Soaring serene with La Compagnie
This is a special feature from PAX International's May Amenities & Comfort 2020 digital edition.
Collins Aerospace Diamond seating fills the all-Business Class cabin
When air travel returns in full force, some passengers will gingerly step back aboard the aircraft, anxious and in need of every available comfort to help them relax and again savor the joy of travel.
And when those first transatlantic flights take off, French airline La Compagnie will be ready with a full line of products and services that have helped pamper passengers. The airline has a long association with a well-known partner and an aircraft cabin that is all Business Class, but not all business.
In a market segment that has seen similar airlines come and go, La Compagnie’s two aircraft fleet of A321neos has been burning the route from Paris’s Orly Airport and New York/Newark (EWR) since 2014, along with seasonal routes between Nice and EWR. The airline estimates approximately 60 percent of its passengers are traveling the routes for business.
Though expansion was in the airline’s plans for this year, before the global outbreak of COVID-19 hit the industry, its approach from the beginning was to watch the world economy and grow when it was prudent.
Relaxation is stressed in the La Compagnie cabin through the airline's Relax Onboard products and services
“All other Business Class airlines were on the market at the same time between 2004 and 2008 when the market wasn’t ready yet to move from a traditional airline model to brand new ones,” Anne Crespo, Marketing and Communications Manager at La Compagnie tells PAX International. “Then they tried to expand too quickly so their costs became too high. Our success was built on careful development with only two aircraft to reach profitability. Once done we will be able to expand on routes that guarantee Business Class traffic.”
The expansion and the profits will have to wait until the industry gets back on its feet. But when the A321s from La Compagnie again take to the air to New York they will be outfitted with La Compagnie’s brand of inflight service called Relax Onboard.
Sitting on the airline’s Diamond seats from Collins Aerospace will be amenity kits with products from the French company Caudalie designed for health and wellness. The moisturizers come in a 15-milliliter container and through the month of February, La Compagnie was offering Caudalie’s Eau de Beauté enriched with essential oils and plant extracts for skin radiance and microcirculation.
Part of the La Compagnie's Relax Onboard program is an amenity kit with products from Claudiale
Several other Caudalie products are part of the partnership including lip balm,Sorbet hand cream, face cream and eye balm. In the aircraft’s lavatories, La Compagnie has selected products from Fragonnard. The airline worked with amenity kit supplier Albéa Travel Designer on the design, while a facility for people with disabilities stocks the items in each of the kits.
Bon Bean chocolates and Kusimi Tea's detoxifying tea blends are a few of the name brands aboard La Compagnie
The airline’s attention to wellness does not end there. La Compagnie was looking for balance in its meal offerings which are catered by Servair out of Paris and Newrest out of Nice. Seasonal ingredients and monthly changeovers are part of the service. Among its snack suppliers are savory and sweet products from Les Fruits Détendus and Bon Bean chocolates. Passengers also sip Kusimi Tea’s detoxifying tea blends.
Flights from Paris and Nice to New York both average about 7.5 hours but can run as long as nine hours, depending on the windspeed. However, the airline’s inflight entertainment offering is not just tailored for binge watching comedies and movies. Relax Onboard helps stressed out passengers with an offering of meditation exercises designed to address every phase of the flight. The airline has IFE content with a company called Petit Bambou on its Rave inflight entertainment system from Safran, played on 15.6-inch screens.
La Compagnie has selected the Rave system from Safran for its inflight entertainment
The partnership with Petit Bambou launched in February of this year and with the shutdown of European service, La Compagnie hasn’t compiled a clear look at the viewership and participation. Crespo says the programming will remain part of the airline’s IFE offering giving the passenger access to meditation exercises and classes.
Other programming is accessible through the airline Wi-Fi connectivity supplied by Viasat. Through the system, meditation sessions are conducted by Mathilde Farcy-Mossard. Two yoga teachers, Tatiana and Heloise, guide passengers through various poses that can easily be practiced onboard an aircraft.
