Monday, October 5, 2015

Air France to retire all A343s + suspending 5 Asian routes


Air France has today officially released an outline of what its major cost cutting plans are with regards to its long haul route network as the carrier failed to reach an agreement with its pilots unions last week hence was forced by the Board to undertake such a drastic action.

Source: http://www.airfranceklm.com/en/presentation-air-france-restructuring-plan

The main highlights of the restructuring plan are as follows:
  • All A343s to be retired from flying by Winter 2016
  • The A343s shall not be replaced by the B789 in the short term
  • A total of 35 weekly frequencies to be cut from the long haul route from next year onwards
  • Five Asian long haul routes to be suspended
  • Wide body fleet to be reduced from 107 to 93 by end of Winter 2016 season
  • Retirement of its 5 B744s to take place by end of IATA W15 season
Comments:

The 5 Asian routes that I predict will be suspended are as follows:
  • Riyadh (SV already flies daily from JED and RUH to CDG so they can maintain Sky Team presence)
  • Guangzhou (CZ already flies daily from CAN to CDG so they can maintain Sky Team hub to hub presence)
  • Wuhan, China
  • Osaka
  • Bangkok

    Kindly note that the suspension of Kuala Lumpur services was already announced in August hence should not be considered as part of the 5 Asian routes that it plans on suspending moving forward.

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