The Covid-19 pandemic has caused considerable turbulence for the Dubreuil Aéro group, which has the company under its wing. Air Caraïbes and its long-haul low-cost sister French Bee. Passenger traffic plunged by 40% in 2020 (*), impacted in particular by the closure of Orly from 31 March to 26 June, then by the second period of confinement. In between these shutdowns, the Group was able to enjoy a "very good" summer. acceptable "and Christmas holidays satisfactory" thanks to postponements linked to the closure of winter sports resorts and seaside destinations such as Mauritius, according to Marc Rochet, Chairman of Air Caraïbes and French Bee.
To ensure financial stability until the recovery, the cargo business has been strengthened, a company-wide agreement has been signed to reduce wages by 10% in exchange for keeping the 1,100 employees in their jobs, and a €150m state-guaranteed loan (PGE) has been obtained by the entire Dubreuil group. Enough to hope back in the black from 2021.
After the engagement announced in September with the shipping company CMA-CGM, which is set to become a minority shareholder in Dubreuil Aéro, the marriage seems more difficult to make official. " We can see the end of the tunnel and Dubreuil Aéro has the means to survive if this capital agreement fails" Marc Rochet argues that these negotiations should focus on issues relating to the monopoly of freight services to the French West Indies, which are currently being examined by the competition authorities.
Today, with the exception of Cuba, suspended until its fortunes improve, all the roads are back in operation. This includes regional flights in the Caribbean and services from Paris to Saint-Denis de la Réunion, Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France, Cayenne, Punta Cana, Port-au-Prince and Papeete (currently via Vancouver).
However, the pandemic has transformed purchasing behaviour, with last-minute bookings and the need for customers to assimilate travel constraints. " They have to overcome this complexity because the rules are different for each destination" he adds. To comply with these rules and help their customers, Air Caraïbes and French Bee have opened a PCR testing laboratory at Orly in partnership with Biogroup and are offering Covid assistance free of charge on all their services.
Before yesterday's announcement by the government who " advises against travelling abroad "As a result, Air Caraïbes had gone back to a 7-day isolation period after a trip outside the European Union. a fill rate of 95% on the Dominican Republic with the ambition of adding flights for the February holidays. This rate amounts to 80% to the West Indies, 82% to Reunion and 70% to Tahiti (with one flight a week compared with 3 before the pandemic).
A more than timid recovery in business traffic
" In 2020, we saw the disappearance of all business traffic on the French West Indies and Réunion. Airlines that focus heavily on business class are going to have a hard time coping.r", says Marc Rochet, who does not expect this segment to return to normal for another two or three years. He adds: "Local entrepreneurs and SMEs in the West Indies and Indian Ocean have started travelling again, unlike business travellers from major international groups, for whom travel bans are still in place".
French Bee's Paris-New York service to open before summer
However, the airline group is confident of recovery, with the opening before the summer of daily flights Orly-New York operated by French Bee at Newark airport. For this project, which will benefit from the delivery of a new Airbus A350-1000 in April, the carrier is counting on the new Biden administration's forthcoming reopening of travel opportunities in the United States. The route should also benefit from the cessation of transatlantic flights by its low-cost competitor Norwegian.
French Bee also hopes to the return of its San Francisco service on its Polynesia route. These aircraft, equipped with a Premium Eco cabin, will appeal to companies looking for savings on business travel in these difficult economic times. "We have managed to reduce fares to Tahiti and Reunion by 15% with French Bee." said the low-cost airline's Chairman. The arrival of a second A350-1000 in December could finally open up Paris-Cancun for the 2021-2022 winter season.
(*) In 2019, French Bee carried some 200,000 passengers, Air Caraïbes 1.6 million long-haul passengers and 400,000 with its regional services.
