Summary
- La Compagnie operates two Airbus A321LRs on its winter routes from Paris Orly to Newark and from Milan Malpensa to Newark.
- During the winter season, La Compagnie also operates a limited rotation from Nice to Newark, offering connections from Nice to Paris and onward to Newark through a partnership with easyJet.
- La Compagnie aims to achieve higher unit revenue by offering lower fares, better value, and exceptional service compared to legacy carriers, successfully undercutting competition with nearly 30% lower business class fares compared to Delta and Air France.
La Compagnie – or ‘The Company’ – is a French all-business narrowbody operator. Its first flight took off from Paris bound for Newark in July 2014 using a 74-seat Boeing 757-200. The airline flies two Airbus A321LRs and, this winter, is flying two routes, from Milan Malpensa and Paris Orly to Newark.
Less than a year after La Compagnie’s first flight, a second route – London Luton to Newark – was inaugurated on April 27th, 2015, using the 757. However, Luton didn’t last long, and attention then returned to Paris. In 2014, Newark – the airline’s only destination – was switched from Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Paris Orly (ORY). At the time, it faced head-to-head competition with two others: British Airways’ OpenSkies (757 and 767-300ER) and Norwegian (787-9 and leased 777-200).
Nice, on France’s Côte d’Azur, is regarded as a gateway to high-end places. Targeting this premium demand is what La Compagnie set out to do when it launched the summer-seasonal Newark to Nice in May 2019. It was operated four-weekly by the 757, although it wasn’t long until the carrier’s two – and only – A321LRs arrived.
From the 757 to 76-seat A321LR
La Compagnie’s two A321LRs were delivered in May 2019 (F-HBUZ) and September 2019 (F-HNCO), ch-aviation’s database reveals. Both aircraft have 76 seats in a fully lie-flat four-abreast cabin with a 58″ pitch, leased from GECAS.
Of course, the carrier’s two existing routes this winter (Paris-Newark and Milan-Newark) easily make it into the world’s longest A321LR routes. Simple Flying found that the type’s 50 longest non-stop A321LR services range between 2,676 and 4,272 miles. La Compagnie’s offerings – 4,010 miles (Milan) and 3,649 miles (Orly) fall squarely in the upper tier of the list.
Photo: GCMap
Three routes this winter
Given La Compagnie’s boutique status, its routes vary seasonally. For winter 2023, the airline is using its two A321LRs on three routes, namely:
- Paris Orly Airport (ORY) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR): six times weekly
- Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP) to Newark: five times times weekly (with a few gaps in December)
- Nice Airport (NCE) to Newark: one rotation in December
Photo; EQRoy / Shutterstock
The airline is partnered with easyJet (the opposite of business class-only!) to offer connections from Nice to Paris and onward to Newark during the winter season.
What fare from Newark?
The question of profitability for such a low-capacity, high-unit-cost operation must be posed. With just 76 seats on its A321LRs, it has two to three times fewer seats than most long-haul operators that use the type. To counteract this, La Compagnie must achieve much higher unit revenue. At the same time, it seeks to undercut legacy carriers by offering lower fares, better value, and exceptional service.
Using data from today, you can see the average roundtrip between Paris and New York in February (off-peak) in business class would be:
- La Compagnie (ORY-EWR): $1,451
- Air France (CDG-EWR): $1,964
- Delta (CDG-JFK): $1,970
- United (CDG-EWR): $3,578
By offering a nearly 30% discount compared to Delta and Air France, La Compagnie is successfully undercutting the competition, although Promo Fares with the airline can’t be canceled. However, this does mean losing out on perks like frequent flyer points and connections for a lower price.
Have you flown La Compagnie, or would you like to? Let us know by commenting.