A bluff or a helping hand for the Minister of the Economy? On 24 May, Bruno Le Maire announced a envelope of 7 billion euros but which, in his words, " is not a blank cheque. We have set Air France profitability conditions, because it's the French people's money. "said the Minister. Bruno Le Maire has already stressed on several occasions that Air France will have to make an effort to to become the company the most environment-friendly on the planet ".
In the eye of the storm are domestic routes and generally short-haul traffic. This impression was confirmed last week by Guillaume Schmid of the Syndicat National des Pilotes de Lignes (SNPL). In the newspaper Le Monde, he indicated that he expected the restructuring announced by the company concerns the short mail. While in April the Minister declared that he wanted all domestic air routes to be discontinued where trains offered an alternative service of less than 2.5 hours, the letter from HOP CEO Pierre-Oliver Bandet appears to be an appeal to the government. In the letter, revealed by La Tribune, the CEO of Air France's regional subsidiary says he wants to restructure the carrier's business. HOP Air France - whose flights are now only marketed under the AF brand - was only operating flights out of Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Lyon airports, in effect Air France's two hubs.
All the others intra-regional lines as well as flights to and from Orly would be abandoned. Among those sacrificed would be connections from Orly to cities such as Brest, Clermont-Ferrand, Mulhouse, Quimper and Perpignan. And in the regions, airports such as Bordeaux, Lille and Marseille would be slaughtered, NantesStrasbourg and Toulouse. Strasbourg alone is linked by HOP to eight French cities, including Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse.
All these airports have a large network of cross-country routes, and in most cases there is no alternative. While the train could be an acceptable option - with a journey time of three and a half to four hours - on routes to the tip of Brittany or to Mulhouse from Paris, HOP is without rival on the transverse routes in terms of speed.
The reduction in HOP's offer should therefore result in a smaller fleet and base closures. " La transforming the short-haul model which has been undermined for years by the competition from train and low-costmust be speeded up and expanded (...). In this (...) Transavia will be deployed more widely to combat low-cost airlines. Air France and HOP will continue to play a part in this strategy on the domestic network, but in a way that is scaled down to reflect the realities of the market. "described the CEO in his letter, according to La Tribune.
It is likely that not only HOP's employees but also the airports and regions will fight to keep what they can. Cautious, Pierre-Olivier Bandet has given itself three years to achieve its objective, with the first rationalisation measures falling due in 2021. This should give airports time to prepare their weapons and find alternatives. " For the moment, we're busy rebuilding our network in the short term, with little visibility beyond June. " admits a manager responsible for developing the Nice airport network.
The likely winners of the HOP withdrawal are Transaviawhich could position itself on certain routes between the Mediterranean and the north/east of France, as well as the private company Volotea. The company has already opened several bases in France, including Bordeaux, LyonMarseille, Strasbourg and Toulouse. HOP's withdrawal from the regions could make the Spanish airline the "airline of the French regions".
