French all-business class airline La Compagnie will move its base from Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to the capital’s second airport, Orly.

La Compagnie operates two Boeing 757-200s in a 74-seat layout between Paris and New York Newark Liberty International Airport.

The switch to Orly will take place over the summer 2018 season. Details of the precise transfer date will be announced in the next few weeks, said the airline. Located eight miles south of Paris' city center, Orly serves as a secondary hub for domestic and international flights and has two terminals.

La Compagnie has been operating between New York and Paris since 2014. The airline recently announced the acquisition of two Airbus A321neos scheduled for delivery in 2019.

“In reality, Orly is really a choice that we wanted to make for several years,” La Compagnie head of marketing & communications Anne Crespo told ATW.

It was closer to the center of Paris than CDG and was the preferred airport for high-value customers and business travelers, she explained, as it was smaller than CDG and thus easier to get around.

Although the French capital’s main airport, “CDG is not more prestigious for our customers. On the contrary, Orly was a demand from our loyal customers for months and we seized the opportunity to meet their expectations.”

One major factor in Orly’s favor was that it served many French regional airports and had notably more connections to major cities such as Nice and Toulouse than CDG, she said.

Alan Dron alandron@adepteditorial.com