Air France ponders fare cuts to match BA

Wednesday, 17 Jan, 2006 0

Air France is considering cutting its prices to match those offered by British Airways’ new BA Connect service on routes where the two carriers compete.

The airline’s new UK and Ireland general manager Christine Ourmieres, who moved from the carrier’s head office in Paris last September, said it needed to protect its business on routes to the French capital from London, Manchester and Birmingham. BA’s new revamped CitiExpress operation will launch on February 1 with prices from £25 one way.

“At the moment we are focussing on the BA Connect concept and are very interested to see what they will do,” said Ourmieres.

“First I want to see their prices, they will be available on the global distribution system within a couple of weeks. We might well change our prices, but it depends on a lot of things, including the type of service they offer. We have to make sure we are competitive on a like-for-like service.

“Everyone has lost a lot of business to the no-frills airlines, although they have also succeeded in growing the market. In this business you have to be able to react.”

Ourmieres said the airline had a market share of around 2.5 per cent in the UK and, after revamping its business and first class services, was focussing on improvements in other areas.

She said it planned to have self-service kiosks at the nine airports in the UK and Ireland from where Air France offers services. Currently, it has five kiosks at Heathrow, three at Dublin and two at London City.

“The feedback on our service upgrades has been very positive and we are now focussing on things outside the aircraft, because that is just as important to today’s travellers.”

Ourmieres said she also wanted to increase the awareness of Air France as a global carrier.

“I think Air France is well-known when it comes to flights to Paris, but following our tie-up with KLM, we have to create awareness of our services to Asia and beyond. Our flights go through Paris, which is obviously a different service to one that goes direct, but that can be reflected in the price.”

She claimed the carrier’s recent move to zero commission had not affected its relationship with the trade and 80% of its business still came through retailers.

“Our business model is linked to partnerships and companies receive rewards and marketing for supporting us.”