SIMON WARBURTON / PARIS
UK carrier seeks to take slots relinquished by struggling AOM-Air Liberte at Paris Orly
UK low-cost carrier EasyJet wants to base up to seven aircraft at Paris Orly if it successful in obtaining up to 20,000 slots at the airport, after the restructuring of struggling French carrier AOM-Air Liberte.
The move - which would mark the Luton Airport-based airline's first foray into the French market - is dependent on regulatory approval from COHOR, the French slot co-ordination service which involves airlines and airport authorities.
AOM-Air Liberte is believed to be relinquishing 36,000 of its 72,000 slots at the airport south of Paris and EasyJet says the move is a "one-off opportunity" to secure a foot in the door of the hitherto highly slot-constrained destination.
"We are initially looking for 8,500 slots for the winter season using three aircraft but want to ratchet this up to 20,000 and seven aircraft eventually," says EasyJet.
The airline estimates that with a seven-strong fleet it could attract "2.5 million passengers per year - a figure that the market could sustain and would be incremental growth."
The carrier has a fleet of Boeing 737-300s and -400s and has a large number of aircraft on order from Boeing. It also has a 40% share in EasyJet Switzerland, a low-cost carrier operating out of Geneva.
France is not normally viewed as fertile ground for low-cost or foreign-owned carriers, but EasyJet maintains it is "not scared" of starting an alternative to mainstream services. Earlier attempts to succeed in the French market by the likes of British Airways and Swissair have ended in disappointment.
"This is the first time since [European air] liberalisation that such a block of slots has become available at Orly, which has traditionally been restricted to a total of 250,000 movements per year," adds EasyJet.
The airline is evaluating services from the French capital to Edinburgh, Geneva, Liverpool, London (Luton), Madrid and Nice. The latter destination would see Air France seriously challenged on what it considers to be one of its prestige domestic routes but EasyJet says: "This is what liberalisation is all about - our average fare across the network is £47 ($67)."
The French civil aviation authority - the DGAC - says that no timetable has yet been fixed for slot allocation but confirms that COHOR is in contact with EasyJet.
Source: Flight International
