Cityjet chief executive Christine Ourmières has said she welcomes competition from British Airways at its London City hub and on its Paris Orly route.
Speaking to Business Traveller shortly after BA announced it would serve Orly from January (see online news November 15), Ourmières said:
“We’re analysing the impact [on our business] but BA’s flights are from Heathrow so it’s a different offer. Travellers going from London City to Orly appreciate the airport’s location so Heathrow would not be a solution for them.
“Competition is something it is better to be used to in our industry. We will do whatever we can to reinforce our route.” BA will operate 12 flights from Heathrow to Orly per week, rising to 14 in the summer, while the Air France-KLM subsidiary flies there up to six times daily from London City (LCY).
Cityjet is the biggest operator at LCY but BA has been building up the presence of its Cityflyer subsidiary there. Routes announced in recent months include Stockholm, Copenhagen and Chambéry, and all of BA's services are now operated with new “next-generation” Embraer 190 and 170 aircraft. Cityjet operates its 14 London City routes with an older fleet of Avro RJ85s and Fokker 50s.
Ourmières said: “It’s good that BA is spending at London City because it’s good for the awareness of the airport. At the same time we have a great position at LCY so it’s up to us to make sure that becomes much more known in the market.”
Last month Cityjet announced a new six-times-weekly route from LCY to Florence, to start in January (see online news October 22). Ourmières said she expected a good business uptake on the service: “Florence is a fantastic destination and is a good mix of business and leisure travel. It’s a nice development to our network. The fashion industry is strong in Florence – the opportunities are excellent.”
There are no other plans in the short term for the carrier to add to its network, although Ourmiere said it was looking at possible new seasonal leisure routes following the success of its summer services from LCY to Brive and Deauville in France, which are now being repeated for the Christmas and New Year period.
“Brive and Deauville were a fantastic experience and we would love it to be ongoing so we will see the experience of the winter services,” Ourmières said. “We’ll see if this profile of route could be developed in the future – we are studying some other high-end leisure destinations from London City and a decision will be made before the beginning of January.”
Visit cityjet.com for more information.
Report by Michelle Mannion
