French Bee has announced nonstop Airbus A350 flights to New York, marking the first destination for the airline on the United States’ East Coast. Additionally, French Bee is the only and most economical non-stop leisure carrier between New York and Paris. Based at Paris Orly Airport, the airline has a fleet of 4 Airbus A350-900s. While the airline has focused on serving French Oversees Territories, it is now branching out.
Nonstop to the Big Apple
Starting 14th July 2021, French Bee will operate 3-weekly flights between Paris Orly Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays using Airbus A350-900s. The frequency will increase to 4-weekly in August with additional flights on Sundays.
Interestingly, the leisure carrier will break the schedule on the inaugural flight, departing from Paris on Wednesday, 14th July, and returning to France as planned 24 hours later on Thursday, 15th July. The flights will be operated in codeshare with fellow French Airbus A350 operates Air Caraibes.
The flight schedule is:
- Paris-Newark
- Departure time: 18:45
- Arrival time: 21:00
- Flight time: 8 hours and 15 minutes
- Flight number: BF720
- Frequency: Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays (additional flights on Sundays from August)
- Newark-Paris
- Departure time: 22:55
- Arrival time: 12:20 (the next day)
- Flight time: 7 hours and 25 minutes
- Flight number: BF721
- Frequency: Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays (additional flights on Sundays from August)
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Targeting American passengers
It seems as if French Bee is targeting American passengers wishing to visit France on this new route. Most travelers who have recently been in Europe are currently banned from entering the United States despite incredibly low incidence levels across much of the continent. In June, France opened up to most of the international travellers from the world.
Furthermore, United States is on France’s Green List, meaning that travelers from the US no longer need to quarantine on arrival in France and can enter the country without an essential reason. French Bee is marketing the Newark to Paris flight as the outbound leg of this trip.
Marc Rochet, Chief Executive Officer, French bee, said:
Paris is an attractive and highly sought after destination for U.S. travelers, especially as EU borders have reopened to U.S. residents this summer. We are looking forward to opening this route and allowing our passengers to discover or rediscover the City of Lights. Being the first affordable nonstop route option from Newark to Paris-Orly, we are convinced that price remains a decisive factor. Thanks to our model and the unrivaled performance of our A350- 900 fleet, we are able to offer flights at extremely competitive prices and always in optimal comfort conditions. We are ready to meet the competitive challenge of this New York-Paris route.
The Aircraft
As aforementioned, French Bee’s fleet only consists of 4 Airbus A350-900s. Each of these aircrafts come in a two-class configuration. At the front of the plane is the “Premium Blue” cabin in a 2-3-2 configuration. These seats have a pitch of 36 inches and are 18 inches wide, with a 12-inch touch screen display and power at each seat. There are just 35 seats in this cabin.
Behind this, there are 376 standard economy class seats in a 3-4-3 configuration (that is get tight considering almost all A350 operators go for 3-3-3 layout in economy class). The seats have a pitch of 32 inches and a width of 16 inches, with a 10-inch touch screen display and power at each seat.
In the premium cabin, only one fare type is available, Premium. All passengers get 2 checked bags, 2 premium meals, complimentary drinks, and priority boarding in the premium cabin.
In the economy cabin, 2 fare types are available. While Basic is the traditional low-cost offering, only including a carry-on bag, the Smart fare includes a checked bag and an inflight meal.
Featured image by Aviation24
What do you think of French Bee’s expansion in the United States with New York being its first destination on the country’s east coast? Let me know in the comments section below.
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