Because of a “structural fall in demand“, Air France will leaveParis-Orly airport in 2026 to consolidate its operations at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, with the exception of flights to Corsica.
Six lines from Paris-Orly will be eliminated: three towards Overseas (Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France and Saint-Denis de La Réunion) and three others in mainland France (Toulouse, Marseille and Nice). On the other hand, flights operated as part of the public service delegation to Corsica will be maintained.
“The development of videoconferencing, the reduction in professional domestic travel and the shift to the train (…) lead to a structural fall in demand on Air France’s point-to-point domestic network“, justified the French airline, which had already recently reduced its number of daily rotations between Paris-Orly and Marseille. And to specify: “Between 2019 and 2023, the drop in traffic on domestic routes departing from Paris-Orly is -40%, and even -60% for daytime round trips.“.
The few 500 employees of Air France who currently work at the Orly base will be offered positions at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle or on other bases.
Transavia, the low-cost subsidiary of the Air France-KLM group, will take over to serve Toulouse, Marseille and Nice from Paris-Orly. The low-cost company will thus become “the reference operator of the Air France group departing from Paris-Orly airport. Transavia will continue its development trajectory, in particular thanks to the ramp-up of its new fleet composed of Airbus A320neo family“.
Informed of the cessation of service to Nice yesterday, the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes Éric Ciotti said: “angry” and claimed to have “seized the Prime Minister” on this subject. “If Air France no longer wants to serve Nice, it can return its slots to other companies which will provide a better service than that which will be offered.“, added the MP.
Anne-Marie Couderc, President of Air France, has just announced to me the termination of the Paris Orly-Nice line which will no longer be operated by the company in 2026.
It would be the same for Paris and Toulouse.
This decision without any consultation is shameful and scandalous. I’m going… pic.twitter.com/7hojcQPHPX
— Eric Ciotti (@ECiotti) October 17, 2023
