Relief in Brittany. The Air France group on Thursday granted a five-month reprieve to the Brest-Orly airline, whose announced closure had drawn the ire of Breton elected officials.
In an email to AFP, the group announces “having taken the decision to finally stop providing the Brest-Paris-Orly link, operated by Transavia”, but specifies that “this suspension, however, will not take place on 30 October, in order to promote alternative solutions for Brest and Finistère”. “The suspension of Transavia flights will take place no later than the end of March 2023.”
On September 5, the operator announced via email to the region’s elected officials that “the economy of the line has deteriorated significantly.” “This situation unfortunately does not allow the line to continue operating in the winter season of 2022, after October 30.” Air France thus evokes a low occupancy rate of around 30%.
No high-speed rail connection
Despite the context that pushes the airline industry towards energy sobriety, elected officials denounced in a press release “an unacceptable decision as it stands (…) especially since the objective of a high-speed line to the west of Britain has not yet been achieved.” and it stays above 3:30 in the best of cases”.
“The accessibility of our territory and, consequently, its attractiveness, is crucial to allow the development of business and employment at the tip of Brittany. That is why we ask Air France and its majority shareholder, the French State, to review this position” wrote the president of the Loïg Chesnais-Girard region (several on the left), the mayor of Brest François Cuillandre (PS) and the president of the Finistère department, Maël de Calan (LR).
The spokesman for the environmentalists of Brest, Glen Dissaux, denounced, on the contrary, the “great Pavlovian reflex” of “people screaming because their privileges have just been taken away.” “Paris-Brest is 60 times more polluting by plane than by train. At some point we will have to take this fact into account,” he told the newspaper. the telegram.
“Paris-Brest is 60 times more polluting by plane than by train”
Air France says that it is ready “to offer its commercial support to a regional operator that considers positioning itself on the Brest-Paris-Orly link” and assures that “discussions have already begun, in coordination with the State and local groups.”
At the end of March, Transavia, a low-cost subsidiary, will continue to offer up to four weekly flights between Brest and Paris-Orly.
The company also recalls that it operates under its name (therefore with tickets a priori more expensive than those of Transavia) a service to Brest from Paris-Charles de Gaulle”. This link will also be “reinforced with 27 weekly flights this winter”.
Source: BFM TV
