3-Mar-2011 12:01 PM
Air France to increase domestic schedule by 1.5%; expands codeshare with flybe
Air France announced (2-Mar-2011) plans to increase its domestic flight schedule by 1.5% over summer 2011 as the carrier offers new frequencies from regional airports to the UK and Amsterdam. The carrier will also launch new CRJ 1000 equipment on inter-regional routes - see Route Changes Table for more information. Details include:
- New routes to the UK: New routes are being launched from London City to the French regions. City Jet, an Air France subsidiary, will be operating services from London City to Brive with three times frequency from 08-Apr-2011 and weekly services to Avignon and twice weekly service to Toulon from 08-Apr-2011;
- UK codeshare with flybe: Air France is also expanding services to the UK on a codeshare basis with flybe as follows:
- Toulouse: Air France will offer weekly services from Toulouse to Birmingham in codeshare with Flybe from 21-May-2011;
- Lyon: Codeshare services will be operated from Lyon to Belfast, Inverness, Jersey, Glasgow and the Isle of Man, with a stopover in Birmingham;
- Clermont-Ferrand: Air France will operate a flight on a codeshare basis with flybe to Southampton from 02-Jun-2011 with possible connections to Guernsey, Jersey and Glasgow;
- Nice: Air France will operate a weekly flight on a codeshare basis to Jersey from 18-Jun-2011 and five times weekly service to Southampton from 27-Mar-2011;
- Bordeaux: Air France will operate service to Southampton and Birmingham as from 21-May-2011;
- Limgoes: Services to be offered to Southampton from 27-Mar-2011 and Newcaste from 21-May-2011;
- La Rochelle: Services to be operated to Southampton from 27-Mar-2011, to Manchester from 28-May-2011 and to Birmingham from 01-Jun-2011;
- Bergerac: Will be offered from Southampton and Exeter from 28-March-2011, to Birmingham from 10-Apr-2011 and Manchester and Edinburgh from 21-May-2011;
- Additional frequencies to the Amsterdam hub: Starting this summer, there will be a fourth daily frequency to Amsterdam, Air France-KLM's second hub, on departure from Marseille and a third daily frequency on departure from Nantes. These new frequencies provide passengers with more connections to KLM's long-haul routes;
- Expansion in Germany and Europe: The carrier is expanding operations from Toulouse. The carrier will offer daily services to Düsseldorf while Alitalia will operate a daily flight on a codeshare basis to Rome. Air France will therefore be offering 14 weekly flights between Toulouse and Rome.
- New aircraft on inter-regional routes: The new Bombardier CRJ 1000 will gradually start operating on the Lyon-Strasbourg, Lyon-Rennes and Clermont Ferrand - Paris Orly routes. Equipped with 98 seats, 14 CRJ 100s will be gradually put into service in the Brit Air fleet, replacing the Fokker 100.[more]