The withdrawal of Air France from daily Nice-Paris flights still worries business leaders, despite the announcement of a replacement offer via Transavia. We also know a little more about the control of low cost over the shuttle, thanks to its CEO Olivier Mazzucchelli. With, already, slightly modified flight schedules.
After a first season full of twists and turns where Air France announced its decision to leave the tarmacs of Paris-Orly in 2026, and by extension the impact on the Nice shuttle, then the assurance of its switch, from the summer of 2026, towards the good offices of its low cost subsidiary Transavia, the second season of the Nice-Orly series resumed this November 25 in the premises of the CCI Nice Côte d'Azur, via the official presentation of a study on the air transport habits of Riviera companies between Nice and Paris. At the helm, Olivier Mazzucchelli, CEO of Transavia, accompanied by Manuella Goyat, general secretary, and Nicolas Henin, deputy commercial director general, to answer the many questions from consular elected officials.
The plane chosen to reach Paris, hence tangible concerns
Traffic on Nice-Paris and Paris-Nice is particularly intense, it represents 2.5 to 3 million passengers per year out of the 14.6 million who pass through Nice airport (2024 figures). For 2/3, Orly has preference over Roissy-Charles De Gaulle. Of the 473 respondents to the consular study, 448 make business trips by plane to Paris, 179 go there one or several times a month and around sixty one or several times a week. Following Air France's decision, some entrepreneurs go so far as to mention “the medium-term questioning of the presence of support activity with employees based in Nice“, while others believe that “It’s a disaster for our business. […] We will have to reduce our staff in Nice and perhaps take premises in Paris, with very significant costs.“.
Nicolas Henin, deputy general commercial director, Manuella Goyat, general secretary, and Olivier Mazzucchelli, CEO of Transavia.
A program to refine
If the company is not yet able to communicate its Orly-Nice flight schedule, we should know more in the first half of 2025. It can already announce that there will no longer be 14 frequencies as with Air France. There will be fewer journeys in the middle of the day to allow Transavia to concentrate on morning and evening schedules. “We will most likely have two planes sleeping in Nice to leave early in the morning», assures Nicolas Henin, deputy general commercial director, who wants to be reassuring about the quality of the service, particularly for the business segment. “Currently, you can change your ticket unlimitedly up to two hours before departure. We will improve by 2026, to allow reservation changes up to 30 minutes before takeoff“. The possibility of switching to another flight if your schedule is ahead of schedule is also announced. The choice of seat, cabin baggage included, a telephone line and a priority ground route complete the system in particular. Transavia, integrated into the program Flying Blue of Air France, is also working to have a lounge at Orly and on a subscription offer. “If we do not have the same offer as Air France, the price will also be different, with differences of -30 to -40%“, adds Nicolas Henin. “The more successful we are, the more planes we will put“, concludes Olivier Mazzucchelli.
More efficient devices
The CEO of Transavia still announced that the shuttle will be taken over “from March, start of the 2026 summer season“. At the head of a company which shows 16% growth (in seats per kilometer traveled) for 14.2 million passengers in more than 120 destinations (3,000 employees), the CEO will, firstly, present his performance sheet. road. Including the objective of replacing the 68 Boeing 737-800s in its fleet with aircraft from the European manufacturer Airbus. The Airbus A320neo, a modernized version of the A320, has been acclaimed for its low fuel consumption combined with lower noise pollution (and financial cost). “The first Airbus arrived in January 2024. We already have 10. We should have 13, but Airbus has suffered some delays“. Growing, Transavia ranks fifth among the most punctual airlines according to the October monthly report on delivery punctuality produced by Cirum. A result which made the CEO say: “We are not bad, we are even good… And we can do even better».
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