The bad surprise of the chef.
A few days ago, the Fnam (National Federation of Merchant Aviation), which brings together French airlines such as Air France, Corsair or Air Caraïbes, learned that the capacity of Orly airport would be reduced from end of March.
According to the general delegate of the organization, Laurent Timsit, "
the decision has not yet been officially announced, but we are talking about a limitation to 20 departures in the morning slot from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., instead of 25 minimum departures
.
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This would particularly penalize low cost companies like Transavia, which have planes based at Orly and operate flights in these time slots.
The possibility of starting rotations at dawn, and thus of making the aircraft fly as much as possible, is indeed at the heart of the economic model of these air carriers specializing in low prices.
The reason invoked is surprising.
“
We were informed very recently that there would be restrictions at the start of the day due to the absence of air traffic controllers
”, explains Pascal de Izaguirre, president of Fnam and also CEO of Corsair.
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This shortage is all the more worrying as we do not know how long it will last.
It is unexpected, because the sky controllers are civil servants.
The health crisis which caused a very severe drop in activity for two years therefore did not lead to any layoffs in their ranks.
Contacted, the SNCTA, the main union of air traffic controllers, did not respond to our calls.
As for the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), on which the controllers depend, it was not able to provide any information immediately.
This reduction in capacity risks occurring at the worst possible time, as air transport takes off again in France.
"
Over the whole of 2022, we have recovered to 80% of the activity of 2019 with a gradual improvement
"
, underlines Pascal de Izaguirre.
Thus, in December, the index was 94% compared to December 2019. And despite the war in Ukraine and persistent inflation, the sector intends to return in 2024 to the level of 2019.