Air France offshoot Joon set to launch

The self-proclaimed Air France fashion statement aimed at Millennials, trendy offshoot Joon,  is due to  launch its first services December 1 before heading overseas in 2018 The carrier will start flying to Barcelona, Spain , Berlin and Portugal’s Lisbon and Porto. Fares currently start at 49 euros, according to its website. It plans to start international services in Spring,  2018 to  Fortaleza in Brazil and Mahé in Seychelles. Joon’s launch earlier this year attracted some ridicule because of the way it has been marketed as an  uber cool concept to attract Millennials. “Joon is a fashion brand, a rooftop bar, an entertainment channel, a personal assistant … and Joon does flying too!” the airline’s marketing said earlier this year. Air France chief executive Franck Terner described it as a new model of airline “between a traditional and low-cost airline, a new travel experience for all customers”. Read our reviews of Air France. “Joon is one of our major projects as part of the strategic plan Trust Together and will be one of Air France’s priorities in its offensive to win back market share,’’ he said. “Joon will accelerate the group’s development and will be an integral part of the group’s network and portfolio of airlines: complementary and extremely powerful on departure from France.” Beaneath all the hyperbole, however, Joon is part of Air France’s strategy to cope with pressure from Gulf carriers as well as the expansion in Europe of long-haul, low-cost carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle and IAG’s LEVEL. The project, originally labelled Boost,  was made possible through a union agreement that will see Air France pilots at the controls It is headed by Jean-Michel Mathieu, a 48-year-old who has spent most of his career with Air France and Air France-KLM in areas including network, revenue management, digital services and customer relations. Neither Joon nor Air France have been big on details about the new carrier. Information released in September said the airline was due to kick off with 51 weekly flights to Barcelona, 37 to Berlin, 28 to Lisbon and three to Porto. The new intra-Europe services will use Airbus A320 family aircraft in a two-class configuration with in-seat power and entertainment streamed to personal devices. Business passengers get a 3-3 seating layout, free checked luggage, catering, entertainment and lounge access in most ports. Economy passengers will have to pay for checked luggage and food but receive some beverages. Checked luggage is not included in the lowest, non-changeable fare but is included in the standard and flex categories The lowest fare produced by airline’s booking engine for a one-way economy trip from Paris to Barcelona on December 12 was 60 euros with the next offer jumping to 158 euros. Business class on the same day and route ranged between 490 and 620 euros one way. The French carrier plans to grow its workforce from 160 in 2017 to more 1000 in 2020 at which stage it expects to be flying 18 medium-haul A320/321 aircraft and 10 long-haul Airbus A340/A350s.