Julian Moxon/PARIS
The three French airlines due to be merged by the SAirGroup to create the country's second largest airline are likely to order up to 20 regional jets by the end of the year. The combined carrier also aims to replace its medium-haul fleet through the acquisition of 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft by the end of 2003.
Hans-Ruedi Fehr, director general of Airline Marketing Company France, the SAirGroup-owned company responsible for commercialising AOM, Air Liberté and Air Littoral, says the fleet will comprise at least eight A319s, the rest being the larger A320s. These will be added to the eight A340s which will have entered service by year-end. All will be leased from the SAirGroup's leasing arm Flightlease.
The new regional jet order for either Bombardier CRJs or Embraer ERJs will allow the airline to replace Fokker 100s on short-haul routes. "A decision will be taken by December", says Fehr.
The first concrete evidence of the merger is a winter timetable covering the three French airlines plus Sabena in which a new direct Paris-Geneva route appears, along with Paris-Los Angeles-Noumea. All flights to the French West Indies will become non-stop, and extra frequencies have been added to Punta Cana, Havana, Nassau and Saint-Martin.
AOM, Air Liberté and Air Littoral will be renamed as a single airline in mid February. "The sooner we establish a single identity for them, the better." Fehr says.
"We're in the final stages of merging them into a single commercial entity, but there is still some way to go before other issues, such as workforce rationalisation, are resolved. We have come a very long way since we first began the integration process, and considering this is the first time three airlines have ever been merged at the same time we have achieved a lot."
Fehr acknowledges the airline will have a "tough fight" on its hands to win passengers from Air France, which has an extensive shuttle network to France's four premier destinations, Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nice, and has the advantage of operating most of its international flights from its hub at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
Source: Flight International
