By John O'Ceallaigh
The latest business class-only flight route has launched. Serving passengers travelling between Paris and New York and offered by new French airline La Compagnie, the business class-only flights will depart four to five times per week. Flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport will leave at 5.50pm and arrive in Newark International Airport at 8.30pm; return flights will depart New York at 9.45pm and arrive in Paris at 11.15am.
La Compagnie will operate a fleet of redesigned Boeing 757-200 aircraft, with its 74 lie-flat seats set in a 2x2 configuration. As for the experience on board, menus have been devised by Christophe Langree, the Michelin-starred chef at Hotel Matignon in Paris, amenity kits are by Caudalie and all passengers will be provided with personal Samsung tablets preloaded with a range of films, music, books and magazines. Complimentary WiFi will be available for those who want to work during the flight. Passengers will have access to the Icare lounge when departing from Paris, and the “Art & Lounge” space at Newark.
The airline was launched in October 2013 by L’Avion founder Frantz Yvelin with assistance from former Swissair and JetAirways COO Peter Luethi. Current prices are competitive: to celebrate the beginning of flights this month, La Compagnie is offering return flights between New York and Paris from £1,200 per couple.
The launch of the La Compagnie service will be monitored closely by British Airways, which operates the OpenSkies premium-flight service between Paris and New York. Business-, premium economy- and economy-class seating is available on that carrier, but the overall experience is marketed as one of the most luxurious available between the two cities. Business-class return fares on that route are currently available from £1,470 per person.
The launch of La Compagnie’s flights follows the announcement that newly created Odyssey Airlines is to start all-business-class flights between London City Airport and New York from 2016. British Airways already offers all-business-class flights on that route and Qatar Airways all-business-class flights between London and Doha began this summer.
This article was written by John O'Ceallaigh from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
