Being at the crossroads seems to please himOur ability to invest remains very strongBut it all depends on the definition of incidentNamed ideo it will be proposed on May 25Planning also leaves no flexibility to act urgentlyWe we recognize fully the national approachBut the proposals are not always favourably receivedThe difference is that La Grande Vadrouille laugh550 billion remains at the centre of the questions In my opinion it is a good case for GecinaAir France and KLM marriage brought a long-haul offer without equal in Europe. The Group serves 114 destinations in 106 countries, while Lufthansa and Swissair to serve 85 and British Airways 71. Rather than put on hold one of two hubs or to allow them to live independently, the new company was successful, since the summer 2004, the bet of "resonance implementation." "Large flows operated out of the two hubs are the subject of coordination," summarizes Henri of Peyrelongue, Director of the program Air France-KLM. The idea was "it is better to a daily direct flight to the departure of one of the two hubs that two non-daily flights of the two hubs.
This idea has led to specialization of CDG and Schiphol based on their historical portfolio. KLM has remained strong in some destinations in Asia, anglophone Africa East, Gulf and Latin America, CDG on other.
The majority of destinations are unique: 47 are only serviced by flights Air France from CDG, 35 only on flights KLM from Schiphol and 32 are common at the outset of the two hubs, because they relate to the major global cities. Flight schedules are diverse with a combinable tariff offer, leaving the possibility to leave town and return by another passenger.
Shuttle dual-core
The link between the two platforms is facilitated by a dual-core Shuttle, in 15 daily flights covering all the beaches of correspondence. Customers of the group have access to a unique kind of grand virtual hub. All flights of the Shuttle are "in contact" with terminals and chouchoutés passengers. The "hubway" is a "technology showcase" where experiments (boarding on mobile phone, "smart-boarding") are launched. In addition to this "aerial highway", links by train are under study. This dual hub also allows to better respond to the difficult weather, two platforms being rarely affected at the same time.
Mathieu Blondel, specialist of the firm Arthur d. Little, multihub companies exist elsewhere: the American majors work with 4 or five major hubs and Lufthansa with Frankfurt and Munich and Zurich, Brussels and Vienna. "But that a company has specialised strongly two hubs with a Shuttle also optimized is unique."
Long-term cooperation
The marriage of the two bases of Air France-KLM is now complemented by the managers of the platforms. Airport de Paris (ADP) and Schiphol Group exchanged, end of 2008, cross-8 shareholdings and signed a long-term cooperation agreement. This alliance, which "coincides perfectly with the first customer of the two, Air France-KLM strategy, is a first world", says René Brun, Director of the Paris - CDG (ADP) airport. "It reinforces us in the competition between the major European hubs." The reasons are the continuity of the service, industrial synergies, the exchange of best practices... It is mainly to gather a force of investment to diversify the risks in the management of other foreign airports. It is also a way of anticipating an anti-OPA defence, since the two airports have, in term, vocation to be privatized.
This AF-KLM/CDG-Schiphol model based on British Airways. As soon as the merger of this company with Iberia will become effective, the new group sees as "a development opportunity" the articulation of Heathrow with the hub of Madrid, very turned to Latin America, "with a layout means faster and more integrated than Air France-KLM", says Patrick Malval, commercial Director at British Airways. The airlift will be strengthened between the two cities and the double hub will loosen the embrace of capacity at Heathrow.
