Air France (AF) will launch a new twice-daily service between Birmingham and Lyon beginning 3 September this year, operated by a Britair CRJ 50-seat aircraft.
Air France already offers six daily flights from Birmingham to Paris Charles de Gaulle.
Air France, UK and Ireland general manager, Christine Ourmieres, said: ”We are committed to offering access to our international network from the regions and we are delighted to offer this service to Lyon as an addition to our operations from Birmingham.”
With departures from Lyon at 09:00 and 15:25 and from Birmingham at 11:30 and 16:40, a day trip from France is practical. Due to the one hour time differences it is not possible in the other direction.
Leader of Birmingham City Council, Mike Whitby, said: ”It”s excellent news that Birmingham has a direct route to Lyon ” one of our important ”Sister Cities”. This route will provide many opportunities for increased trade between the Midlands and Europe, and we look forward to welcoming visitors from Lyon to Birmingham and the City Region.”
Lyon is also served by British Airways from Heathrow and easyJet from Stansted.
In another regional route introduction, AF has come back into Bristol with a three-times daily ATR 42 service following Flybe decision not to continue with the BA Connect flights. Air France competes with easyJet, whose twice-daily timings are more suited to the leisure market.
On the international long haul front, Air France has launched daily Paris ” Seattle flights in response to what it says is very high demand from customers. It is flown by an Airbus A330-200, equipped with new cabin interiors and seating 219 (40 in l' Espace Affaires ” as above ” and 179 in Tempo). The Air France/KLM Group already flies to 18 destinations in North America from Paris and Amsterdam.