From coast to coast: Bordeaux offers Air Canada

The year 2020 has been a year of turmoil. For airlines COVID-19 has been like a sledgehammer. Indeed, following the global pandemic travel has been suspended. For Air Canada, the damage is considerable. The airline reported a loss of C$4.6 billion. Added to this is a 73% drop in the number of passengers in 2020. While 2019 was a booming year, the company was able to make a net profit of $1.4 billion. Today its turnover has fallen by 70%. However, the company tries to remain resiliating. For its CEO Calin Rovinescu even if uncertainty is still at the heart of the activity, he remains hopeful thanks to the vaccine.

On July 4, the Bordeaux-Montreal direct line was inaugurated by Air Canada. Beyond Air Canada’s ambitions in Bordeaux, which it is certainly relevant to question, the positioning is more complex. Indeed, it encompasses different actors. The tourist office of Canada “Destination Canada”, an Air Canada airline and Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport. Airlines are thinking about the business opportunities of this economic partnership. Indeed, we are in the context of the free trade agreement with Canada. Bordeaux Business was able to meet at the Intercontinental Bordeaux the actors of the partnership. Cyrielle Bon, Head of Partnerships at Destination Canada, Timothy Liu, Senior Director of Commercial Strategy and Margaret Skinner, Director Sales at Air Canada gave their vision.

Canada, a popular destination for Bordeaux

At the end of June 2019, Air Canada acquired Air Transat. This acquisition by Air Canada testifies to the good economic health of the Canadian airline. Indeed, Air Transat’s business model operates on a point-to-point strategy. The same goes for Air Canada Rouge, an economy brand developed by Air Canada. In Bordeaux, the objective is to increase the seat offer by 32% for the summer season. This percentage represents about 50,000 seats. Air Canada’s development strategy is based on the Montreal hub. It also relies on B2B carrier destinations such as Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary. The choice of the Montreal hub was made by considering it as an access point to the United States. No need to go in front of the Canadian customs but directly to the American one.

Indeed, the objective is to switch Bordeaux customers and tourists to destinations other than Montreal and Quebec City, which are very popular destinations for the French. They must also be taken to the other provinces of Canada and North America. The Montreal hub counts about twenty matches. The appeal is already there. In 2018, 200,000 passengers travelled between the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the United States. For Canada, 2018 was a record year. Indeed, there is a 5% increase in French tourists compared to 2017. France becomes Canada’s third largest international market. The final objective of opening up to Bordeaux is to perpetuate the offer to Canada. In addition, it is also to develop the offer on shoulder seasons. The idea is to break canada’s image of arid climates.

air canada air airliner
Air Canada marks a new opening

Bordeaux: future hub popular with Air Canada?

Air Canada bases its operating model on a hub and network logic. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region can benefit from this local development essentially and unfortunately centralized in Paris in France. Indeed, the condition of Air Canada’s adaptation to the safety scandal of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing testifies to this attraction of Bordeaux. Following the problems encountered by Boeing and its grounded 737 aircraft, Air Canada had to rethink its offer. Thus, the establishment of new lines has simply been postponed and not deleted. Among them, the line to Bordeaux has been maintained. The same shall be true for the seat offer. Only the frequency is reduced. It increases to three instead of four times a week.

In the context of the free trade agreement, CETA is a lever of opportunity between the two countries. The aim is to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers. In addition, it is also the establishment of a stable investment framework that is favourable to European and Canadian companies. At a local level, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region wants to strengthen cooperation between Canada and the EU. For this, it is based on two concepts: standardization and regulation. In this way, Mérignac Airport has been home to Air Transat since 2006. The latter also offers a direct line with Montreal.

As indicated by Margaret Skinner, the opening of a direct line between Montreal and Bordeaux favoured the arrival of Canadians in Bordeaux. Indeed, they know France more through the following crossing points: Paris, Lyon, Nice… Bordeaux lacks visibility. It would thus be interesting to insist on cultural and tourist points specific to Bordeaux. For example, wines from Western Canada are presented at the Cité du Vin. The Okanagan Valley can be an interesting destination to connect with Bordeaux. In addition, beyond their respective rivers, Quebec City and Bordeaux have had strong ties since 1962. Indeed, it was on this date that they were paired.

Air Canada has been awarded the “Best Airline in North America” label for the eighth time in ten years. The airline is betting on Bordeaux to continue its development on the national territory. With a regional economic impact of €6 million, Bordeaux Mérignac airport is expanding with 39 additional routes. This dynamism on both sides of the ocean finds a point of convergence. The inauguration of the direct Bordeaux-Montreal line is here, O Canada!

Sources:

Bordeaux Business, “Canada invites itself to New Aquitaine”, Yoann Saget

Site Europe In New Aquitaine

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