XL Airways and La Compagnie airlines are merging in a bid to create a sizeable French presence in the long-haul, low-cost market.
La Compagnie is an all-business-class airline operating two 74-seat Boeing 757-200s between Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) and Newark Liberty International Airport. XL Airways, also based at Paris CDG, is in the low-cost economy bracket and operates a small fleet of Airbus A330-200s and -300s.
The -200s have a two-class configuration of 18 premium and 343 economy seats, while the larger -300s have a single-class, 408-seat layout. XL flies to destinations in North America, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean.
The two companies will band together under the umbrella of La Compagnie's holding company, DreamJet Participations. Frantz Yvelin, La Compagnie's founder, CEO and driving force behind the merger, has resigned "to pursue other projects." The position of CEO of the two airlines will be taken by XL Group's current CEO Laurent Magnin.
The two carriers will retain their separate identities, a spokeswoman for the group said Dec. 2.
The motivation for the move seems to have been the incentive to cut costs through synergies and to build both revenue and a larger presence in the marketplace.
"I believe wholeheartedly in the potential of the French airline industry," Magnin said in a statement. "The XL Group path has been remarkable, especially in the U.S.... this new shareholders' model leverages our organization to enable us to achieve much more."
By Alan Dron, ATW Daily News
Yvelin described La Compagnie as growing steadily, with load factors around the 80% mark. The airline offers what it describes as a business-class service at highly competitive prices. It began a second, London Luton-New York Newark route in 2015, but cut it three months ago to concentrate on the Paris sector.
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