French all business class airline La Compagnie has announced plans to operate transatlantic flights to Milan and Tel Aviv, adding to existing services to Paris and Nice.
Tel Aviv will operate as a tag-on service via Paris, with a one hour 30 minute stop at Orly airport. Seasonal flights will commence on July 21 and run through to October 31, 2021, with fares starting from $2,000 return.
The airline’s president Christian Vernet said that “Over the past several weeks, we see have seen an increasing demand for flights to Israel out of the United States”.
“Our 100 per cent Smart Business Class product is the perfect fit for this high-end clientele, and we strongly believe this is an opportunity for our airline to upgrade its summer program. Our human-sized nature enables us to be flexible and to launch a new route that quickly.”
Meanwhile a new route from Newark to Milan Malpensa will launch on November 29, with four flights per week and fares starting from $1,700 return.
Vernet said that “In a post Covid-19 era we anticipate a lower demand on our New York-Paris route, therefore we need to diversify our destinations offering and look for alternative routes for our second aircraft”.
“Nice and Tel Aviv are a great combination for the summer season and Milan is a strong long-term route with a balanced mix of business and leisure passengers travelling throughout the year.”
La Compagnie’s Paris Orly route resumed on June 12, with the carrier stating that the first four flights achieved a 100 per cent load factor. Service is currently twice weekly, increasing to four flights per week from July, five weekly flights from August, and daily from September.
The airline’s seasonal service to Nice will relaunch on July 2, with three flights per week running until the end of September.
All tickets are currently 100 per cent changeable and refundable without charge, up to 24 hours before departure.
La Compagnie operates a fleet of two A321 neo aircraft, configured with 76 fully-flat Diamond seats by Collins Aerospace.
The carrier received a €10 million state-backed loan in June 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and secured a second €10 million loan earlier this month, “in addition to an undisclosed ‘significant’ capital injection from its shareholders”.
