WORLD ROUTES: Air France and Air Antilles Express Sign Regional Partnership

Air France and Air Antilles Express will this winter implement a commercial partnership consisting of a “free flow” agreement between Fort de France and Saint Lucia, with effect from October 28, 2012. Under the terms of the arrangement the French flag carrier will be permitted to sell its own tickets on Air Antilles Express’ own ATR 42-500 flights on the regional route, enabling it to offer its customers three weekly services to Saint Lucia from Paris.

“Air France welcomes this partnership which will offer customers an additional opportunity to travel to the Caribbean from Europe and vice versa. Air France is supporting the development of trade and tourism in the Caribbean, as it has done for the past 65 years. For Air France, this agreement constitutes the beginning of a wider cooperation which could be extended to other destinations,” said Alain Malka, SVP Caribbean & Indian Ocean, Air France KLM.

Founding SkyTeam alliance member Air France currently flies to Martinique and Guadeloupe using a Boeing 777-300 with 13 weekly flights from Paris Orly and a single weekly flight from Paris CDG. The airline also operates a regional network linking Cayenne, Fort de France, Pointe à Pitre, Port au Prince, Santo Domingo and Miami using a locally domiciled Airbus A320.

“This agreement with Air France further strengthens our commitment to expand our joint services for the benefit of passengers,” explained Christian Marchand, Chief Executive Officer, Air Antilles Express. “The destination of Saint Lucia will be perpetuated by the significant contribution of passengers from France and Europe on Air France’s transatlantic flights.”

Air Antilles Express operates a regional network in the French West Indies covering a total of six scheduled destinations. From its hubs in Pointe à Pitre and Fort de France it serves Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy and Santo Domingo with more than 18 daily connections linking these islands. Other destinations such as Punta Cana, La Romana, Antigua and Barbados are served on a charter or seasonal basis.