Can HOP! Air France be considered a hybrid airline?
Hélène Abraham - I don't know what a hybrid company means. According to the Larousse definition, hybrid means "composed of disparate elements". Air France-KLM's short-haul business in France is made up of disparate elements in terms of its fleet - 100 aircraft ranging from the ATR 42 to the Airbus A 321 - and the type of routes, some with modest traffic like Paris-Aurillac and others with high frequency like the Paris-Toulouse Shuttle for example. This activity is mainly aimed at the mobility needs of business travellers, but also at leisure travellers. Our ambition is to offer the right aircraft at the right times to meet customer demand. The product, both on the ground and in the air, is unique, with an extremely wide range of services from nearly forty airports in France.
Is HOP! destined to take over a large proportion of Air France's point-to-point and short-haul routes?
H. A. - The short-haul business operated by HOP! Air France is an original model, which does not exist in Europe. The commercial offer has been unified and simplified and concerns domestic flights and flights to nearby Europe. The Basic, Smart and Flex fare ranges are offered on all routes, including to Paris CDG.
Is the HOP! brand now well accepted by the public?
H. A.- Measuring brand awareness shows that in three years the brand has risen to fourth place in France. Customers understand that HOP! is part of the Air France-KLM portfolio in the same way as Air France, KLM and Transavia. The brand carries the Group's short-haul business in France, where the challenges are essentially point-to-point traffic with customer expectations focused on flight regularity and punctuality. Especially in a competitive environment where rail is a very important competitor, even more important than the other air carriers in the same segment.
Also in this issue: Low Cost: The hybrid revolution
