Air France-KLM is setting out to win back the 90 million passengers who travel around France every year. Hop!'s clearly stated objective is to encourage them to take the plane rather than the train, the car or the coach, a means of transport whose development is expected with the liberalisation of the sector enshrined in the Macron law. For journeys of between 300 and 1,000 km in France, the car is used in 65% of cases, compared with 25% for the train and 10% for the plane. Every point of market share gained is therefore worth taking to make the short-haul business profitable, with a loss of 140 million euros in 2014, despite sales of 1.7 billion euros.
To achieve this, the carrier relies first and foremost on a very solid network. By grouping all its domestic services under a single brand - with the exception of flights to the Paris-CDG hub - Hop! offers nearly 600 daily flights and around fifty stopovers served in France by a fleet of 96 aircraft. This represents 80% of domestic capacity, compared with 20% for low-cost carriers.
In addition to this network, Hop! has adapted its fare structure to appeal to all types of potential customer - tourists, families and, of course, business travellers. In line with the low-cost model, the airline is offering an aggressive entry-level fare, Basic, starting at €49 one-way and rising to around €100. This fare will account for at least 10% of the offer. For an additional 20 euros, Basic Plus tickets allow passengers to take a piece of hold baggage on board and change their flight time before departure. Passengers also earn Flying Blue miles.
While these two fares are mainly aimed at price-conscious leisure travellers, the core of the offer for business travellers is the Smart fare. Change your flight or destination before departure, one piece of hold baggage and Flying Blue miles: the Smart offer is "the heart of our reactor", stresses Lionel Guérin, Chief Operating Officer of HOP! Air France. It is enjoying double-digit growth, at a time when flexible fares have been on the decline since 2008 as companies look to make savings." Highly flexible as its name suggests, the Flex fare offers total freedom, allowing passengers to change flight, route and even name. It is also fully refundable for one year. Finally, a special offer dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses will be unveiled at the end of the summer.
Young in body - just two years old - the airline is also young in spirit. "Hop! is our laboratory, testing innovations that can subsequently be introduced on Air France-KLM's European networks", explains Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of Air France-KLM. Innovations are to be expected in the door-to-door sector, such as the valet parking service launched at Orly and partnerships concluded with VTC companies. "We want to make our passengers' journeys as smooth as possible, so that taking the plane is as easy as taking your car", concludes Hélène Abraham, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing at Hop!
