Appointed a year ago to sales management, Frédéric Revol, defector from Qatar Airways, is responsible for preparing the resumption of the Orly-New York lines in April followed in May from Nice-New York if the health situation proves favorable. Questions.
How did La Compagnie, which specializes in business aviation, experience 2020?
Frédéric Revol. Like all airlines, we were subjected to air traffic restrictions linked to a pandemic, the duration of which in February could not be suspected. From March 19, we had to stop our rotations between Orly and New York due to restrictions imposed by the American authorities. During the year, we refocused our activity on a few charter type on-demand flights to Australia, Barbados and Nigeria.
How did you cope with this business disruption?
Our strength compared to the big companies, which had to resolve in September to lay off tens of thousands of employees, it is our small structure. We only have two A321 Neos on hire and we only employ 120 staff (flight crew and administrative staff) who have benefited from partial unemployment set up by the State. Our shareholders (the owners of Galeries Lafayette and a Belgian owner of CarGlass) are entrepreneurs very attached to the development of La Compagnie. They supported us. And our model, a 100% business company with only 76 seats in our aircraft and competitive rates, has become relevant. This low number of seats is therefore an asset in the distancing procedures required inside planes and when disembarking in the United States. It is even an asset today.
Do you offer flights for the holidays?
Indeed, we are setting up rotations (6 in total) between Orly and New York-Newark airport. Successful, since 400 customers have already expressed their intention to book. It must be said that the single price of 1,200 euros round trip for a business standing is attractive. Of course under sanitary conditions, wearing a mask required on boarding and on board (8h flight), no accompaniment and mandatory PCR test. We are campaigning for the implementation of antigenic tests at Orly and at American airports. We are in favor of the creation of strict health corridors between France and New York airports. There is no doubt that the health passport in the future will become as necessary as the passport itself. It is already required in some countries for vaccinations. The election of Joe Biden in January will be a game-changer, because he seems more favorable to the reopening of the borders …
Beyond the health restrictions, how are you preparing for 2021?
With shareholders and employees, we studied several scenarios depending on the evolution of the pandemic, the arrival of vaccines or the decisions of the authorities. We will be ready, in the event of positive developments, to resume the Orly-New York line in April with a frequency of 4 to 5 flights per week. We are also hopeful of reopening the Nice-New York flight in May with 2 to 3 flights per week. The creation of the line in 2019 had been a success beyond our expectations with strong demand from American customers and the start of local demand. We hoped to consolidate it in 2020 … But the pandemic has broken the good dynamic. Delta and United Airlines have also suspended their projects in Nice this year. Our relations with the airport management have always been positive, and even more so with the new director (Franck Goldnadel, just appointed, Editor’s note) whom I knew when he was in charge at Roissy. We are also considering other line openings departing from European cities, again to New York.
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