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New direct flight between Athens and Marseille announced yesterday by Air France at an event that was held in Athens Hilton. Mr. Yann Gilbert, Air France KLM Country Manager for Greece & Cyprus, said “It is with great pleasure that we have welcomed since 2nd October 2011, Air France’s new direct flight from Athens to Marseille, non-stop, four times a week. One way fares for this true-Mediterranean destination start at 79 euros all-in and are combinable with our other fares through Paris and Amsterdam.”
The flights are operated either by Airbus A319 or A320 aircraft, and have only one class of service: Voyageur (Economy). As on all Air France flights, passengers will be able to enjoy the same quality of free on-board services, free baggage allowance, a choice of daily newspapers at boarding, seat choice, and more.
This new destination is part of the long-term strategy of Air France which intends to increase medium-haul seat capacity by over 30% by launching 54 new non-stop routes on departure from Marseille, Toulouse, Nice and Bordeaux to major cities in Europe and the Mediterranean as well as by increasing capacity on domestic routes.
Air France has a long history in Greece, and has been represented in Greece since 1934. The 1st direct flight Athens Paris goes back to 1977. Air France in Greece offers the highest number of flights to Paris offering up to 7 daily flights to Paris (Jul & Aug) compared to 5 daily flights on the previous summer and 4 daily flights during the winter period (one more daily flights than in Winter 2010). In 2010, 321.000 passengers flew to Paris with Air France. 60% of them travelled for leisure purposes, 21% for business purposes & 15% to visit friends & relatives. Overall 36% of our passengers to Paris are Greeks!.
In 2004, Air France and KLM merged, making Air France KLM the worlds’ no. 1 airline group, in terms of income. This merger pioneered in the reorganization of the European air transport that followed.
In 2009, Air France KLM & Delta Air Lines signed another historic agreement: a joint venture between Air France KLM in Europe and Delta Air Lines in the USA. This partnership represents approximately 25 percent of total trans-Atlantic capacity operating more than 200 daily flights across the Atlantic to 400 destinations in Europe & North America from 6 hubs: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York-JFK and Paris-CDG; an unprecedented partnership in aviation history.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
