Following his appointment and as part of the Group’s new strategy, Ben Smith, CEO of the Air France-KLM Group, and Anne Rigail, Executive Vice President of Air France, today announced the creation of a fifth class of travel which will be progressively deployed on all long-haul destinations served by the national airline. This class, named La Dernière, in reference to the first class named La Première, is intended to be a direct competitor to long-haul low-cost airlines such as Norwegian or French Blue, while going much further.
Une concurrence toujours plus forte qui tire les prix vers le bas
Since the beginning of the 2010s, competition from long-haul low-cost airlines has been raging in Europe. While most of the smaller airlines have not lasted very long, Norwegian continues to challenge European legacy airlines in their historically profitable long-haul markets.
In addition to an optimized fleet in terms of diversity and fuel-efficient aircraft types, these airlines are characterized by a no-frills(or unbundled) offer, where every service is extra, both in terms of catering and baggage.
French Bee, created in France two years ago, is based on thisno-frillsmodel and competes directly with historical airlines such as Air France or Air Austral.
Also, to compensate for this competition which pulls the prices down, the historical airlines have aligned themselves, creating light fares without luggage… But without affecting the catering yet.
On the other hand, U.S. airlines have already gone a step further by offering Basic Economy classes, with tighter restrictions on carry-on baggage and an assigned seat at the boarding gate. So many constraints that some travelers are willing to accept.
There was a strong need for the European players to enrich their range of economy class services in order to bring back customers who had left for low-cost carriers
La Derniere, an economic product that defies the codes of the airline industry
During a press conference at the Air France headquarters this morning to which we were invited, the two leaders discussed the characteristics of the concept, which is intended to be innovative, and which is for sure…
A hard product unchanged… for the moment
Air France is promising to roll out its product on all its routes operated by twin-aisle aircraft for the 2019/2020 IATA winter season, which begins on Sunday, October 27, 2019, and for a reason… The La Derniere product uses the rear of the current fleet’s economy cabins, the last 8 rows for the moment, with no change in pitch.
However, Ben Smith indicated that the airline was considering a more basichard product in the form of rows of jump seats, with a smaller pitch and narrower seat width, allowing for a 45% increase in the number of passengers in the same area. These new seats could be deployed natively on the A350s that the French airline is preparing to receive… And tomorrow to make economic sense of the A380?
Limited carry-on luggage
In La Dernière class, checked baggage is obviously not included in the fare, but the baggage option will be available for a fee of €50 per passenger for baggage weighing less than 23kg.
The novelty is that only one accessory will be allowed in the cabin, the baggage racks being forbidden to these passengers who will have to store all their personal effects under the seat.
The use of the luggage racks will be charged on board €70 per passenger.
No catering services, even for a fee
Passengers in this class will not benefit from the catering service unlike Economy passengers, even on a buy-on-board formula. Instead, they will be able to go to the Galley to purchase meals from the crew, after the service is completed in Economy class, and reheat the food themselves in the thermostatic ovens available.
As well as paying options, passengers will also be able to choose rewarding options. Here, participate in the distribution and preparation of meals in economy class, for a 20% reduction in the price of the ticket in La Dernière class.
Participate in the loading of luggage
Another remunerative option proposed: the participation in the loading of the luggage. It too, paid 20% of the ticket price, requires to go down to the runway to load the luggage in the plane.
Exclusively for TravelGuys, Ben Smith tried this option. Even if it came out rather exhausted, the game can be worth it for the poorer passengers:
But what will the crew do while La Dernière customers are working?
When La Dernièrecustomers officiate, crews will be able to occupy available seats in La Premièreand Business class, and call customers using the call button.
In partnership withParis Match, flight attendants will be given a free issue to occupy these moments of pause offered by customers.
These compensations were obtained after bitter negotiations with the staff representative bodies.
An unbeatable price
The price announced by Air France is crazy: 99€ one way, whatever the destination. And the rewarding options will apply on this basis, regardless of the taxes shown.
Bottom line
As with Premium Economy ten years ago, Air France is innovating once again with its La Dernièreclass… Will the competition follow? In any case it is a new segment that we will not fail to watch in the coming months!
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