Reports suggest that Air France’s commuter subsidiary Hop (branded HOP!), is likely to disappear.
France’s La Tribune reports that Ben Smith, the new Air France/KLM CEO, is unhappy with the Hop brand “because it is confusing for Air France’s long-haul passengers, a problem similar to Joon.”
Earlier this month Business Traveller reported that Air France would be closing its trendy Joon subsidiary.
Now the same fate might befall Hop. The subsidiary was founded six years ago to act as a feeder airline for Air France’s hubs at Paris CDG and Paris Orly, as well as to operate numerous domestic routes, particularly those bypassing Paris.
As we reported last week, Air France will be using Hop on the Paris CDG to London Heathrow route this summer.
In truth Hop has not proved a success for Air France.
Says La Tribune, “Six years after its launch, Hop is a bitter failure. After 100 or so planes operated at the time [of its launch] only about 50 remain. This fleet requires the employment of 800 pilots which is huge.”
As yet Air France has yet to make any official comment.
But it is expected that the Hop livery will remain for the foreseeable future along with its current route network.
