By Mauro Orru
Air France plans to abandon Paris-Orly Airport in the next few years and redirect domestic and international flights to its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub as the airline grapples with a slump in domestic air travel.
The airline, part of Franco-Dutch carrier group Air France-KLM, said that traffic on domestic routes out of Paris-Orly had plunged 40% and even 60% for day return trips between 2019 and 2023.
Air France is also reckoning with a drop in domestic business travel as workers can connect via videoconferencing without having to pay for air fares, a habit spurred by the pandemic. Meanwhile, the government of President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to encourage rail travel over air when possible, further dampening domestic demand.
The airline said it would operate all domestic and international flights from Paris-Charles de Gaulle by the summer of 2026, making an exception for flights to and from Corsica that will continue to be served out of Paris-Orly.
Air France will keep flying to Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, and the French overseas territories from Paris-Orly until 2026, when it plans to make Transavia–Air France-KLM’s low-cost carrier–the reference operator from Paris-Orly.
According to the airline, the redeployment of flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle is expected to have a limited impact on jobs in Toulouse, Marseille and Nice, which it said it would manage through voluntary transfers and departures.
Air France said the plan would help it maintain a strong brand presence in all the markets it serves, while responding to what it called rapidly changing travel demand. “It would optimize the use of each airline’s resources, make the offer clearer for customers and improve Air France’s competitiveness,” it said.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com
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