PARIS, FRANCE – Air France
has announced that it will be increasing its numbers of long-haul flights this summer after detecting faint signs of economic recovery.
Capacity will be increased by a less-than-earth-shattering 0.8 per cent, but set against a backdrop of airlines folding or reducing the numbers of flights available, this is a relatively positive move.
However, overall Air France capacity will be reduced by 0.3 per cent, with medium-haul flights down by 4 per cent. The statement announcing these changes emphasises that recovery is very much dependent on the country in question, hence the apparent discrepancy in policy of increasing long-haul flights while reducing medium-haul flights.
The airline industry as a whole is set to post losses of around $5.6billion this year.