There's a whiff of the 1970s about air travel between France and Algeria. A time when Air France shared with its counterpart Air Algérie the monopoly of the air links between the two countries. We are now in virtually the same situation as we were 50 years ago. Following the redistribution of traffic rights from Aigle Azur fire by the civil aviation authorities, it is Air France and its subsidiary Transavia that have won most of these rights.
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Air France was already present with five daily flights between Paris CDG and Algiers, with four daily flights and, since December, one daily flight. Paris Orly-Alger. It will be adding 14 extra weekly flights from Algiers on 4 April. The airline also offers flights from CDG to Oran. From 4 April, there will be a daily flight between Marseille and Algiers, four flights a week on the Toulouse-Alger route, four flights a week on the Toulouse-Oran route and two flights a week on the Nice-Alger route, but only during July and August.
But above all Transavia which is increasing its services to Algeria tenfold. A development that is, after all, to be expected, given that France-Algeria flows are essentially made up of affinity markets, with the exception of Paris where there is also business traffic. Transavia to offer 445,000 seats during the summer season with 12 routes to six destinations. The carrier will complement Air France by operating flights to Orly-Alger (14 flights/week), Orly-Bejaïa (3 flights/week), Orly-Constantine (3 flights/week), Orly-Oran (6 flights/week), Orly-Sétif (2 flights/week) and Orly-Tlemcen (2 flights/week).
In the regions, Transavia is also moving upmarket at Lyon with six weekly frequencies to Algiers instead of two previously, and the opening of routes to Bejaia (1 flight/week), Constantine (1 flight/week) and Oran (1 flight/week). Transavia will also be opening three routes from its new Montpellier hub to Algiers, Constantine and Oran. The three destinations will be served from July by two weekly flights. Finally, from Nantes, the airline will continue to operate flights to Algiers and Oran.
Outside the Air France group, the ASL Airlines has also succeeded in obtaining a number of additional routes, including a new daily frequency on Paris CDG-Alger and new routes on Paris-Annaba and Paris-Bejaia. It has also obtained frequencies on Lyon-Alger, Lille-Alger and Lille-Oran. Low cost Volotea was also rewarded, with flights from Marseille to Bordeaux-Alger, Lyon-Sétif and all the main Algerian cities except Algiers. As for the other applicants - easyjet, Ryanair and Vueling - their requests for frequencies to Algeria were all rejected.
In 2018, traffic between France and Algeria totalled 4.55 million passengers, down 4.5% including 4.52 million on scheduled routes. In 2019, this traffic fell again following the disappearance of Aigle Azur at the end of September. According to the initial figures from the DGAC, it stood at 4.4 million, down again by 4.5% compared with 2018. But 2020 should change all that, especially as Transavia has promised to be price-competitive.
