Air France's Los Angeles-London Pullout - Too Much Competition?

Air France's (AF) ambitious Los Angeles (LAX) to London Heathrow (LHR) route was one of the very first implemented under the aegis of the Open Skies pact between the United States and Europe.

The French flag carrier wasted scant time in axing its nonstop from Los Angeles to London. AF will pull the plug on the run on November 6, less than six months after it launched the long-haul.

Aside from the economic crisis, the fall in premium class travel, and the still-high price of Jet A fuel there may simply have been too much entrenched competition on the route. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, United Airlines, and even Air New Zealand (Web site: www.airnewzealand.com) fly LAX-LHR nonstop.

Furthermore, Air France's SkyTeam partner, Delta Air Lines, (specifically Delta Connection) recently cut a lot of flights headed to LAX from the West Coast. While Los Angeles is a stand-alone, O&D (origin and destination) market unto itself, regional traffic feed bolsters international flights. Diminish that feed and widebodies such as the 777 Air France fielded on the LAX-LHR run aren't as full.

It will be instructive to see if Air France's short-lived foray into the era of Open Skies influences other carriers which might have been considering new service from the U.S. to the European Union.

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler