Like in the 1911 painting «La Chasse» (The Hunt) by Cubist artist Albert Gleizes, the International Airlines Group (IAG) is preparing its horses, weapons and hunting dogs to finally set foot in France, territory of its foe Air France-KLM, as explained by Aviacionline last week.
This Thursday (30/09) IAG’s low-cost carrier Vueling finally announced where it will deploy the 17 daily slots it was granted in Paris-Orly Airport, which will be transfered from Air France under the agreement of the State aid the French airline received during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline will launch 28 new routes from Orly to 10 countries. From now on, the Paris airport will be connected by Vueling to Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle (United Kingdom); Cork and Dublin (Ireland); Bergen (Norway); Gothenburg and Stockholm (Sweden); Billund (Denmark); Hamburg, Leipzig and Nurenberg (Germany); Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Genoa and Turin (Italy); Grenada, Jerez, Oviedo, Santander and Zaragoza (Spain); Malta; Agadir and Tanger (Morroco).
The routes are all for sale on Vueling’s website. To celebrate this leap into the French market, the airline is promoting very low fares starting from EUR9.99 per flight, which almost means Vueling is paying for passengers to fly to/from Orly.
Now there is more clarity with respect to IAG’s intentions in Orly, the biggest question raised is: how will the airline affect its competitors in their home market?
Vueling is not afraid of competition
Data gathered by Aviacionline with Cirium Diio Mi helped painting a picture of the competitive scenario in the routes Vueling will start from the Paris market.
And as for now, it appears the IAG airline is not trying to steal market share from the Air France-KLM group – at least not directly in Orly. Of the 28 new connections, only five – Agadir, Bari, Dublin, Stockholm, and Tangier – have an overlap with Transavia, the low-cost carrier of the French group.
Apart from these, the Orly-Malta faces competition with Air Malta, while TUI serves Agadir and Royal Air Maroc serves Agadir and Tangier.
When we zoom out of Orly and look into the wider Paris market, though, the picture changes a little. From Beauvais Airport, served by Ryanair, ten of the 28 routes already have service – Agadir, Bergamo, Bologna, Bari, Dublin, Malta, Santander, Tangier, Turin, and Zaragoza
From Charles de Gaulle Airport – Air France’s fortress hub -, 19 of the 28 destinations have nonstop service; Bari, Bergen, Billund, Birmingham, Bologna, Dublin, Edinburgh, Genoa, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Malta, Bergamo, Newcastle, Nurenberg, Stockholm, Tangier, and Turin. Of these, 14 are served by Air France.
Although we could say that Air France does not compete for the same passengers that Vueling serves. In any case, Air France will not be as affected since it can carry connections, it is still competitive pressure in the local market – and a very relevant one, as it’s the country’s flag carrier.
Considering the three main airports of the Paris area, only six of the 28 destinations announced remain as unchallenged: Belfast, Cork, Grenada, Jerez, Leipzig, and Oviedo.
From these, three are in Spain, Vueling’s stronghold; so only three will actually be «challenging» to sell, from a brand recognition point of view.
Finally, Vueling is not afraid of competition when going down to Paris. With the 17 daily slots in Orly, the airline will really be able to become a relevant player in France.
And with these low introductory fares, it will not be surprising to see Air France-KLM – or in Orly, under the Transavia name – to react accordingly, fighting for its dominant position in France.
As in Gleizes’ 1911 painting, hunting season in France is on.
