Cuts Archives - Com Namibia

Thermal Spa Treatments: ADN Tourisme Opposes Reimbursement Cuts

November 2, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Christelle Chassagne, présidente d’ADN Tourisme, s’oppose au transfert du financement des cures thermales vers les complémentaires santé. DepositPhotos.com/minervastock

Attitude Hotels

Dans un courrier adressé au Premier ministre et aux ministres de la Santé et du Tourisme, le 13 octobre 2026, Christelle Chassagne alerte sur les conséquences d’un éventuel déremboursement des cures thermales. La présidente d’ADN Tourisme rappelle que 80 % des curistes sont retraités et que plus de 30 % viennent de milieux modestes.

Elle souligne également le poids économique du thermalisme, qui représente, selon les chiffres avancés par l’association, 4,5 milliards d’euros de retombées et près de 25 000 emplois, pour un coût de 240 millions d’euros pour l’Assurance maladie.

ADN Tourisme demande une concertation

Christelle Chassagne conteste le transfert envisagé et appelle le Gouvernement à revoir sa position. « Les cures soignent, soulagent, préviennent, et ce sont des centaines de milliers de patients, souvent fragiles et âgés, qui en bénéficient chaque année », déclare-t-elle.

La présidente d’ADN Tourisme estime que la mesure pourrait affecter à la fois l’accès aux soins et l’activité économique des territoires thermaux. Elle demande au Premier ministre, à la ministre de la Santé et au ministre du Tourisme de revenir sur cette décision et d’ouvrir « sans délai une véritable concertation avec les professionnels du thermalisme ».

Lors du Loi de Financement de la Sécurité Sociale (PLFSS) 2026, le gouvernement avait aussi projeté de dérembourser partiellement les cures thermales,, finalement cette proposition n’avait pas été retenue.

Transavia: No Capacity Cuts, 10% Growth This Winter

September 30, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Hub à Orly : "Nous ne bâtissons pas notre programme dans un objectif de connectivité" - Depositphotos

CroisiEurope

TourMaG – Dans un contexte très particulier, comment s’est passé l’été pour Transavia ?

Julien Mallard : We are very satisfied, both commercially and operationally. In July and August, we transported more than 4 million people, representing a growth of over 13% compared with last year. We also managed to operate more than 400 flights per day, which is a record for Transavia.

All of this occurred in a context where we improved punctuality and the consistency of our operations, despite external events such as Etna or various strikes.

We were able to maintain our offer during the peak of the summer.

We also worked to be highly responsive and to reallocate our capacity from the Middle East to other destinations. This allowed us to meet a growing demand from passengers wishing to travel to Southern Europe or North Africa, notably to Italy, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia.

All in all, it was a summer that went fairly well from a commercial and operational standpoint.

Transavia: “Autumn is fairly dynamic”

TourMaG – Like your peers, the summer was also marked by late bookings, I suppose?

Julien Mallard : Indeed, we have observed an acceleration in bookings, with a certain degree of caution. Customers were more attuned to price, destinations and the security situation.

Since spring, we have seen bookings become increasingly late, with customers able to book July or August holidays at the last minute.

This is something we also notice at the end of summer, in September and October, with short-term dynamics much stronger than in previous years.
TourMaG – How do the off-season and year-end look for Transavia?

Julien Mallard : For the moment, autumn is quite dynamic. The momentum we saw this summer is also taking shape in September and October.

The big novelty this summer for Transavia was also the resumption of domestic routes to Toulouse, Nice and Marseille. From a commercial and load factor standpoint, these routes are quite successful.

We have already carried 750,000 people on the first four months of operation of these three destinations, with load factors above 85%, in line with our initial targets at the start of operations.

This will allow us to approach the end of the summer season and the start of winter quite solidly.

We will maintain the planned frequencies and we will even increase them on Toulouse, up to nine flights per day. The aim is notably to meet business customer needs, with more travel options, especially in the late afternoon.

Transavia: “The 5 Airbus A321neo will all be in operation in summer 2027”

Le Wi-Fi dans les avions Transavia : "c'est un sujet en réflexion" - RP

TourMaG – 2026 est aussi synonyme de livraisons et d’entrée en fonction des Airbus A321neo.

Julien Mallard : This new product will be available from March 2027 and will be rolled out on these domestic routes. We plan to receive five by next spring. All five aircraft will be in operation by the summer of 2027.

They will offer 232 seats, compared to 189 for the Boeing 737-800 and 186 for the Airbus A320neo.

For the customer, this means more comfort, modern aircraft and especially more space for cabin baggage.

This is an important point for this type of clientele. We will have almost 40% more cabin baggage space, which will make life easier for frequent travelers on these routes.

We will notably deploy them on Toulouse, Nice and Marseille. It is also an aircraft that helps save 15 to 20% in kerosene.

TourMaG – With domestic-route customers, will the topic of Wi-Fi on Transavia aircraft arise? For now, these are still topics under consideration. We see the market evolve, as do customer expectations.

Our flight durations are generally shorter than those of Air France, but we feel this could become an important element for customers in the coming years. It is therefore an innovation we are working on and studying.

TourMaG – Since March 29, Transavia has been alone, at least without Air France, in Orly. You now have a hub. Does this fundamentally change the way you work and market? Not fundamentally, because we mainly build our program to meet the needs of point-to-point customers.

We do not build our program with a connectivity objective, as that would impose other constraints, particularly on aircraft usage. We do, however, have a tool called Transavia Connect for customers who wish to use Transavia as part of a connection.

With an increasingly dense network, it becomes more and more interesting to compose certain itineraries, for example a Berlin-Agadir. But our priority remains point-to-point traffic, to and from Paris.

Transavia : “gagner en efficacité,” plutôt d’augmenter les prix

TourMaG – This business traveler arriving at Transavia, with Air France lines being moved, could appreciate this kind of product…

Julien Mallard : We offer this clientele the possibility to work in our lounge.

We opened it at Orly last July. It found its audience and the feedback is very positive. Some customers are surprised that a low-cost company can offer this kind of service. Air France customers, on the other hand, find themselves returning to certain habits in a lounge that has been renovated.

It is a lounge operated by Transavia, with a Transavia service, which we have tried to design for business travelers and our frequent customers. In fact, we realize they expect to find this type of service.

This allows the customer to work before departure. The lounge is located right next to the domestic departures, which makes it easy to reach their flight at the last moment.

What is important for us is to listen to what the customer seeks and expects.

On these new domestic destinations, there was indeed a strong expectation for this type of service. Our objective is to find the most efficient way to offer the product, and especially to offer it à la carte.

We do not want all our customers to pay for a lounge if they do not wish to use it. So we must find flexible ways of delivering the service.

In Orly, we have a very significant base, it is our base. It was therefore logical that we operate this lounge ourselves.

TourMaG – Are there new routes planned for the winter?

Julien Mallard : We will open several destinations from the provinces, notably toward areas where we sense demand and curiosity among the French.

I am thinking especially of Egypt, with the opening of Bordeaux-Cairo and Nantes-Cairo. We will also open a new destination to Cape Verde from Nantes.

There are also destinations more oriented toward the off-season and which perform well, notably Seville, with the opening of Brest-Seville and Rennes-Seville.

Transavia : “Nous prévoyons une croissance de plus de 10 % cet hiver”

TourMaG – TourMaG — Is there any topic around upcoming price increases? Michael O’Leary, head of Ryanair, mentioned a possible rise in fares if kerosene stays at a very high level. Is that a concern for Transavia?

Julien Mallard : For us, the issue is primarily to gain efficiency. Cost increases pose a real challenge. We must work on everything that can be controlled directly by the company.

One of the first levers is operational performance.

Getting aircraft on time and avoiding cancellations is one of the main levers for reducing costs. That is what we are striving to optimize.

We also aim to optimize our commercial offer and reposition flights where it makes sense, in order to improve our efficiency.

These are two levers we can act on to partially absorb this cost increase, which is significant for airlines.

TourMaG – Does this affect your upcoming winter programme?

Julien Mallard : We built our winter program taking into account the fuel situation observed in spring and summer.

So we have already integrated different hypotheses into our planning, which allows us to guarantee and maintain as much of our offer this winter as possible.

We expect growth of more than 10% this winter, particularly thanks to the resumption of domestic routes, which accounts for a large part of this progression.

We want to stay as responsive as possible to the situation in the Middle East. Adjustments may be necessary, but our objective remains a growth of more than 10% this winter.

Air France Cuts Off Access to Non-IATA Group Bookings

July 23, 2026 by Amara Nambinga

Air France coupe l'accès aux réservations "groupes" des non IATA - Depositphotos.com Auteur monticello

CroisiEurope

It’s a fresh blow for agencies specializing in group travel.

After SNCF and the suspension of its dedicated groups portal, it’s Air France’s turn to restrict, starting July 1, 2026, access to its TIGRE Web platform to only IATA-accredited agencies. A decision that could penalize many independent group organizers.

According to several testimonies collected on the HelpDesk of Tourism Pros, non-IATA agencies have recently been informed by email that they must now hold an IATA accreditation to continue accessing the company’s B2B site.

In a letter sent to agencies at the start of last week, Air France explains that this evolution is part of “a process of structuring and securing the group reservation procedures for the Company.”

The company also specifies that this evolution aims to “guarantee usage in line with its financial standards.”

For part of the sector, this announcement sounds like a real hammer blow.

“All those involved in group travel who are non-IATA are affected,” sums up a professional in the field.

In the crosshairs for these agencies: a loss of flexibility and responsiveness.

In practice, many agencies specialized in group travel already work with partner issuing agencies for ticketing, without necessarily holding an IATA license themselves or a GDS such as Amadeus, Sabre or Galileo.

Until now, they nonetheless retained operational access to the B2B platform : checking availability, blocking seats, managing cases, adding passengers or price simulations.

“I manage the file from A to Z. I do all the work: I search for flights, I look at the fares, I block the reservations, I handle seat allocations and filling in passport details, birth dates… then once everything is managed I email Air France asking them to transfer my file to the issuing agency. There, I will no longer have any control over anything”

The goal for these agencies: a loss of flexibility and responsiveness.

“We will become dependent on an issuing agency. Our request will be processed when they can, sometimes several hours later. And we will no longer be able to book flights as soon as they open,” testimonies another agency manager who sometimes logs in in the middle of the night at the opening of sales to benefit from the best rates. “If we are not reactive, yield fares rise quickly.”

“On some group cases, I sometimes spend several hours searching for what matches a client’s request,” adds another group organizer, “it’s something you cannot ask of an intermediary.”

How to obtain IATA accreditation and access to a GDS by July 1?

On paper, the agencies concerned can still apply for an IATA accreditation. But in practice, it seems impossible to obtain accreditation, even for the first level (GoLite) and to train the teams before the July 1, 2026 deadline.

Obtaining the precious credential is not limited to a simple administrative membership. “You need accreditation but also access to a GDS, with the training that goes with it for two people in ticketing,” explains this agency manager, not to mention that all this comes at a cost.

“Financially, I cannot hire someone to manage emissions,” adds a leader.

As for issuing tickets directly through Air France, the agencies we interviewed lament higher tariffs than those charged by partner agencies.

Some group organizers also fear a monopolistic effect and/or bottlenecks at the issuing agencies, at a time when operators are selling groups for 2027.

On the side of Enterprises of Travel, Valérie Boned, President of the employers’ union, is surprised not to have been informed in advance of this decision: “Since then we have contacted Air France. We asked them to reconsider their position and at least give more time to agencies to undertake the necessary steps. They assured me they are working on the subject. I am hopeful that the company will postpone at least its decision to September 1.”

A situation all the more delicate as commercial validations take longer, especially on the CSE side, in an economic and geopolitical context that pushes many clients to delay committing.

In general, airline group policies are tightening.

“In recent years, it was clear that group conditions were hardening,” explains a professional interviewed by TourMaG.

For example, reservation windows have been shortened, sometimes from a month to only fourteen days to confirm a group. These strategies have also been implemented by other airlines, such as TAP Portugal or Lufthansa.

Contacted by us, Air France declined to comment.

Published by Céline Eymery Editor-in-Chief – TourMaG.com
See all articles by Céline Eymery

Ajoutez TourMaG à votre flux Google Actualités