La Compagnie pulls out of UK citing Brexit (from 25 Sep 16)

La Compagnie, the all business airline which operates from Paris and London, Luton has announced that it is pulling out the UK following the vote to leave the European Union. From 25 September, the blue 757’s will no longer fly from London to Newark. Their Paris service will continue as normal, with an additional service being added from Paris. They are offering free re-booking from Paris if you have a flight after 25 September.

It is unfortunate that the last all business-class airline flying from UK has left the market.

The statement says:

Brexit: La Compagnie suspends its London – New York route

Second daily flight to be introduced from Paris – New York

Boutique business class airline La Compagnie confirms that it will be suspending its London – New York route, effective from Sunday 25 September 2016. This decision has been made in view of a new economic climate in Europe, fuelled by Brexit, and that has already affected various significant players within the airline industry.

The decision, taken by CEO Frantz Yvelin and his team, has been made in order to enable the boutique airline to continue with its development. The operation of the London – New York route will be suspended as La Compagnie looks to intensify its presence on the Paris – New York route, focusing on the tremendous success of its original route. The second daily flight from Paris to New York will be introduced in October 2016.

This change in operations has not been taken lightly by La Compagnie teams. Despite very positive feedback from its valued UK and US customers on the London – New York route and encouraging performance levels (an average load factor above 77% since June 2016) this particular route economics remained fragile.

The outcome of the EU referendum in June 2016 has played its part in long term uncertainty for the airline industry and hence has required a detailed analysis of this new environment. Consequentially La Compagnie will focus on the Paris – New York route for the foreseeable future, with a view to reassessing the London landscape in the future.

“We would like to express our sincere thanks to each and every one of our passengers who have supported us since the launch of our London – New York operations from April 2015 to present. This has not been an easy decision for us to make but we would like to emphasise that this is the suspension of, not the cancellation of, the London – New York route.” Frantz Yvelin, Founder CEO of La Compagnie commented.

La Compagnie would like to thank all of its local teams and partners, not least London Luton Airport who has contributed to its customers’ satisfaction in delivering the very best value for money in transatlantic business class travel between London and New York.

“We are the firmest believers of the UK’s unique market position, hence the decision to invest heavily in our London route for the past 16 months. Meanwhile, the result of the EU referendum has created an unprecedented level of legal and economic uncertainty for airlines that service Great Britain. Hence, our decision to accelerate development on our Paris – New York route where loads are already 80%+ as we recognise the increasing market demand in both the corporate and leisure segment.” Frantz Yvelin, Founder CEO of La Compagnie commented.

The suspension will be effective as of Sunday 25 September, and La Compagnie will operate its last round trip flight between London – Luton and New York – Newark on Saturday 24 September 2016. In order to minimise the impact for our affected passengers by the suspension of this route, all our customers due to travel beyond that date (the service will keep operating as per our schedule until then) will either be eligible for a full refund or will have the option to rebook onto the Paris – New York route free of charge.