Air France Frequence Plus - Why did the Brazilian Athletes and Olympic team travel home with Air France?

They flew with Olympic flag LHR-CDG-GIG with AF

Just wondering why they did not fly home with JJ direct LHR-GIG as JJ is after all the 'national carrier' of Brazil.

Was AF sponsoring the Brazil team or something?

http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/photo_1344893695681-5-0.jpg

Don't know if AF would "sponsor" teams other than their own national team (who, incidentally, travelled by train).

A far more likely reason is that the group rate provided by Air France was cheaper than that provided by JJ or BA.

Or perhaps they all just have Flying Blue accounts ;-)

http://corporate.airfrance.com/typo3temp/pics/actualite-JO_630x0.jpg

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/images/2012/0814/296626_1.jpg

http://corporate.airfrance.com/en/press/news/article/item/the-olympic-flag-flies-with-air-france-to-rio/

Same with some of the Swiss athletes.

Sat next to one of them on the train from Lausanne (she obviously got on at GVA) in 2nd class :eek: on Monday afternoon, and her bags were tagged with Easyjet labels from London.

One would think that Swiss would transport it's national athletes, but I guess these days it all comes down to what is cheapest.

PS. It was not one of the medal winners though but fit as hell ;)

and her bags were tagged with Easyjet labels from London.
:eek: I'm fainting :D

One would think that Swiss would transport it's national athletes, but I guess these days it all comes down to what is cheapest.

Ah well - even if it was not Swiss, at least she flew with a Swiss airline!

Just wondering why they did not fly home with JJ direct LHR-GIG as JJ is after all the 'national carrier' of Brazil.

I had another thought about this last night.

Perhaps Air France is attempting to burnish its image in a market that perhaps suffered as a result of the tragic accident of three years ago.

Ah well - even if it was not Swiss, at least she flew with a Swiss airline!

Easyjet is a British airline.

Easyjet Switzerland is a Swiss airline.

The poster did not say 'Easyjet Switzerland' so that means the athlete flew with a British airline.

Easyjet is a British airline.

Easyjet Switzerland is a Swiss airline.

The poster did not say 'Easyjet Switzerland' so that means the athlete flew with a British airline.

The Gatwick flights are a mix of EZS and EZY, with EZS being the more frequent. Luton appears to be EZY only. It would not be obvious from the luggage labels which flavour of Easyjet had been travelled (unless you closely inspected the flight number).

The Gatwick flights are a mix of EZS and EZY, with EZS being the more frequent. Luton appears to be EZY only. It would not be obvious from the luggage labels which flavour of Easyjet had been travelled (unless you closely inspected the flight number).

Yes but there is still a 50/50 chance that this Swiss lady was travelling with a British airline not a Swiss one.

Yes but there is still a 50/50 chance that this Swiss lady was travelling with a British airline not a Swiss one.

Well, at least everyone now knows there is an Easyjet Switzerland which has its hub at Geneva. :D

Well, at least everyone now knows there is an Easyjet Switzerland. :D

Never flew on it.

Have you? if so is there any difference between normal Easyjet and Swiss Easyjet?

EZS has a smaller, older fleet; its own crew; and different owners.

But in most other respects, I suspect the vast majority don't notice any difference, other than perhaps the curious addition of "Switzerland" to every reference made to Easyjet.

But in most other respects, I suspect the vast majority don't notice any difference

Actually, I personally think that the difference is very noticeable onboard. At least before the creation of the NCE hub, the NCE-BRU was always flown by EZS planes and crews and the experience always felt far more civilised than the 'normal' U2. Crews are very significantly nicer (I think many are probably former SR or LX from the time Swissair and Crossair died and was replaced by Swiss), catering is of much higher quality (of course the BOB principle remains), planes much cleaner, and on the whole, whether on NCE-BRU or GVA-BRU, it always feels like a much more civilised experience.

Well, at least everyone now knows there is an Easyjet Switzerland which has its hub at Geneva. :D

Around half of the passengers at GVA fly with Easyjet.

The company had the reputation to have a lot of delayed flights issues (my customer always came late at meeting because he flew Easyjet, when I was flying AF to GVA).

my customer always came late at meeting because he flew Easyjet, when I was flying AF to GVA.

^

my customer always came late at meeting because he flew Easyjet, when I was flying AF to GVA.

In my experience its usually the other way around.

In my experience its usually the other way around.

I'll admit I have never had a problem either. Maybe he was always on a specific flight which was chronically delayed (all airlines seem to have some of those) but to be honest, on the whole, Easyjet (both UK and Switzerland) has an excellent punctuality record.

Perhaps Air France is attempting to burnish its image in a market that perhaps suffered as a result of the tragic accident of three years ago.

This was my thought as well. Positive PR might be immeasurably helpful in ameliorating Brazilian concerns about AF.