekly flights), Prague (5 weekly flights), Tunis (4 weekly flights), Seville (4 weekly flights), Venice (3 weekly flights) and Vienna (4 weekly flights).
Nice
In summer 2012, 4 new international destinations will be offered on departure from Nice: Athens (3 weekly flights), Naples (2 weekly flights), Tel Aviv (3 weekly flights) and Venice (3 weekly flights).
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