AF to fly LHR-LAX summer 2008?
Oct 1, 2007, 5:31 am
#1
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AF to fly LHR-LAX summer 2008?
Looks like Open Skies will start getting bloody from Day 1... Apparently AF will launch LHR-LAX next April with a 777, in conjunction with Delta as part of the Air France-Delta joint venture. The DL-AF JV will include all LHR-USA services (DL will fly LHR-JFK and LHR-ATL) as well as France-USA services. Later, this is supposed to spread to other TATL routes of both carriers.
Link below is in French only:
http://www.latribune.fr/info/Air-Fra...0071001U77JR59
Link below is in French only:
http://www.latribune.fr/info/Air-Fra...0071001U77JR59
Oct 1, 2007, 6:04 am
#2
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Looks like Open Skies will start getting bloody from Day 1... Apparently AF will launch LHR-LAX next April with a 777, in conjunction with Delta as part of the Air France-Delta joint venture. The DL-AF JV will include all LHR-USA services (DL will fly LHR-JFK and LHR-ATL) as well as France-USA services. Later, this is supposed to spread to other TATL routes of both carriers.
Link below is in French only:
http://www.latribune.fr/info/Air-Fra...0071001U77JR59
Link below is in French only:
http://www.latribune.fr/info/Air-Fra...0071001U77JR59
Oct 1, 2007, 6:57 am
#3
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Given the price premium enjoyed by BA on the US-LHR routes, I would guess that BA has much more to lose than Continental Europe carriers.
Oct 1, 2007, 7:55 am
#4
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and af/delta codeshare between lon and jfk/atl. this gives alot of new opportunities. 
wonder if this will be additional traffic or if they will cut some existing tatl routes
wonder if this will be additional traffic or if they will cut some existing tatl routes
Oct 2, 2007, 10:43 am
#6
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Oct 3, 2007, 6:28 am
#8
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Wonderful....we can now all come and go to LAX from one of the few airports in Europe that is currently worse than CDG! I'll stick to CDG or AMS thanks....
I say worse because I am hoping for great things from the new CDG terminal.....
I say worse because I am hoping for great things from the new CDG terminal.....
Oct 3, 2007, 10:18 am
#9
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I certainly wouldn't choose to connect through LHR... but if I'm actually going to London from LA, it's a huge improvement over a connecting flight.
Oct 4, 2007, 9:27 am
#10
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I just wonder how they can fill a 777 from LHR to LAX and not rely on connecting pax. I mean, they probably have a large percentage connecting through their own hub as it is....
Oct 4, 2007, 9:51 am
#12
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Oct 4, 2007, 9:57 am
#13
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There is a dozen of 318/319/320/321 commuting daily between CDG and LHR. AF are probably going to sell a few of their LHR slots to DL but I guess passengers from the CDG area constitute a most welcome extra traffic, provided AF introduce attractive pricing ex CDG for those flights, and provided they slightly adjust the capacity of the CDG LAX route accordingly (to 1 or 2 daily flights only, of which 1 A380?). Perhaps codesharing a few KL flights from AMS to LHR would certainly make sense too.
Oct 4, 2007, 12:12 pm
#14
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There is a dozen of 318/319/320/321 commuting daily between CDG and LHR. AF are probably going to sell a few of their LHR slots to DL but I guess passengers from the CDG area constitute a most welcome extra traffic, provided AF introduce attractive pricing ex CDG for those flights, and provided they slightly adjust the capacity of the CDG LAX route accordingly (to 1 or 2 daily flights only, of which 1 A380?). Perhaps codesharing a few KL flights from AMS to LHR would certainly make sense too.
Simple answer is that after November 14th, when the Eurostar travels between London and Paris much more quickly, AF will have to seriously look at all CDG-LHR flights and justify them. Eurostar already accounts for 70% of the London-Paris traffic. This will increase further in a couple of months.
AF are obviously a) being seen to react to BA's possible entry into US-France routes, and/or b) looking at other markets from LHR other than CDG.
Oct 4, 2007, 12:49 pm
#15
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I would imagine that aside from the LHR-LAX O&D traffic they will also rely on Delta's still-decent presence in the LA area. DL has started building up LAX again (they now fly to more than 50 destinations out of LAX - about 30+ domestic US cities) so the LHR flight can easily get feed from places like SAN, SJC, OAK, RNO, LAS, etc.