Air Liberté
Defunct airline of France (1987–2003)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Liberté (later known as Air Lib) was a French airline founded in July 1987. It was headquartered in Rungis.[1] Air Lib was headquartered in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste.[2][3]
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| Founded | July 1987 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | April 1988 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 17 February 2003 | ||||||
| Hubs | Orly Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program |
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| Alliance | Oneworld (affiliate; 1999–2000) | ||||||
| Headquarters |
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History
Air Liberté began operations in April 1988 with a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-80. It mainly operated to destinations in European and Mediterranean holiday resorts, however it had some intercontinental routes. In 1991, Air Liberte published a joint timetable with French air carrier Minerve which was operating flights to San Francisco and Papeete, Tahiti as well as to Pointe-à-Pitre and Fort-de-France in the Caribbean at the time.[4] A route to Montreal was inaugurated in 1992,[5] and Réunion and the Caribbean were also served by the airline. Unsuccessful routes included one from Toulouse to Dakar and London, which were scrapped in a conflict over slot allocations at Orly Airport. 1996 saw a new route to Nice, and in May the route network of Euralair was taken on. Around 1996, the airline had a fleet of five Boeing 737-200s, eight McDonnell Douglas MD-83s and five McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
1996 also brought with it financial distress. The airline lost 1 billion francs that year, and in 1997 British Airways acquired a 67% shareholding.[6] At this time, British Airways brought Air Liberté together with TAT and inaugurated them under one management. Nouvelair was born out of Air Liberté's subsidiary in Tunisia, Air Liberté Tunisie.[citation needed] On 5 May 2000, BA sold Air Liberté to a partnership between Taitbout Antibes and Swissair.
On 25 March 2001 AOM French Airlines merged with Air Liberté, the airline retaining the name "Air Liberté".[7] On 22 September 2001 the airline was renamed Air Lib.[8] In October, Swissair went bankrupt, unable to make all scheduled payments. The French Government then granted a loan of €30.5 million to the company.
Despite government aid, the airline accumulated debts of €120 million and was forced to declare bankruptcy in August 2002. The government then ordered the implementation of a new restructuring plan before the end of the year. Several projects were considered without result, and the company was liquidated on 17 February 2003. As a result, no other competing international-level full-service French airline had appeared, leaving only Air France (now controlled by Air France–KLM) as a de facto monopoly until French Bee was founded in 2016.
Destinations
France
- Agen – Agen La Garenne Airport
- Annecy – Annecy – Haute-Savoie – Mont Blanc Airport
- Aurillac – Aurillac – Tronquières Airport
- Bergerac – Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport
- Bordeaux – Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport
- Brive-la-Gaillarde – Brive–La Roche Airport
- Carcassonne – Carcassonne Airport
- Cherbourg-Octeville – Cherbourg – Maupertus Airport
- Épinal – Épinal – Mirecourt Airport
- Figari – Figari–Sud Corse Airport
- Lannion – Lannion – Côte de Granit Airport
- La Rochelle – La Rochelle – Île de Ré Airport
- Metz/Nancy – Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport
- Montpellier – Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport
- Nice – Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
- Paris – Orly Airport (hub)
- Perpignan – Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport
- Roanne – Roanne-Renaison Airport
- Rodez – Rodez–Aveyron Airport
- Strasbourg – Strasbourg Airport
- Toulon – Toulon–Hyères Airport
- Toulouse – Toulouse–Blagnac Airport
French overseas departments and territories
International routes
Fleet
Air Liberté operated the following aircraft during operations:[citation needed]
| Image | Aircraft | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
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Airbus A300-600R | 2 | |
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Airbus A310-200 | 2 | |
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Airbus A310-300 | 1 | Owned by ILFC; later crashed operating Yemenia Flight 626 |
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ATR 42-300 | 7 | |
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ATR 72-202 | 3 | |
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Boeing 737-200 | 3 | |
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Fokker 100 | 12 | |
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McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 | 5 | |
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McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 5 | |
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McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 13 | |
| Total | 53 | ||
Accidents & Incidents
- 25 May 2000: Air Liberté Flight 8807, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (F-GHED) collided on the runway with a Short 330 freighter aircraft operated by Streamline Aviation. The Short had been cleared to line up at an intermediate taxiway on the runway that the MD-83 was departing from. The wing of the MD-83 struck the cockpit of the Short, killing its first officer and injuring the captain. The MD-83 aborted takeoff with no casualties on board, and was repaired and returned to service.[9]
