Tag Archives: France

Air France unveils its updated plans for a bigger HOP!

Air France (Paris) is expanding the role for its HOP! regional subsidiary. HOP! Air France will take over the operation of Air France’s domestic services from the Paris Orly hub to Bordeaux, Marseilles, Nice and Toulouse.

Air France has issued this statement:

Air France at Lyon presented HOP! Air France, its short-haul activity, bringing together since March 29 the entire route network on departure from Paris-Orly, including La Navette flights, routes on departure from the French regions, inter-regional routes and to Europe.

This new organization is supported by a new unique and competitive commercial offer on the short-haul network, with tickets on sale since March 24, 2015.

With regular frequencies and adapted flight times, HOP! Air France aims to meet the expectations of both business travellers and leisure and VFR (Visit Friends and relatives) customers, i.e., travelling to see family and friends, who live and work in different regions, with holiday homes, etc.

HOP! Air France operates the leading European domestic network, with over 600 flights a day, a very extensive domestic network, with around one hundred aircraft offering a seating capacity of 48 to 212 seats. More than 8,500 Company staff (ground agents, pilots, flight attendants) are at the service of customers, across France.

A RETURN TO PROFIT IN 2017

This new offer within the Air France Group, should allow to generate new synergies and contribute to reducing unit costs. With this new activity, the Air France Group plans to implement the conditions for a return to profitability in 2017.

THE ASSOCIATION OF TWO BRANDS TO SIMPLIFY THE AIR FRANCE GROUP’S SHORT-HAUL OFFER

HOP! will be the main commercial brand for the customer. It symbolizes the values of proximity, simplicity and accessibility on short routes. Backed by the Air France brand, synonymous with a powerful network and a reassuring, trustworthy and quality brand, HOP! Air France proposes a new coherent offer that adapts to all the mobility needs of its customers.

Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman and CEO of the Air France-KLM Group, stated: “In France and Europe, Air France-KLM aims to offer its customers a solution for all their travel needs, both business and leisure. Our four brands Air France, KLM, HOP! and Transavia are thus developing complementary and competitive offers. This diversification, in which HOP! Air France rightly has its place for short distance travel, represents a considerable asset in addressing our customers’ needs to get about quickly and easily”.

Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and CEO of Air France, stated: “The time has come for the Air France Group to gain market share on the short-haul market. Competition is fierce with trains, and more recently coach travel and the car-pooling trend. An extensive network in France, a strong commercial presence on this market and a simpler and more reactive organization will enable HOP! Air France to establish itself as the reference on the French domestic network, Europe’s leading network”.

Lionel Guérin, Chief Operating Officer HOP! Air France, added: “The strength of HOP! Air France is the ability to offer all its customers frequent, rapid and direct flights at attractive and competitive fares, while contributing to the economic and tourist development of the regions served. The HOP! brand, backed by the Air France brand, also benefits from the expertise and professionalism of more than 8,500 employees united under a single banner committed to winning back short-haul customers in France”.

HOP! AIR FRANCE IN FIGURES

• 600 daily flights to 50 airports served
• 96 aircraft with between 48 and 212 seats
• Fares starting at €49* including tax one-way
• 13 million passengers carried each year
• 130 routes in summer 2015
• 4 Navette shuttle flights on departure from Paris-Orly: Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse
• 2 main hubs in France: Lyon (27 routes) and Paris-Orly (20 routes)
• More than 8,500 employees at the service of our customers, both on the ground and on board

On departure form Lyon:

• 27 destinations: 19 in France and 8 in Europe
• 2.8 million passengers carried in 2014

HOP! aircraft slide show:

Germanwings Airbus A320 crashes in the French Alps, 150 on board

Germanwings (2nd) (Cologne/Bonn) flight 4U 9525 with 144 passengers (including two infants) and six crew members on board (numbers updated) has crashed in the rugged French Alps (near Digne-les-Bains and the Grenoble Airport) at approximately 6,500 fleet and around 1037 local time. The pictured Airbus A320-211 D-AIPX (msn 147) was being operated on the flight between Barcelona and Dusseldorf. The flight had descended 14,000 feet in six minutes. No distress call was sent by the crew (correcting previous statements by the media). French radar contact was then lost at 1053. The airliner apparently slammed into the mountain according to flight tracking services.

Debris has been cited by a helicopter in the mountainous terrain and survivors are “not likely”. Human remains are tragically scattered over the crash site. The debris field is contained in about four acres and there is no piece larger than a car. It is difficult to get to the remote crash scene and retrieve the bodies and parts of D-AIPX. The flight data recorder has been sighted in the debris.

Lufthansa stated on Twitter (the two logos have changed to black in respect for the dead):

“…on 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors.“ Carsten Spohr 2/2

Lufthansa later issued this statement:

We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf has suffered an accident over the French Alps. The flight was being operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, and was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members.

Lufthansa and Germanwings have established a telephone hotline. The toll-free 00800 11 33 55 77 number is available to all the families of the passengers involved for care and assistance.

Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members.

According to CNN:

A Germanwings Airbus A320 plane crashed Tuesday in the foothills of the Alps in southeastern France, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters.

Valls said he fears those aboard the flight from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany — 142 passengers and six crew members — may be dead. A short time later, Germanwings executives said that there were at least 150 people aboard, 144 of whom were passengers.

French President Francois Hollande also said no survivors were expected. The plane crashed near Digne-les-Bains, in the Alpes de Haute Provence region, Valls said.

“The conditions of the accident are not yet clear but lead us to believe there will be no survivors,” Hollande said.

Spanish King Felipe VI said there was a “high number of Spaniards, Germans and Turks” on the doomed Germanwings flight.

Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s Prime Minister, tweeted that he will return to Madrid, put together a “crisis team” and send a minister to France.

Read the full report from CNN: CLICK HERE

Read the full report from the BBC: CLICK HERE

We will continue to update as news is received. Updated 1235 EDT.

Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Ill-fated Airbus A320-211 D-AIPX (msn 147) departs from Tenerife Sur before the tragic crash in the French Alps. The airliner was originally delivered new to Lufthansa February 5, 1991.

Below Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. D-AIPX when it was with Lufthansa.

Google Map: The A320 crashed near Digne-les-Bains, France.

EasyJet flight attendants in France to strike on Friday

EasyJet (easyJet.com) (UK) (London-Luton) flight attendants, angry over scheduling and pay, announced a strike on Friday. The planned action is expected to force the low-cost carrier to cancel about half its flights in France the day after Christmas day.

Though workers from SNPNC-FO and UNAC unions said their strike is to start on Christmas, there are no flights scheduled that day, so the walkout will only impact travellers flying on December 26.

EasyJet said in a statement it “doesn’t know exactly how many workers are to down tools”, but anticipates fewer than half of all flights will be impacted.

The British airline will know the extent of the strike Tuesday because aviation workers are legally obligated to announce strikes 48 hours in advance.
But general director, of EasyJet’s France operations, François Bacchetta told AFP agency the company expected “less than half of flights” to be cancelled.

“On Monday, we will pre-emptively cancel a certain number of flights in order to transfer passengers, so they can adjust their plans,” he said.

Workers are upset over schedules that “can change twenty times per month”, making “family life totally impossible”, said Laurent Nicolas of the SNPNC-FO flight attendants’ union.

Bacchetta acknowledged the demands of the industry were “complicated” and that he understood the “frustration” of workers.

But he was less lenient with protests over salaries, which he said were currently entering annual negotiations.

EasyJet employs about 1,000 people in France, including 600 flight attendants.

Read the full report from The Connexion: CLICK HERE

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

EasyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:

Ryanair to add Deauville, France on April 3, 2015

Ryanair (Dublin) has announced that it is extending it’s summer 2015 schedule from London Stansted Airport, with a new route to Deauville, France. This is in addition to the previously announced four new summer 2015 routes to Ponta Delgada (Azores), Cologne, Glasgow and Edinburgh and increased flights on 24 existing routes to and from London (Stansted).

The new route to Deauville will operate twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays from April 3, 2015.

Reported by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection/AirlinersGallery.com. Up close and person. Boeing 737-8AS EI-EVK (msn 40298) launches into the sky at the Dublin base.

Ryanair aircraft slide show:

Qatar Airways to take delivery of the first Airbus A350-900 on December 13

Qatar Airways (Doha) and Airbus (Toulouse) have announced the highly anticipated date of the official delivery of the first of its 80 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on order, set to take place in Toulouse, France, on Saturday, December 13. The pictured A350-941 F-WZFA (msn 006) will be handed over as A7-ALA.

The first commercial service will be deployed on the Doha-Frankfurt route starting on January 15, 2015.

Over 70 percent of the A350 XWB’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials combining composites (53 percent), titanium and advanced aluminium alloys. The aircraft’s innovative all-new Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) fuselage results in lower fuel burn as well as easier maintenance.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 17 years of operation, to the point where today it is flying a modern fleet of 142 aircraft to 145 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Top Photo: Airbus.

Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:

Video: A sneak preview of the Qatar Airbus A350:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Eurospot/AirlinersGallery.com.

Hainan Airlines arrives in Paris

Hainan Airlines (Haikou and Beijing) on September 3, took off for the first time to Paris. Hainan’s flight HU 7907 took off from Hangzhou International Airport at 9:15 pm (2115), making a stop at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport, before heading on to Paris (CDG). This is the airline’s fifth European route following its routes to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Brussels and Berlin. The launch of the service will provide new opportunities for further political, economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and France, as 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the countries.

Hainan Airlines held inaugural flight ceremonies at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International and Xi’an Xianyang International airports on September 3, with representatives from local government agencies and airline partners as well as Hainan Airlines chairman and vice president in attendance. Passengers onboard the inaugural Airbus A330 flight received gifts from the Hainan Airlines staff before the plane took off for its maiden flight to Paris, the city of romance.

According to Hainan Airlines’ head of marketing, the flight will be offered twice-weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. HU 7907 departs Hangzhou at 8:50 pm (2050) and arrives in Xi’an at 11:10 pm (2310), then departs Xi’an the next day at 1:00 am (0100) and arrives at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport at 6:55 am (0655). The return flight, HU 7908, departs Paris at 2:25 pm (1425) and arrives the next day in Xi’an at 6:45 am (0645), then departs Xi’an at 8:45 am (0845) and arrives in Hangzhou at 10:50 am (1050) (arrival and departure times are local).

The route will be operated using an Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft. The plane’s cheery and spacious cabin seats 36 in Business Class and 186 in Economy Class. The Business cabin is configured with 180-degree flat-bed seats with built-in gentle massage and 74 inches of space separating each seat. In addition, wide HD LCD screens and adjustable reading light serve to make sure passengers feel comfortable in a private environment.

Since 1993, Hainan Airlines has evolved from a regional to an international airline with several long haul intercontinental routes. The airline has launched routes to Chicago, Boston and Paris in recent years. According to the Sino-French Joint Press Communique, which emphasized building a peaceful, democratic, prosperous and progressive world, both China and France seek to strengthen mutual benefits and win-win results in civil aviation and the aviation industry. This provides Hainan Airlines with strong policy support and confidence to speed up the build-out of its international route network.

Hainan Airlines:

Air France celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations between France and China with a special emblem on F-HPJE

Air France (Paris) has applied a new “France China – 50 And (50 Years)” emblem to its Airbus A380-861 F-HPJE (msn 052) to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between France and China.

In 1964 France and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) re-established ambassadorial level diplomatic relations. The move was a result of Charles de Gaulle’s official recognition of the PRC. Today both countries share a basic economic relationship.

Related to this, from June 9 to October 25, 2014, Air France will offer a daily flight from Paris to Hong Kong with the pictured Airbus A380 (4 flights per week from May 27 to June 8, 2014). Air France thus becomes the first airline to connect France and the “Pearl of the Orient” with the A380. Served for over 75 years by Air France, Hong Kong is the second destination in China served with the A380.

Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com. F-HPJE taxies at San Francisco with the logo (click on the photo for the full size image).

Air France:

Concorde F-WTSB arrives at its final resting spot at the Aeroscopia Museum in Toulouse

One of the first Concorde jetliners built at Toulouse, France has made its final “voyage” with the aircraft’s ground transfer to the Airbus-supported Aeroscopia Museum site at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. Designated as an Aerospatiale BAC Concorde 100 and registered as F-WTSB (msn 1), this Concorde made its last flight in April 1985, returning to Toulouse after a career that included a full range of test and development activity.

The Aeroscopia Museum where Concorde msn 1 will be permanently displayed has received funding from Airbus, and its collection will also include one of the initial A300s – the cornerstone widebody jetliner in Airbus’ product line – as well as the msn 1 flight test A400M military airlifter.

All photos by Airbus.