If the old maxim that the customer is always rightstill has meaning, then the airlines that ply theworlds busiest air route between London and Parishave a flight on their hands.
The Eurostar train service linking the UK andFrench capitals via the Channel Tunnel is winningcustomers in increasing numbers. In late May, itcarried its one millionth passenger, having run only a limited service between London, Paris and Brussels since November 1994, starting with twotrains a day in each direction to Paris and Brussels. By 1997, the company believes that it will becarrying ten million passengers a year, and continue to grow from there.
From July, Eurostar steps its service to nine trains each way between London and Paris, andfive between London and Brussels. Each train carries almost 800 passengers, 210 of them infirst class.
The airlines estimate that they will initially lose around 15%-20% of their London-Paristraffic to the railways once Eurostar starts a full service later this year , with 15 trains aday each way. A similar service will start to Brussels. The damage will be limited, however, theairlines believe, with passenger numbers returning to previous levels within two to three years.
In the short term, the damage caused by the 1 million people-levels traveling betweenLondon and Paris and Brussels on Eurostar trains means that some air services are alreadysuffering. Some of the major carriers say that their passenger numbers are down by less than5% and point to their rivals-Particularly Air France-as having suffered the problems. On theBrussels route, the railway company had less success, and the airlines report anything fromaround a 5% drop to no visible decline in traffic.
