Image courtesy of The Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA), European Commission.
High-speed rail
For Lyon–Barcelona, currently ASKs are 12,707,290 compared with 25,309,686 in the fi rst quarter of 2008. Air France and easyJet both operate the route following clickair’s merger with Vueling. On Montpelier–Madrid, current ASKs are 1,387 055 compared with 889,138 in the fi rst quarter of 2008. This route is the sole preserve of Iberia. Looking at CDG–MAD, the ASKs are now 197,690,767 compared with 254,902, 547 in the fi rst quarter of 2008 of. Operators on this route are Air France, easyJet, Vueling and LAN (Iberia’s oneworld partner). On MAD to LYS, the ASKs are 29,659, 938 compared with 39,564,162 in the fi rst quarter of 2008. Iberia and easyJet now operate the route, as Air France dropped it at the end of last year.
Air France’s position
So what is the view from Air France? A spokesman for the company, Cedric
www.routesonline.com
Leurquin, tells Routes News: “Yes, of course high-speed rail is a competitor for us. Low-cost airlines are too. That’s why we have to innovate. We have two requests: from premium passengers who want fl exibility and from economy passengers who want low-cost. So we have a new offer on our domestic and short-haul European routes. Premium passengers can get fl exible tickets and priority treatment and, of course, you never have to pay for anything on board our aircraft – food and newspapers are free.” Leurquin goes on: “We offer lower prices and a dense network too. We have just announced our summer 2011 timetable, which sees a great spread of routes across Metropolitan France and Europe operated by regional partners, which feeds into our mega hubs at CDG and Lyon for onward connecting fl ights. For summer 2011, our total short-haul ASKs (for France and Europe) are actually up 1.8%.”
Past experiences
How have other high-speed rail projects in Europe affected air travel? London–Paris air capacity peaked in 2003 at 2.85 million passengers per annum. As of last year, it had dropped 42% to 1.85 million, showing the effect of Eurostar on this route.
This experience is set to be repeated in other markets where high-speed rail is being introduced.
“Other European markets have similar rail schemes in place now and this all adds to the competitive threat of high-speed rail. From a UK domestic point of view, London– Manchester is a good example [of how rail precipitated air capacity cuts], however, London–Newcastle is also a relevant demonstration of the impact of high-speed rail, or certainly improved rail.” Capacity from London–Newcastle peaked in 2004 at 1.09 million annual passengers, but slumped to 655,000 last year. Clarkson explains: “During the
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