Will we reach 3 million passengers between Paris and New York in 2023? Traffic growth is positive and the latest reliable figures, in 2019, showed 2,966,075 available seats. Since then, aircraft capacity and the number of frequencies have increased. There remains the occupancy rate of the planes, linked to the will to travel of the passengers. It is indexed to the ticket price (up 20%) but also depends on exogenous factors, such as the euro/dollar parity which favors the arrival of American customers. Please note that vaccination against Covid remains compulsory until May 11 and a declaration form must be completed when boarding in Paris. There is no control on arrival, it seems.
But what are the different airlines offering on this transatlantic route? Given the prevailing west-east winds, the outward flight takes eight fifteen hours, one hour less on the way back. A duration which can vary with the position of the jet streams, without forgetting the delay taken during the long taxiing before reaching the runway in New York. Almost all the long-haul models produced by Airbus and Boeing are engaged by the eight companies on this Paris-New York service, with the exception of the A380s and the B747s which did not resist the pandemic.
By far the leading operator on the Paris-New York route, with 2,200 seats per day and per direction (up to 2,900 with Delta), Air France describes its JFK service as a shuttle with a flight at least every two hours departure from CDG 2E, including the two frequencies of the partner Delta. In addition, a daily flight serves Newark, the most accessible airport from Manhattan. On the other hand, the Orly-JFK flight has not resumed, Air France considering that the TGV-R offer, more muscular, allows travelers departing from the regions to easily access Roissy-CDG. Returning from the United States, flights take off from JFK every hour from 4:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., due to night and jet lag.
Air France is the last company to have maintained the four first class seats on the Boeing 777-300ER and only on flights departing from Paris at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. JFK has, by Elsewhere, early this year was the first network destination to feature the new cabin featuring business sleeper seats with sliding doors, on the 8:30 a.m. flight. , the other service devices, will have the same equipment. Note that at JFK Terminal 1, the recently renovated lounge (ex-Concorde, with a panoramic view of Manhattan) now has a Clarins space.
A shareholder and partner of Air France in SkyTeam, Delta also operates from CDG 2E and has the same ground facilities. We travel on board an Airbus A330-300neo with 237 seats divided into 4 classes (business, premium, comfort and economy). If a third flight is scheduled at peak, the service is carried out with old Boeing 767-400s. At JFK, Delta operates Terminal 4, which offers nearly 200 connecting flights. A bonded shuttle bus will connect Air France Terminal 1 and facilitate international connections for SkyTeam partners. Delta is also resuming the New York-Nice flight daily.
Two daily newspapers to Newark are operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 318 seats in 4 classes. United also returns to Nice-New York this summer.
From CDG 2B, AA’s daily flight is operated by a Boeing 777-200 fitted out in three class (business, premium, economy). Arrival at JFK terminal 8, the common terminal for American Airlines and British Airways, Oneworld partners on the transatlantic.
After London, Berlin and its base in Oslo, Paris-CDG is the fourth destination connected to New York-JFK by Norse Atlantic. The low-cost airline, born from the ashes of Norwegian, also operates a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 35 seats in premium class and 309 in economy.
Another newcomer this year, operating from the end of June, JetBlue is a low-cost airline based in JFK. It serves 104 destinations in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America which can be connected with the daily departure from Roissy-CDG 2. The Airbus A321neo has a capacity of 138 seats, including 24 in Mint, business class offering chair beds.
A low-cost company from the Vendée group Dubreuil, French Bee serves destinations that are not the responsibility of its cousin Air Caraïbes. As such, it connects Orly to La Réunion, Papeete, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and New York-Newark with Airbus A350, latest generation aircraft. This earned it the leading position in the world ranking of companies that emit the least CO2. The daily A350-900 has 411 seats arranged in rows 2-3-2 in premium and 3-4-3.
The marketing departments of the airlines do not lack imagination to deceive passengers and make them take bladders for lanterns. So it is with the denomination of the Premium class. This evokes the notion of First Class. In fact, depending on the carriers, it is a super economy class or a degraded business class, always an intermediate offer between the two classes.
Another overused qualification is that of “First Class” given to a few rows of seats at the front of aircraft on domestic flights of American airlines. These do not even offer the standard of business seats on international flights.
Driven up by Asian and Gulf airlines, an international business class standard has emerged and meets three criteria of excellence. The “3F” concept combines a horizontal bed (full flat), direct access to the aisle without disturbing its neighbor (full access) and a shell sufficiently enveloping to isolate oneself visually (full privacy), possibly outside. using a sliding door.
“Main cabin extra” at American Airlines, Delta Comfort, “Economy Plus” at United, “Even More Space” at JetBlue, etc. also maintain confusion in the cabins at the rear of the aircraft. It is neither more nor less than an economy class where the seats are a little further apart (3 inches in general, 7 cm), which generates an additional hundred euros accompanied by some services on the ground (access priority, cabin baggage storage, for example).
On the price side, it is the law of supply and demand. Fares can vary from one to fifty depending on class, date of booking and date of travel. Recent increases – around 20% – due to wages, inflation, the euro/dollar parity and the cost of fuel could stabilize, as kerosene tends to fall. For example, for a round trip May 7-15, count from 413 euros (French bee) to 19,892 euros in First class (Air France).