70 years of operations, before its near disappearance from a mythical airport. This is what Air France did last weekend when it closed its domestic routes from Paris-Orly to Marseille, Nice and Toulouse, handing over the reins to its low-cost subsidiary Transavia France. A chapter closes for the French national carrier and a new one opens for Transavia.
This last one now offers 18 daily frequencies on these three routes, with 8 frequencies to Nice and Toulouse and 2 frequencies to Marseille. These routes are in addition to the Transavia domestic network operated from Orly to Biarritz, Montpellier, Perpignan and Toulon.
The low-cost carrier has consequently been preparing for many months to take over and, above all, to re-evaluate its ground offering to satisfy business or premium customers, accustomed to a classic product, not a low-cost one. We have worked on the customer experience to offer a product that fully satisfies the premium segment, accustomed to Air France's services.explains Cédric André-Masse, Customer Experience Director at Transavia.
For passengers who choose the MAX fare, Transavia offers several advantages: a dedicated check-in area at Orly – in a fuchsia pink that is difficult to ignore against Transavia's traditional green tones – followed by priority boarding N1 for access to the gates.
Total flexibility on flight choices with the MAX fare
This premium passenger treatment will be complete on 6 May with the opening of the Transavia lounge. We have taken over the space that was dedicated to Air France. We are reconfiguring it in Transavia's colours over an area of more than 300m² with 110 seats, as well as dining and work areas with views of the runways. While waiting for the opening in just over a month, our priority passengers will receive a voucher for one of the airport's restaurants.", adds Cédric André-Masse. Outside of Orly, passengers benefit from lounges managed by the airports in Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse."
Another advantage offered by the MAX tariff is "oPassengers who are eligible are given complete flexibility, as they can now change their flights free of charge up to one hour before departure. This is highly appreciated by business travellers who can leave earlier or later on the same day for the same destination, without any charges or fare differences. The airline is thus meeting travellers' needs in the event of unforeseen circumstances.", Cédric André-Masse further specifies.
With this privileged fare offer, flexible schedules, guaranteed aircraft operating on routes connecting Marseille, Nice, and Toulouse, and the option of including sustainable fuel, Transavia hopes to retain former Air France passengers on its domestic routes. " We are proving that low-cost is not synonymous with 'low-product'. And for now, booking commitments seem to demonstrate that our product is suitable., the Customer Experience Director further describes.
Transavia now represents 50% of Orly's traffic. As for Air France, after relocating its domestic flights as well as routes to Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion to CDG, it will maintain a symbolic presence at Orly: frequencies to Corsica, operated under public service delegation. But these could also disappear in 2027…
