Air France-KLM is establishing a new Paris Orly-based leisure carrier through its subsidiary Transavia, making use of slots from the parent company.
The new carrier, to be known as transavia.com, will serve destinations in North Africa and Spain from mid-2007. It will operate four leased Boeing 737-800s in the first year, rising to seven in the second year and nine in the third. As with Amsterdam-based Transavia, its new French sister carrier will focus on a mix of charter and low-cost traffic akin to that seen at Air Berlin.
The positioning of the carrier at Orly will see it sharing a base with easyJet, albeit with a route network much more focused on medium-haul destinations.
EasyJet set up a base at Orly in 2002, but only five aircraft are based there - it has eight larger bases in Europe despite the huge size of the Paris market. JP Morgan analyst Chris Avery notes: "Paris is the most underserved low-cost market in Europe, alongside Madrid."
EasyJet has long struggled to increase its slots pool at Orly, which has a cap on aircraft movements. Its next expansion will be in May when it adds a daily service to Athens.
Avery says a low-cost airline looking to make its presence felt would have to be based at Paris Charles de Gaulle, which has room for expansion.
Source: Airline Business
