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La Compagnie

La Compagnie, legally incorporated as DreamJet SAS, is a French boutique airline founded by Frantz Yvelin and based at Orly Airport, with headquarters in Le Bourget in the Paris metropolitan area.[2] It operates all-business class flights within Europe and to Newark Liberty International Airport.

History

The airline was founded as DreamJet SAS in October 2013. It was created and run by French airline entrepreneur Frantz Yvelin, with the support of Peter Luethi, Yann Poudoulec, Francois Ledreux, Nicolas Jurczyk, and Pierre-Hugues Schmit among a few others, in the hopes of making an all-business class airline with a true low-cost structure, offering business class fares significantly cheaper than those of legacy carriers. Frantz Yvelin served as the airline's CEO for its first four years, until the end of 2016. Prior to La Compagnie, Frantz Yvelin had been the founder of L'Avion, which was sold to British Airways and later became OpenSkies. Yvelin's deputy was Peter Luethi, the former COO of Indian airline Jet Airways.[3]

The first scheduled revenue flight, already under the new and definitive La Compagnie (English: The Company) name, operated from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport on 21 July 2014 using a Boeing 757-200.[4] On 24 April 2015, the airline started a second scheduled route from London Luton Airport to Newark.[5]

In April 2016, Frantz Yvelin announced La Compagnie was considering a fleet renewal and expansion with Airbus A321neo aircraft,[6] which it had later confirmed with an order for two Airbus A321neos in September 2017.[7] In September 2016, the airline announced the suspension of its route from London Luton to Newark and its intention to instead launch a second daily frequency between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Newark, citing economic reasons linked to Brexit.[8] In December 2016, La Compagnie's sole holding, DreamJet Participations, which was also founded and run by Frantz Yvelin, acquired 100% of XL Group Ltd., the holding company of XL Airways France, and the two airlines joined forces with the transaction completed by 12 September 2018.[9][10] In September 2017, the airline announced that it was offering all-you-can-fly passes for its Newark to Paris route, costing $40,000 per year.[11]

In April 2018, La Compagnie relocated its Paris operations from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Orly Airport.[12] On 5 December 2018, the airline announced a new seasonal service to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport from Newark to begin on 6 May 2019.[13] Also in May 2019, the airline took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo.[14][15] In September 2019, the airline took delivery of its second Airbus A321neo, and subsequently retired both of its Boeing 757 aircraft by the end of October 2019.[16][17]

In March 2020, La Compagnie announced it would suspend its commercial operations as of the 18th of that month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Commercial operations were initially expected to resume on 1 June 2020, but were subsequently postponed several times.[18] During the suspensions, the airline received a total of €20 million in governmental loans, provided some ad-hoc charter services, and operated a limited number of flights for the December 2020 holiday season.[19] After fifteen months of suspensions, the airline's regular commercial flights eventually resumed on 12 June 2021.[20] Following the resumption of service, the airline on 18 June 2021 announced two new destinations to its network, consisting of summer seasonal flights between Paris Orly and Tel Aviv to begin on 21 July 2021, and flights between Newark and Milan Malpensa to begin on 29 November 2021,[20] however, both routes were subsequently postponed, with the Tel Aviv flights delayed from a summer to a winter launch, and the Milan flights delayed to summer 2022.[21][22][23][24] In July 2021, the airline was reported to be considering the operation of Airbus A321XLR aircraft. On 9 December 2021, AfriJet announced it had partnered with La Compagnie to launch seasonal flights between Paris Orly and Libreville's Léon-Mba International Airport from 16 December 2021, in place of La Compagnie's services to Tel Aviv which were further postponed,[25] before eventually being cancelled.

In February 2023, La Compagnie reported that it recorded its first profit in 2022, consisting of 1 million euros, and additionally announced that it planned to add two Airbus A321LR aircraft to its fleet, for delivery in 2024 and 2025.[26] This however was later adjusted for the first A321LR to be delivered in 2026.[27]

Services

Cabin

La Compagnie's aircraft are equipped with an all-business class cabin arranged in a 2–2 configuration, consisting of 76 seats that convert to flat beds.[28] Inflight entertainment is provided on 15.7 inch (40 cm) seatback touchscreens, and inflight Wi-Fi access provided by Viasat is also available.[28] Food is served in a two-course meal. La Compagnie uses contracted lounges for its passengers.

Frequent flyer program

My Compagnie is La Compagnie's frequent-flyer program, through which passengers can earn points on flights, as well as by referring others to register for the program. Points accrued can be redeemed towards award flights on La Compagnie and towards itinerary changes for flights that have already been booked, avoiding the monetary fees for changes in the process.[29]

Destinations

La Compagnie serves or has previously served the following destinations as of February 2024:[30][31]

Airline partnerships

While La Compagnie does not have interlining or codeshare agreements, the airline partners with easyJet through its Worldwide by easyJet program,[33] and it also has a partnership with Hahn Air.[34]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of August 2025, La Compagnie operates the following aircraft:[35]

Former fleet

Further reading

  • "La Compagnie", Airliner World monthly magazine, Key Publishing, Sutton, August 2016
  • M. Legnani, ""La Compagnie is breaking the standards", Airways monthly magazine, U.S.A., January 2017
  • Ch. Croot, "La Compagnie at ten", Airliner World monthly magazine, Key Publishing, Sutton, July 2024

External links

References

  1. https://www.lacompagnie.com/en/team/christian-vernet Christian Vernet La Compagnie, retrieved 2026-03-29^
  2. General Conditions of Carriage for Passengers retrieved 15 April 2015^
  3. Our Team La Compagnie^
  4. La Compagnie starts CDG-Newark with 74-seat all-business 757 anna.aero, PPS Publications, 23 July 2014, retrieved 10 August 2014^
  5. London To New York Service Begins Mynewsdesk, 3 February 2015, retrieved 22 June 2021^
  6. Laura Frommberg. Business-Airline La Compagnie baut Flotte aus Aero Telegraph, aeroTELEGRAPH · AGB, 12 April 2016^
  7. France's La Compagnie orders two A321neo for TATL ops ch-aviation, ch-aviation GmbH, 22 September 2017^
  8. Mark Caswell. La Compagnie to suspend Luton-New York service Business Traveller, 5 September 2016^
  9. Benjamin Zhang. Air France should be worried — its competition just got stronger Business Insider, Insider Inc., 2 December 2016, retrieved 7 October 2018^
  10. AXA : acquisition de XL Group finalisée le 12 septembre Zone bourse, 11 September 2018, retrieved 7 October 2018^
  11. A. W. All-you-can-fly membership models are slowly catching on The Economist, 10 October 2017^
  12. La Compagnie switches Paris airports anna.aero, PPS Publications, 25 April 2018, retrieved 7 October 2018^
  13. Jim Liu. La Compagnie adds Nice – Newark service from May 2019 Routesonline, UBM (UK) Ltd., 5 December 2018^
  14. La Compagnie reçoit son 1er A321neo et fait gagner une place à bord du 1er vol AAF - Acualité Aéronautique Francophone, 18 May 2019, retrieved 19 May 2019^
  15. Mark Caswell. La Compagnie gears up for launch of A321 neo transatlantic flights Business Traveller, 23 May 2019, retrieved 23 May 2019^
  16. Lastest [sic] born in the blue bird family, we are proud and happy to welcome HNCO! The @Airbus A321neo allow us to have more efficient, quiet and relaxing flights over the Atlantic Ocean. 25 September 2019, retrieved 31 October 2019^
  17. Il est temps de dire adieu à notre dernier Boeing, depuis hier notre est 100% connectée, toujours 100% classe affaires, avez vous déjà volé à bord de nos nouveaux oiseaux? 29 October 2019, retrieved 30 October 2019^
  18. Health Situation (Coronavirus) La Compagnie, 14 April 2020, retrieved 28 February 2021^
  19. Tatiana Rokou. La Compagnie plans return after a 15-month hiatus of its regular service between New York and France TravelDailyNews, 19 May 2021, retrieved 23 June 2021^
  20. La Compagnie 2021 Flight Program La Compagnie, 17 June 2021, retrieved 19 June 2021^
  21. Zev Stub. New 'all business-class' flight from Israel to Paris, NY launches Sept. 5 The Jerusalem Post, 1 August 2021, retrieved 3 August 2021^
  22. La Compagnie : décollage des vols Paris-Tel Aviv dès le 5 décembre 2021 TourMaG, 29 September 2021, retrieved 4 October 2021^
  23. Amely Mizzi. La Compagnie verschiebt Starts in Mailand und Tel Aviv aviation.direct, 27 September 2021, retrieved 29 September 2021^
  24. Blue Friday Deal La Compagnie, 19 November 2021, retrieved 23 December 2021^
  25. Amely Mizzi. La Compagnie flies to Libreville instead of Tel Aviv Aviation.Direct, 9 December 2021, retrieved 23 December 2021^
  26. Christophe Hardin. La Compagnie, pour la première fois bénéficiaire, vise plus loin AirMag, TourMag, 2 February 2023, retrieved 14 February 2023^
  27. Jennifer Leigh Parker. This 'Business Class-Only' Airline Proves The Model Can Work Forbes, 14 June 2024, retrieved 16 June 2024^
  28. Jon Hemmerdinger. La Compagnie details A321neo cabin plans FlightGlobal, Reed Business Information Limited, 26 September 2018, retrieved 19 May 2019^
  29. My Compagnie La Compagnie, retrieved 29 May 2019^
  30. Airport info La Compagnie, retrieved 27 October 2019^
  31. Flight schedule La Compagnie, retrieved 22 December 2021^
  32. Laurie Werner. Business Class Airline La Compagnie Launches Service To The Caribbean Forbes, 20 February 2024, retrieved 20 February 2024^
  33. New Destinations La Compagnie, retrieved 3 August 2021^
  34. Partner Carriers Hahnair^
  35. Global Airline Guide 2025 - La Compagnie Airliner World, September 2025^