Are customers back on board the Thalys?
Bertrand Gosselin - Thalys has been hard hit by this crisis, as have the tourism and transport sectors. We had two and a half months with virtually no sales before a gradual resumption of traffic in mid-June. All our on-board services were reinstated at the start of the new school year, including catering at the Premium Class seat. After a summer of recovery thanks to leisure, we were counting on the return of the business customers in September. As a result of the teleworking and, above all, the resumption of the pandemic, traffic remained very low with some 8,000 passengers a day compared with 20,000 before the crisis. And only 40% of our usual offer on 1 October, i.e. 8 daily trains between Paris and Brussels5 to Netherlands and 2 to theGermany. However, all our routes are served by early morning or late evening trains, so that business customers can make daytime return trips.
What measures have been taken to attract business travellers?
Bertrand Gosselin - The first thing to remember is that business travellers can travel without the obligation to take a test or to get into quarantine. Our role is to encourage and support the economic recovery of the countries and territories we serve. To make travelling easier, we have decided tomake our programme more flexible Thalys Corporate Fares by making it accessible to all companies with no annual business volume threshold. In addition to fare reductions in our different travel classes, this offer provides passengers with exchange and refund facilities, as well as flexible access to all the trains of the day on the same line. Not forgetting access to the lounge Thalys at Paris-Nord and Brussels-Midi.
I hope to see a recovery in activity in 2021 and a return to our best-ever traffic levels in 2022.
How do you see the coming months?
Bertrand Gosselin - We're still in the eye of the storm. There will be no return to normal without vaccine against Covid-19. Nevertheless, I'm hoping for an upturn in business in 2021 and a return to our best-ever traffic levels in 2022. In the meantime, Thalys has taken steps to reduce costs by, for example, putting an end to leasing several TGVs. However, we have maintained the renovation of our 26 trains which will take three years to complete. At the end of the year, passengers will be able to discover the first renovated train, which will offer them greater comfort and services on board. The current low level of traffic will allow us to be more comfortable when each train leaves for its facelift.
Did Covid get the better of the planned merger with Eurostar?
Bertrand Gosselin - In the long term, high-speed rail has a great future in Europe, offering a greener transport option than air travelThis means you can work from centre to centre, and spend as much time as possible on board. The planned merger with Eurostar has not been abandoned. Work on the merger has resumed and we plan to pass the 1st stage next year. This strategic project will enable the two airlines to combine their strengths and expertise. This will enable us to offer more destinations and frequencies on certain routes.
