Air France will refund or reroute LAX-Heathrow fliers

Air France,  which on Nov. 6, 2008, will stop flying between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)  and London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR), is offering to reroute ticket holders or give them refunds.

Nicolas Petteau, spokesman for Air France in Paris, said the last LAX-Heathrow flight will be Nov. 5 and the last Heathrow-LAX flight will be Nov. 6.  He said the airline is contacting passengers booked after those dates and offering them three choices:

1. Fly LAX to Paris (Charles de Gaulle, CDG) with Air France and connect to Heathrow.

2. Connect to New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport, JFK) or Atlanta (ATL) and then fly to Heathrow with Delta Air Lines, Air France’s SkyTeam partner.

3. Get a full refund.

Air France, which added the LAX-Heathrow route March 30, has said that “the present economic and financial crisis”  prompted its decision to cancel it.  Several other airlines this year also added transatlantic flights as the new open skies agreement took effect. But now many carriers are cutting back on both domestic and international service.