Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS
AIR INTER, traditionally France's domestic trunk airline, is to become the Air France Group's low-cost European operation, if plans unveiled by the Group's chief executive, Christian Blanc, go ahead.
Blanc says that the operation would be running by 1997, when the intra-European-Union "open-skies" policy comes into effect. Meanwhile, he says, the board is to work on defining the product and its marketing plan, and cutting costs.
Air Inter, possibly re-named Air France Europe, with a workforce totalling about 18,000, will have its main hub at Paris Orly Airport, from where it will operate a 114-strong fleet consisting mainly of Airbus Industrie A320s and A310-300s, says Blanc. Intercontinental Air France will continue at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), operating a fleet of 70 aircraft, including Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340s and A330s, with 28,700 employees.
The intention is that intercontinental Air France would continue to serve European destinations, hubbing them into CDG. The Air Inter division would operate as a low-cost carrier in Europe, competing with growing competition from private French carriers and European Union airlines.
Blanc became chairman of the Air France Group in May, when Michel Bernard resigned after strikes against the feared job-losses resulting from a merger.
Source: Flight International
