French all-business class airline La Compagnie is to take delivery of two new Airbus A321 neo aircraft in 2019, with features including fully flat seating.
The carrier currently flies twice-daily between Paris and New York – it had previously offered a daily service between London’s Luton Airport and New York Newark, but this was dropped in September 2016, “in view of a new economic climate in Europe, fuelled by Brexit”.
La Compagnie’s currently operates two B757-200 aircraft with angled lie-flat seating – these will be phased out as the airline takes delivery of the new Airbus aircraft. For a review of the seating and service on the carrier’s now defunct Luton-Paris route (published in March 2016), see:
The new A321 neos will also feature wifi connectivity – La Compagnie has yet to confirm the seating layout for the aircraft, but a press release says that the carrier will continue to offer “a full business class configuration”.
Commenting on the news Laurent Magnin, CEO of La Compagnie said:
“This year alone, La Compagnie has flown over 40,000 passengers, in which sixty percent were from the US and twenty-five percent frequent fliers.
“The purchase of two new Airbus A321neos, which are more in line with industry standards than our current fleet of Boeing 757s, is an important step in maintaining our unique position in the market as we continue to invest in our clients and evolve as a brand.”
The move continues the trend towards the use of single-aisle aircraft on transatlantic routes – see our special report Narrow Margins for more information.
