Air France KLM named ‘super sector leader’ by Dow Jones

Air France KLM has been named ‘Super Sector Leader’ for sustainability, in the wider travel and leisure sector for 2008, and for the fourth year running leader in its sector by both Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes - DJSI World and DJSI STOXX.

“This is a proud moment for us to be chosen. It acknowledges and underlines the AIR FRANCE KLM commitment to economic growth in line with environmental and social values. The Group now stands as a reference, not only in the transport sector but also in the wider travel and leisure industry”, commented Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Group Chairman and CEO.

“I am delighted that our Group has achieved this top position”, stated Peter Hartman, President and Chief Executive Officer of KLM. “Apart from key issues like combating climate change and reducing the environmental impact, we also continue to focus on building sustainable customer relations, promoting a responsible human resources strategy and contributing to local economic developments.”

This non-financial rating places AIR FRANCE KLM in pole position. The group is listed on the following indexes, namely Aspi Eurozone, Dow Jones Sustainability Index World and STOXX, FTSE4Good, as well the on the ‘Ethibel’ Investment Register with the ‘Pioneer’ label and the ‘Global 100’ which groups the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world.

Recently, in 2008, the Group achieved ‘Gold Class’ and became ‘Sector leader’ at the outcome of an analysis process carried out by the Swiss group SAM (Sustainable Asset Management Indexes GmbH).

AIR FRANCE KLM’s fourth Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2007-2008 is available at http://developpement-durable.airfrance.com/ and klm.com/sustainability.

Air France receives enviro certification

Air France officially received ISO 14001 certification for environmental protection Friday for all its activities and for all its bases in Metropolitan France, as well as on board its aircraft.
ISO 14001 certification recognises Air France’s commitment to environmental protection and its control over the environmental risks of its business, such as gas emissions from aircraft, and water and energy consumption on the ground.
Objectives are set and checked each year as part of the ISO 14001 certification. The next audit is scheduled for July 2009.

The certificate was awarded by the certification agency AFNOR to Air France Chief Operating Office Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, who said, “ISO 14001 certification is an integral part of the company’s commitment to sustainable development. Encouraged in this way, the 63,000 staff members of Air France will all continue to focus their efforts on reducing the impact of our activities on the environment.”

London to Paris by rail in two hours

Air France-KLM boss Jean-Cyril Spinetta said he dreamed of seeing highspeed trains "in the colours of Air France", referring to TGV trains as " airplanes on wheels."

Major airlines are desperate to break into the increasingly lucrative market and run rival services to Eurostar.
Air France believes it can cut the journey time and a liberalisation of European railway laws will allow it to compete. Fares could also fall.

A new generation of trains is being introduced which are capable of carrying 900 passengers at an average speed of 224mph, 38mph faster than the current TGVs.
The current journey time to Paris is two hours 15 minutes at best.
Shrugging off the threat, Eurostar said the Air France announcement showed "high-speed rail has become the natural choice for shorthaul business and leisure trips to Europe".
The spokesman added: "It is cleaner, becoming quicker and with rising fuel costs the cheaper alternative to air travel."
Over the past few years thousands of passengers have switched from British Airways and Air France flights to Eurostar.

A spokesman for Air France-KLM in Paris said it hopes the London-Paris service will be up and running by October 2010, along with a Paris-Amsterdam one hour 30 minutes service.
Air France is liaising with Alstom, the maker of the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) high-speed trains currently used across France and on the Eurostar service. It wants to buy or lease the new generation of Alstom AGVs.
Air France-KLM boss Jean-Cyril Spinetta said he dreamed of seeing highspeed trains "in the colours of Air France", referring to TGV trains as " airplanes on wheels." In April last year a specially modified Eurostar reached a speed of 357mph.
The move to introduce competition is the first of its kind and raises the possibility of other services from London.

Destinations which would be ideal include Amsterdam and Frankfurt, both of which would be within three hours.

Direct links to Lyon, Marseilles, Geneva and Bordeaux would also become possibilities with longer-distance trains, which could operate more like budget airlines.
SNCF, the French rail firm, has already introduced a service from Paris to Biarritz aimed at budget travellers.

Air France com grife de malas

Essa é para aqueles que gostam de viajar e de viajar com estilo!

A Air France e a Le Tanneur se uniram e lançaram seis modelos de malas assinados Air France by Le Tanneur.

Os nomes seguem o alfabeto aeronáutico: Delta, Echo e Tango para as malas rígidas, e Fox, Zulu e X-Ray para as maleáveis. A reputação da maior companhia aérea européia se uniu à perícia e ao conhecimento da fabricante de artigos de couro para produzir uma completa coleção de bagagens. Mais leve e fácil de carregar, elas estão disponíveis nas cores: cinza escuro, branco, chocolate, cinza claro, preto e vermelho cereja. E mais: elas vêm em duas versões, uma de mão, outra bagagem para despachar. O mais bacana de tudo?
De acordo com as novas regras de segurança da aviação que abrangem as limitações de líquidos na cabine, a bagagem de cabine Air France by Le Tanneur vem com o obrigatório saco plástico transparente. As malas estão à venda na loja online, ou nas lojas Le Tanneur na Europa, Japão, Rússia e Oriente Médio.

Air France awarded for innovative in-flight entertainment

The World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) has just awarded Air France the prize for the best single achievement in 2008 in Los Angeles. This prestigious prize recompenses the performance achieved by Air France in terms of inflight entertainment over the last 12 months.

In November 2007, Air France proposed a new system of video-on-demand to its customers on long-haul flights, which enabled it to increase the content of its inflight entertainment programme ten times over. The meticulous selection of 500 hours of programmes led to the production of some very original entertainment, some of which was exclusive and totally original.

Air France has always wanted all its customers to enjoy inflight entertainment and, to this end, it has phased in personal video systems in all long-haul cabins. With over 30,000 screens, Air France is Europe’s leading carrier to offer as many seats fitted with personal video systems.

“Air France has embarked on a process of ongoing innovation and service enhancement for all its customers. With this prestigious prize for inflight entertainment, we are delighted that these efforts have been rewarded today by the air transport industry” declared Patrick Roux, Vice President Marketing.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation Selected by Air France - KLM to Provide World Class Entertainment on Air France’s New B777-300ER

Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic), the world leader in state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment (IFE) and communication systems, today announced an agreement with Air France - KLM, the largest airline consortium, in terms of operating revenue, in the world. Under this agreement, Panasonic’s eX2 IFE system will be installed on ten (10) new B777-300ER aircraft of Air France. The first aircraft is scheduled to enter service March 2010.

With this selection, Panasonic will provide Air France a dynamic in-flight entertainment system including the features and functionality passengers expect from IFE today. Additionally, the eX2 product will provide Air France with a robust application and communication hosting platform that will allow them to truly tailor their IFE solution to meet their unique requirements. Air France will focus on differentiating their brand, and dramatically enhancing their passengers’ experience.

“Since early 2008, we have been operating Panasonic’s eX2 on our KLM B777s. We are now pleased to enter into an agreement with Panasonic to install eX2 on Air France’s B777-300ERs. The combination of our IFE programming recently recognized by the aviation industry’s 2008 WAEA Avion award, and Panasonic’s leading eX2 system, will allow Air France to provide the best entertainment to its clients. The Panasonic eX2 system was chosen for its reliability, space-saving and weight reduction which will truly improve our aircraft fuel efficiency. It is also Air France – KLM Group’s intention to leverage the synergy of Panasonic eX2 currently operating on KLM B777-300ERs,” said Patrick Roux, SVP of Marketing, Air France - KLM.

“This is a proud moment for us to be chosen by Air France - KLM,” said Yasu Enokido, President of Panasonic Avionics Corporation. “We are excited to contribute to their success and to continue our longstanding relationship with Air France - KLM.”

Air France Trains

Air France is starting a high-speed train service to compete with the successful TGV:

To hear Air France tell it, they don't really have a choice but to collaborate with the enemy. "Limiting our activity to aircraft operations and ignoring market trends constitutes a risk," Air France CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta said at a shareholder meeting in July. "We have reached the logical conclusion that we need to seriously examine the possibility for Air France to operate trains under the Air France brand to several destinations in partnership with a rail service provider."

The World Air Transport Forum is being held in Paris this year

After 16 years in the south of France, the World Air Transport Forum is coming to Paris to mark the 17th time this major industry event has taken place. An audience of over 300 airline and aviation specialists is expected to attend this independent high-level executive event
As 2008 enters its final few months the 17th World Air Transport Forum will provide an ideal staging post to review with some of the industry's top executives how much the industry has changed this year, and to analyse how much it could possibly change again in 2009.

Billed as one of the industry's largest independent air transport conferences, WAF this year is being held in the French capital Paris. For the first 16 years of its life, WAF founder Jean-Louis Baroux, who is also the president of airline services group APG Global Associates, organised the event in Cannes in the south of France.
One of the main events of WAF is the Air Transport Debate, moderated by event chairman and former IATA director general Pierre Jeanniot. This will feature the forthright views of former American Airlines head Bob Crandall James Hogan, the chief executive of Etihad Airways Mohamad El Hout, director general of Middle East Airlines Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways and Lionel Guerin, president of Airlinair/Transavia.com.
With mergers, acquisitions and consolidation top of the agenda for several carriers, the ability of any player to compete freely in the markets of their choice is of critical importance. To this end the topic of industry liberalisation will be debated by former US Department of Transportation official Jeffrey Shane, Association of Latin American Airlines head Alex de Gunten and Driss Benhima, the chief executive of Royal Air Maroc. This will be preceded by a keynote presentation from Virgin Atlantic Airways chief executive Steve Ridgway.
Airports are strongly represented at the event with major presentations by Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports, and Angela Gittens, the new director general of the Airports Council International.
The topic of rail travel, and how air and rail could collaborate more closely in the future, will be addressed by Guillaume Pepy, the president of French national rail company SNCF and Air-France-KLM chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

World Air Transport Forum
29-31 October 2008
Le Grand Intercontinental Hotel Paris
Contact: Catherine Vaurillon
Tel: +33 153771345
www.waf2008.com

Mais um passo para surgir a maior empresa aérea do mundo

Em assembléias separadas, os da Northwest em Nova York e os da Delta Air Lines em Atlanta, os acionistas das duas companhias aprovaram a proposta de fusão que, caso venha a ser concretizada, fará surgir a maior empresa aérea do mundo. A decisão jurídica sobre a fusão deverá ser tomada no dia 5 de novembro, em San Francisco. Durante o processo de integração, a Northwest vai se transformar em subsidiária. No período de 15 a 18 meses, a Delta espera obter um certificado único de operação junto à Administração Federal de Aviação dos EUA. A nova empresa deverá conservar somente o nome de Delta e a base principal em Atlanta. O principal executivo também já está definido: Richard Anderson.