Air France recently announced a significant increase in flights to and from Algeria. Both Air France and its…
Air France recently announced a significant increase in flights to and from Algeria. Both Air France and its low-cost subsidiary Transavia will launch numerous new flights to the North African country, serving a total of 17 new routes between them.
Air France recently announced the details of a new route expansion centred on Algeria. Air France and Transavia will offer hundreds of thousands of new seats to Algeria over summer 2020 and beyond.
France has a large population of Algerian-descent, and Algeria is an up-and-coming holiday destination, particularly for adventure tourism.
Air France’s new destinations
According to an Air France press release outlining the details of the new route expansion, Air France will operate up to 31 new flights per week to the Algerian cities of Algiers and Oran as of 4 April. The airline says it will operate these flights using its Airbus A318s and Airbus A320s.
The most frequent route will be Paris Orly to Algiers with 14 flights per week all year round, followed by Marseille to Algiers with seven flights per week, all year round. The new Toulouse to Algiers and Toulouse to Oran routes will also be served by four flights per week. Additionally, Air France will offer two flights per week between Nice and Algiers during the summer period spanning 14 July to 27 August.
Transavia’s new destinations
Air France-KLM’s low-cost subsidiary will also play a key role in the upcoming Algerian route expansion. According to Air France’s press release, Transavia will be offering an additional 445,000 seats between France and Algeria over summer 2020.
Like Air France, Transavia’s biggest new route will be Paris Orly to Algiers, which will get 14 flights per week as of 4 April. The rest of Transavia’s new routes are generally less-traveled, connecting smaller regional airports in both countries.
On 4 April, Transavia will launch three weekly flights between Paris Orly and Bejaia, three weekly flights between Paris Orly and Constantine, six weekly flights between Paris Orly and Oran and two flights per week between Paris Orly and Setif.
Later in April, passengers will get the opportunity to catch two flights per week between Paris Orly and Tlemcen, a weekly service between Lyon and Bejaia, a weekly service between Lyon and Constantine and two flights per week between Lyon and Oran.
Finally, in July, Transavia will launch two flights per week between Montpellier and Algiers, two flights per week between Montpellier and Constantine and two flights per week between Montpellier and Oran. In addition to these new routes, Transavia will also increase its current Lyon to Algiers service from two to six flights per week.
These routes will be served by Transavia’s fleet of 29 Boeing 737-800s, each of which have a capacity of 189 seats. Following the collapse of Aigle Azur last year, it looks like Air France and Transavia have taken the opportunity to fill some of the capacity left behind by the now-defunct French airline, which flew to a number of destinations in Algeria.
