La Compagnie

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La Compagnie
La Compagnie Boutique Airline Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
B0DJTDREAMJET
Founded2013
Commenced operations21 July 2014
Operating bases Paris–Orly
Frequent-flyer program My Compagnie
Fleet size2
Destinations5
Parent company DreamJet Participations
Headquarters Le Bourget, France
Key people
  • Laurent Magnin
  • Christian Vernet
Website lacompagnie.com

La Compagnie, legally incorporated as DreamJet SAS , is a French boutique airline founded by Frantz Yvelin and based at Orly Airport in Paris, with headquarters in Le Bourget in the Paris metropolitan area. [1] It offers all-business class flights between Europe and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Contents

History

La Compagnie launched operations in 2014 with Boeing 757-200 aircraft, which were later retired in 2019 La Compagnie Boeing 757-200 at CDG.jpg
La Compagnie launched operations in 2014 with Boeing 757-200 aircraft, which were later retired in 2019

La Compagnie was founded as DreamJet in 2013. It was created and run by French airline entrepreneur Frantz Yvelin, with the support of Peter Luethi, Yann Poudoulec, Francois Ledreux, Nicolas Jurczyk, and Pierre-Hugues Schmit among a few others, in the hopes of making an all-business class airline with a true low-cost structure, offering business class fares significantly cheaper than those of legacy carriers. Frantz Yvelin served as the airline's CEO for its first four years, until the end of 2016. Prior to La Compagnie, Frantz Yvelin was also the founder of L'Avion, which was sold to British Airways and later became OpenSkies. Yvelin's deputy was Peter Luethi, the former COO of Indian airline Jet Airways. [2]

The first scheduled revenue flight, already under the new name La Compagnie (English: The Company), operated from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport on 21 July 2014 using a Boeing 757-200. [3] On 24 April 2015, the airline started a second scheduled route from London Luton Airport to Newark. [4]

In April 2016, Frantz Yvelin announced La Compagnie was considering a fleet renewal and expansion with Airbus A321neo aircraft, [5] which it had later confirmed with an order for two Airbus A321neos in September 2017. [6] In September 2016, the airline announced the suspension of its route from London Luton to Newark and its intention to instead launch a second daily frequency between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Newark, citing economic reasons linked to Brexit. [7] In December 2016, La Compagnie's sole holding, DreamJet Participations, which was also founded and run by Frantz Yvelin, acquired 100% of XL Group Ltd., the holding company of XL Airways France, and the two airlines joined forces with the transaction completed by 12 September 2018. [8] [9] In September 2017, the airline announced that it was offering all-you-can-fly passes for its Newark to Paris route, costing $40,000 per year. [10]

In April 2018, La Compagnie relocated its Paris operations from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Orly Airport. [11] On 5 December 2018, the airline announced a new seasonal service to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport from Newark to begin on 6 May 2019. [12] Also in May 2019, the airline took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo. [13] [14] In September 2019, the airline took delivery of its second Airbus A321neo, and subsequently retired both of its Boeing 757 aircraft by the end of October 2019. [15] [16]

In March 2020, La Compagnie announced it would suspend its commercial operations as of the 18th of that month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Commercial operations were initially expected to resume on 1 June 2020, but were subsequently postponed several times. [17] During the suspensions, the airline received a total of €20 million in governmental loans, provided some ad-hoc charter services, and operated a limited number of flights for the December 2020 holiday season. [18] After fifteen months of suspensions, the airline's regular commercial flights eventually resumed on 12 June 2021. [19] Following the resumption of service, the airline on 18 June 2021 announced two new destinations to its network, consisting of summer seasonal flights between Paris Orly and Tel Aviv to begin on 21 July 2021, and flights between Newark and Milan Malpensa to begin on 29 November 2021, [19] however both routes were subsequently postponed, with the Tel Aviv flights delayed from a summer to a winter launch, and the Milan flights delayed to summer 2022. [20] [21] [22] [23] In July 2021, the airline was reported to be considering the operation of Airbus A321XLR aircraft.[ citation needed ] On 9 December 2021, AfriJet announced it had partnered with La Compagnie to launch seasonal flights between Paris Orly and Libreville's Léon-Mba International Airport from 16 December 2021, in place of La Compagnie's services to Tel Aviv which were further postponed, [24] before eventually being cancelled.

In February 2023, La Compagnie reported that it recorded its first profit in 2022, consisting of 1 million euros, and additionally announced that it planned to add two Airbus A321LR aircraft to its fleet, for delivery in 2024 and 2025. [25] This however was later adjusted for the first A321LR to be delivered in 2026. [26]

Destinations

La Compagnie serves or has previously served the following destinations as of February 2024: [27] [28]

CountryCityAirportStart dateEnd dateNotesRefs
France Nice Nice Côte d'Azur Airport 6 May 2019PresentSeasonal [12]
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport 21 July 201421 April 2018Terminated (Base) [3] [11]
Orly Airport 22 April 2018PresentBase [11]
Gabon Libreville Léon-Mba International Airport 16 December 202114 March 2022Terminated [24]
Italy Milan Milan Malpensa Airport 15 April 2022Present [23]
Sint Maarten Philipsburg Princess Juliana International Airport 18 February 2024PresentSeasonal charter [29]
United Kingdom London Luton Airport 24 April 201525 September 2016Terminated [4] [7]
United States Newark Newark Liberty International Airport 21 July 2014Present [3]

Airline partnerships

While La Compagnie does not have interlining or codeshare agreements, the airline partners with easyJet through its Worldwide by easyJet program. [30]

Fleet

La Compagnie Airbus A321neo La Compagnie Airbus A321-251NX F-HBUZ approaching Newark Airport.jpg
La Compagnie Airbus A321neo

Current fleet

As of June 2024, the La Compagnie fleet consists of the following aircraft: [31] [32]

La Compagnie fleet
AircraftIn
service		OrdersPassengersNotes
CTotal
Airbus A321LR —2TBATBADeliveries from 2026. [26]
Airbus A321neo 2—7676
Total22

Former fleet

La Compagnie former fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredReplacement
Boeing 757-200 220142019 Airbus A321neo

Service

La Compagnie's aircraft are equipped with an all-business class cabin arranged in a 2–2 configuration, consisting of 76 seats that convert to flat beds. [33] Inflight entertainment is provided on 15.7 inch (40 cm) seatback touchscreens, and inflight Wi-Fi access provided by Viasat is also available. [33] Food is served in a two-course meal. La Compagnie uses contracted lounges for its passengers.

Frequent flyer program

My Compagnie is La Compagnie's frequent-flyer program, through which passengers can earn points on flights, as well as by referring others to register for the program. Points accrued can be redeemed towards award flights on La Compagnie and towards itinerary changes for flights that have already been booked, avoiding the monetary fees for changes in the process. [34]

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References

  1. ↑ "General Conditions of Carriage for Passengers" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015. 53, avenue Jean Jaurès, 93350 Le Bourget
  2. ↑ "Our Team". La Compagnie.
  3. 1 2 3 "La Compagnie starts CDG-Newark with 74-seat all-business 757". anna.aero. PPS Publications. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 "London To New York Service Begins" (Press release). Mynewsdesk. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  5. ↑ Frommberg, Laura (12 April 2016). "Business-Airline La Compagnie baut Flotte aus" [Business airline La Compagnie is expanding its fleet]. Aero Telegraph (in French). aeroTELEGRAPH · AGB.
  6. ↑ "France's La Compagnie orders two A321neo for TATL ops". ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH. 22 September 2017.
  7. 1 2 Caswell, Mark (5 September 2016). "La Compagnie to suspend Luton-New York service". Business Traveller.
  8. ↑ Zhang, Benjamin (2 December 2016). "Air France should be worried — its competition just got stronger". Business Insider . Insider Inc. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "AXA : acquisition de XL Group finalisée le 12 septembre" [AXA: acquisition of XL Group finalised on 12 September]. Zone bourse. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  10. ↑ A. W. (10 October 2017). "All-you-can-fly membership models are slowly catching on". The Economist .
  11. 1 2 3 "La Compagnie switches Paris airports". anna.aero. PPS Publications. 25 April 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  12. 1 2 Liu, Jim (5 December 2018). "La Compagnie adds Nice – Newark service from May 2019". Routesonline. UBM (UK) Ltd.
  13. ↑ "La Compagnie reçoit son 1er A321neo et fait gagner une place à bord du 1er vol" [La Compagnie receives its first A321neo and holds a contest to win a seat on the first flight]. AAF - Acualité Aéronautique Francophone (in French). 18 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Caswell, Mark (23 May 2019). "La Compagnie gears up for launch of A321 neo transatlantic flights". Business Traveller. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  15. ↑ @_LaCompagnie (25 September 2019). "Lastest [sic] born in the blue bird family, we are proud and happy to welcome HNCO! The @Airbus A321neo allow us to have more efficient, quiet and relaxing flights over the Atlantic Ocean" (Tweet). Retrieved 31 October 2019– via Twitter.
  16. ↑ @_LaCompagnie (29 October 2019). "Il est temps de dire adieu à notre dernier Boeing, depuis hier notre est 100% connectée, toujours 100% classe affaires, avez vous déjà volé à bord de nos nouveaux oiseaux?" [It's time to say goodbye to our last Boeing, since yesterday we are 100% connected, always 100% business class, have you ever flown aboard our new birds?] (Tweet) (in French). Retrieved 30 October 2019– via Twitter.
  17. ↑ "Health Situation (Coronavirus)". La Compagnie. 14 April 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  18. ↑ Rokou, Tatiana (19 May 2021). "La Compagnie plans return after a 15-month hiatus of its regular service between New York and France". TravelDailyNews. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  19. 1 2 "La Compagnie 2021 Flight Program" (PDF) (Press release). La Compagnie. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  20. ↑ Stub, Zev (1 August 2021). "New 'all business-class' flight from Israel to Paris, NY launches Sept. 5". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "La Compagnie : décollage des vols Paris-Tel Aviv dès le 5 décembre 2021" [La Compagnie: Paris-Tel Aviv flights take off on 5 December 2021]. TourMaG (in French). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  22. ↑ Mizzi, Amely (27 September 2021). "La Compagnie verschiebt Starts in Mailand und Tel Aviv" [La Compagnie postpones launches at Milan and Tel Aviv]. aviation.direct (in German). Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  23. 1 2 "Blue Friday Deal" (Press release). La Compagnie. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021. ...starting April 15, 2022, travelers will have access to direct service between New York and the fashion capital of the world, Milan, with five flights per week from Newark International Airport (EWR) to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP).
  24. 1 2 Mizzi, Amely (9 December 2021). "La Compagnie flies to Libreville instead of Tel Aviv". Aviation.Direct. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  25. ↑ Hardin, Christophe (2 February 2023). "La Compagnie, pour la première fois bénéficiaire, vise plus loin" [La Compagnie, profiting for the first time, aims further]. AirMag (in French). TourMag. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  26. 1 2 Parker, Jennifer Leigh (14 June 2024). "This 'Business Class-Only' Airline Proves The Model Can Work" . Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  27. ↑ "Airport info". La Compagnie. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  28. ↑ "Flight schedule". La Compagnie. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  29. ↑ Werner, Laurie (20 February 2024). "Business Class Airline La Compagnie Launches Service To The Caribbean". Forbes . Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  30. ↑ "New Destinations". La Compagnie. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  31. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2017 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2017): 14.
  32. ↑ "La Compagnie Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  33. 1 2 Hemmerdinger, Jon (26 September 2018). "La Compagnie details A321neo cabin plans". FlightGlobal . Reed Business Information Limited. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  34. ↑ "My Compagnie". La Compagnie. Retrieved 29 May 2019.

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