PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Air France will launch a special unit with four-to-six planes for the medium-distance tourism market, the La Tribune newspaper reports in its Friday editions.
Reuters obtained an advance copy of the story on Thursday.
The paper said the airline, part of Air France KLM (AIRF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), would announce the creation of what could be called 'Air France Soleil' on Nov. 22.
The unit would be a mix of a charter and a low-cost operation and is to be based on the model of Transavia, a subsidiary of KLM in the Netherlands.t combines the block sale of seats via
tour operators and individual Internet booking.
The small fleet of Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 737 craft will come from Transavia and the unit will start operations next summer.
Air France closed its Air Charter unit in 1997. It concluded a deal with tourism operators Club Med Jet Tours (CMIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) to lease two to three Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) A320 planes last year.
Air France was not immediately available for comment
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AF/KLM plans low cost carrier
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