European flag carrier Air France is to expand its network in Canada with the introduction of a seasonal flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Vancouver International Airport in summer 2015. The announcement was made as its sister carrier KLM also finally confirmed the return of scheduled flights between Amsterdam and Edmonton and a commitment to increase capacity into Calgary.
The new Air France connection to Vancouver will launch on March 29, 2015 and will initially operate on a three times weekly basis through to May 4, 2015 when it will be increased to a five times weekly schedule for the peak summer period, before returning to a three times weekly offering from September 14, 2015 through to the end of the season on October 24, 2015.
“The opening by Air France of the Vancouver-Paris route five times a week along with the existing KLM daily flights in the summer will strengthen the Group's position in Western Canada. The addition of Air France flights will also contribute to develop trade and tourism between France and British Columbia,” said Patrick Alexandre, executive vice president commercial -passenger business, Air France-KLM.
Air France will utilise a Boeing 777-200 on the route equipped with its new leisure configuration, providing seating for 309 passengers - 35 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy and 250 in Economy. According to data from the Vancouver Airport Authority, the new service will add $13.7 million in Gross Domestic Product, $8.8 million in wages and 248 jobs to the British Columbia economy.
“Our customers have long been asking for Air France’s non-stop direct flights to Paris,” said Craig Richmond, president and chief executive officer, Vancouver Airport Authority. “We recently surveyed Metro Vancouver residents and results showed Paris as the number one requested destination.”
The Air France flight will complement the existing daily service of KLM between Amsterdam and Vancouver. “The complementary nature of Air France and KLM's flight schedules will give customers more choice of connections via the hubs at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol,” said Alexandre.
The Paris – Vancouver market is already served by Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat which has offered flights for the past seven summers and will resume its seasonal flights in June 2015. According to MIDT data an estimated 53,000 bi-directional O&D passengers a year fly between the two cities with the direct Air Transat flight accounting for just 36.2 per cent of this traffic.
In our analysis, below, we look in greater detail at O&D demand between Paris CDG and Vancouver International, a sizeable market despite the limited regular non-stop flights. The statistics show how the market has been stimulated since Air Transat introduced direct flights in summer 2008 and despite declines in 2010 and 2011, pasenger numbers have been on the rise in the past two years.
Data provided by 
Alongside Air France’s new route to Vancouver, sister carrier KLM has this week confirmed our report from last month (See 'KLM Set to Return Edmonton’s Transatlantic Link to Amsterdam') that it will introduce a new link between Amsterdam and Edmonton. The Dutch flag carrier will introduce a three times weekly service on the route from May 5, 2015 using an Airbus A330-200, increasing to a four times weekly schedule from June 23, 2015.
Air services between Europe and Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and a developing cultural, governmental and educational centre, have been limited over recent years and the introduction of this additional transatlantic connection will help facilitate the growing demand for travel to and from the city.
KLM’s confirmation of its summer 2015 transatlantic growth marks the return of flights on this route for the first time in eight years. The Amsterdam – Edmonton route was previously flown by Dutch leisure carrier Martinair, also part of Air France-KLM, twice weekly using a Boeing 767-300ER on a seasonal basis up until 2007.
Last year an estimated 168,000 passengers flew between Edmonton and destinations across Europe, up 7.8 per cent on the previous year. This was the second successive year of demand growth with numbers up 17.5 per cent in 2013 versus 2012.
Further expanding its presence in Canada, KLM has also confirmed it will expand its operations into Calgary International Airport with more seats on its existing non-stop flight from Amsterdam in summer 2015. The Dutch carrier currently operates six flights a week in winter and a daily schedule in the summer, but next year will increase seat capacity by 3.7 per cent or 150 seats per week with an additional 777-200 frequency (to four weekly flights).
“Calgary has been a very successful market for KLM since the start of our operations in 2009, and Calgary International Airport continues to play an important role in further developing the KLM network to/from Canada. It’s our aim to continue our capacity growth in Calgary for the near future,” said Pieter Groeneveld, Vice President Network Planning, KLM.
Meanwhile, Air France has signed a formal partnership contract with MSC Cruises to fly passengers to La Romana in Dominican Republic to support Caribbean sailings of its MSC Musica ship. The flag carrier will operate 18 rotations between December 7, 2014 and April 5, 2015 using a 432-seat Boeing 747-400, providing a total of 7,776 seats for cruise passengers.
This latest agreement, its first for flights into the Dominican Republic continues a two-year arrangement between the airline and cruise operator that has seen passengers flown to several European countries, French West Indies and South America to join cruises. Air France carried more than 12,000 MSC Cruises passengers in 2013 and expects to more than double this total to 28,000 in 2014, thanks in part to this new long-haul contract.
According to Patrick Alexandre, this partnership extends a long-term cooperation between Air France and MSC Cruises on the Italian market and more recently on the French market. “This contract is a very strong signal, which echoes Air France sales offensive, in order to offer the products best tailored to clients’ needs,” he said.
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