How will the A220 be useful for Air France?

Beyond offering more comfort to its passengers – the A220 has a 2-3 seating configuration – or reducing CO2 emissions, it is important to take into account the economic reasons why Air France opted for the Airbus aircraft. In a press presentation, the reason is clear: «the choice of this aircraft, whose costs per seat are 10% lower than those of the aircraft it replaces», he says, «responds to the need to improve the profitability of Air France in its short and medium-haul business«.

The need to replace the short-haul fleet is justified by a keynote interview by one of Europe’s nemeses from years ago. In the Paris Air Forum in 2016, Ryanair’s Group CEO, Michael O’Leary, said that the dilemma of Europe’s big groups’ was that its long-haul operations were profitable, while its short-haul was not.

However, since the short-haul, which is a deficit, feeds the long-haul, which is profitable, the reduction of the short-haul is not a viable option.

He said whether traditional airline groups would adopt, or the future lay in low-cost airlines, such as EasyJet and Ryanair, would power the traditional carriers’ large hubs.

Although O’Leary’s personality is known for his exaggerated statements, the bottom line was true: for years, groups like Air France-KLM have been fighting to make their short-haul operations profitable.

Five years later, the «low cost» still does not feed the «legacies». However, in the wake of a pandemic that has devastated corporate demand from businesses – the bread and butter of legacies – and long-haul services, large groups need more than ever to run short-haul flights.

And the first routes announced by Air France demonstrate this well; surprisingly, the company is not targeting secondary markets, but key destinations on the continent. From the first day of operations, October 31, the airline will connect its Paris/Charles de Gaulle hub with Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Milan/Linate, and Venice.