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La Compagnie is the all-Business Class airline which currently operates two Boeing 757 aircraft between Paris and New York. The airline often offers very good fares for its transatlantic Business Class flights but, as its current aircraft only offer angled-flat seats, the product doesn’t compare well to what most of the other major carriers offer across the Atlantic.
From 2019 things will be changing as La Compagnie is taking delivery of two Airbus A321neo aircraft in May which will not only be a lot more efficient than the airline’s 757s but which will also offer an entirely new cabin.
The new La Compagnie A321neo cabin will be home to 76 seats true lie-flat seats set out in a 2-2 layout.
As part of the onboard amenities passengers will have 15.7″ touchscreens in the seat backs ahead of them, noise cancelling headphones and access to free unlimited wi-fi courtesy of the new Viasat-2 satellite system.
For added comfort the seats will also come with a mattress topper which can be used when the seat is placed in the lie-flat position.
The seats themselves are off-the-shelf BE Aerospace Diamond seats which, although very comfortable as seats, have footwells that a lot of people consider tight (see image above).
Still, for the relatively short transatlantic journey that these aircraft will operate that shouldn’t be too much of an issue…especially if the airline continues to offer very favorable fares.
The Schedule
The first appearance of La Compagnie’s new A321neo on the Orly – Newark route will be on 6 June 2019 as the aircraft operates flights B0100/B0101.
B0100 ORY 10:30 – 13:00 EWR (A321neo)
B0102 ORY 14:30 – 17:00 EWR (Boeing 757)
B0101 EWR 19:00 – 08:40+1 ORY (A321neo)
B0103 EWR 21:40 – 11:00+1 day ORY (Boeing 757)
I had been under the impression that La Compagnie would be using the A321neos to completely replace the Boeing 757s but it would appear that, at least on some days, the airline plans to offer up to 3 flights per day on this route:
Based on what ExpertFlyer is showing, La Compagnie will be adding two more weekly flights to its Orly – Newark routes.
- Flight B0104 will depart Orly at 19:30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
- Flight B0105 will depart Newark at 23:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays
The timings for the new flights aren’t quite as ‘business friendly’ as the existing schedule but it’s still nice to have more capacity across the Atlantic.
The A321neo will appear on more flights as and when the second aircraft is delivered.
Bottom Line
The airline which regularly offers some of the cheapest non-stop Business Class fares across the Atlantic is about to get a considerably Business Class cabin and passengers will be able to try it out from 6 June 2019.
I haven’t flown with La Compagnie yet but this new Business Class cabin (and a good sale) may very well soon change that.
2+2 is still not aisle access for all, something I consider mandatory for business.
I think you have to make allowances when fares are as low as we sometimes see them from La Compagnie…..especially as a lot of other airlines are offering 2-2 seating across the Atlantic at far higher prices.
I booked a US$900 roundtrip promotional fare on this product for October and am looking forward to trying it. I almost see this as competing more directly against Norwegian’s TATL premium economy and the like than it does against the legacy carriers. In that context, and at that price point, there’s little arguing that it’s super competitive, limited only by the lack of connection to an alliance (a big problem, in my opinion) and the relatively inflexible schedule.
I should clarify: there’s little denying that this is a super competitive product when considering the price point and its peer products.