FRENCH INDEPENDENT airline AOM, is stepping up its campaign to stop the Paris airports authority Aeroports de Paris (ADP), forcing it to move from Orly West to Orly South at the end of March.
The eviction move is viewed by many as part of a rearguard action being fought by the French authorities to protect the Orly base of state-owned Air France Europe (formerly Air Inter).
That view was reinforced when European Commission (EC) officials confirmed a French newspaper report that they were turned away from the ADP's Paris headquarters as they tried to pursue AOM's complaint about the move. The ADP had no comment on the incident. The EC has already had to force the Government to open up the airport to foreign carriers under European liberalisation rules.
The airline has been established at Orly West for several years, and has been modernising its operations there as part of efforts to compete with other airlines in the newly liberalised French skies.
ADP has told the airline that it must move, but AOM has refused, threatening to "...take the affair to its limits".
AOM says that the ADP wants to make room for the Air France group, which it says would leave the state-owned flag carrier with a monopoly hold on the terminal.
A section of Orly West has already been completely renovated and occupied by Air France Europe (formerly Air Inter). ADP has begun renovating Orly South, but AOM and other carriers are adamant that this will not result in any capacity increase, adding that the terminal was designed originally for international, not domestic use. "It is totally unsuitable," says AOM, "whereas Orly West is perfectly adapted for our kind of operation."
AOM made a Fr27 million ($5.3 million) profit in 1995, its first since 1990. The airline says that this is the result of the restructuring which it has undergone to prepare for the open market. Passenger figures also increased, from 2.4 million in 1994 to 3 million.
Source: Flight International
