The news broke on Wednesday in a fully official statement from the company: Air France will indeed be leaving Orly. The timetable drawn up by Air France management has made 2026 the pivotal year for turning this page in history. By that date, the airline plans to operate all its domestic and international flights from its hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Flights to and from Corsica will nevertheless escape this move, as part of the Délégation de Service Public (DSP) which Air France and Air Corsica hope will be renewed next year.
"The aim of this project is to maintain Air France's strong presence in all the territories it serves, while responding to the rapid changes in travel demand."says the company. "It would optimise the use of each airline's resources, make the offer clearer for customers and improve Air France's competitiveness.".
This " rapid changes in demand" the management describes it as "a structural fall (...) on Air France's domestic point-to-point network". Backed up by figures, the carrier estimates that "between 2019 and 2023traffic on domestic routes from Orly fell by 40%, and even by 60% for daytime round trips.". This plummet can be explained by "the development of videoconferencingreducing business travel for domestic and international purposes. shift to rail (under the combined effect of sobriety recommendations and corporate CSR policies)".
Transavia named benchmark operator at Orly
As for "optimising the use of each company's resources"Once again, the strategy will be based on the development of Transavia à Orly. the Air France subsidiary is even designated "reference operator of the group at the southern Paris airport. Transavia will also position itself on domestic routes between Orly and Toulouse, Marseille and Nicefrom theSummer 2026. Air France also promises that frequencies flights between Paris CDG and these three regional airports will be strengthened. As for capabilities between the capital and these platforms, they will be ".maintained at their current level of 90%, and at 100% for routes between Paris and the French overseas departments and territories"says management.
