Air France announced plans to add by next spring 54 new nonstop routes from Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse to "major cities in Europe and the Mediterranean."

The initial round of new services is scheduled for October 2011 from Marseille. The carrier also will boost capacity on domestic routes--including "80 percent more seats in some cases." By using single aircraft types and optimizing schedules, Air France will "enable its medium-haul operations to regain profitable growth," according to Air France-KLM CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.