20 octobre 2008
Advertisement video : L'Avion (AO) France
L'Avion is an airline based in Paris, France. It operates business class only long-haul services between Orly Airport, Paris and Newark Liberty International Airport in the USA. The airline is now owned by British Airways and through the next year will be merged with its subsidiary OpenSkies.
Play the video about "L'Avion"
Advertisement video : L'Avion (AO) France
envoyé par DreamSpotter
| IATA A0 |
ICAO AVI |
Callsign ELYSAIR |
| Founded | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hubs | Paris Orly Airport | |
| Focus cities | Paris, Newark | |
| Fleet size | 2 | |
| Destinations | 2 | |
| Parent company | British Airways | |
| Headquarters | Wissous, France | |
| Key people | Marc Rochet (CEO), Frantz Yvelin (Founder, Director of Strategy and Development) | |
| Website: http://www.lavion.com/ | ||
Founded by young French entrepreneur Frantz Yvelin and run by CEO Marc Rochet, L'Avion is a marketing name for Elysair. It has been created as Elysair but changed to use the marketing name in late autumn 2006 after market research showed the new name tested well in the US and in France. L'Avion kept Elysair as its call sign and corporate name. The first flight was on January 3, 2007 from Paris to Newark. Similar to the concept that was used by Silverjet, L'Avion offers premium-only service on TransAtlantic routes. It uses two Boeing 757-200 aircraft, modified by Lufthansa Technik, Gamco and H4 Aerospace, with only 90 seats in a 2x2 configuration. The seating and service level is considered to be Business class. It offers laptop power at every seat, French food and wine, and seats that recline by 140 degrees. L'Avion features digEplayer XT individual units with a 20" high-definition screen.
Fares are generally much lower than that of Air France and major airlines that fly from the United States to Paris. US carriers have previously operated to Orly but were forced to move to Charles de Gaulle International Airport by the French government. Now, with Open Skies, a bilateral agreement between the Unites States and the European Union, Delta Airlines is able to serve Paris-Orly as well.
The airline has plans to expand to the Middle East.
L'Avion is wholly owned by Société de Participation Aérienne (SPA) and has 55 employees (at March 2007).
On 2 July 2008 British Airways announced that it had agreed to buy L'Avion for £54 million. The deal is expected to be completed during July 2008 and will result in full integration of L'Avion with OpenSkies.