IGavion
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| Founded | 2013 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 2018 | ||||||
| Hubs | Dole-Jura Airport Châteauroux-Centre Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Nice Côte d'Azur Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | Up to 3 | ||||||
| Parent company | SkyTaxi | ||||||
| Headquarters | Angers, France | ||||||
IGavion was a French virtual airline (trading name) used by the Polish charter operator SkyTaxi for its scheduled regional passenger services within France. Operating from 2013 to 2018, IGavion connected secondary French airports with seasonal and year-round domestic routes using Saab 340A turboprop aircraft.[1][2]
Launch (2013)
SkyTaxi chose Dole-Jura Airport in the Franche-Comté region to establish its first French base. On 2 June 2013, IGavion launched its inaugural route between Dole and Nice, replacing Danube Wings which had suspended service on the same route in January 2013. The Dole-Nice service operated three times per week, with fares starting at €69 for a one-way ticket, baggage included.[3][4]
Additional routes followed quickly during the summer of 2013. IGavion inaugurated a Nice-Angers service on 17 June, operating twice weekly, and a Nice-Épinal route beginning on 23 June. Seasonal links from Dole to Bastia and Ajaccio in Corsica were also added.[5] By 22 August 2013, after ten weeks of operations, the airline had carried its 1,000th passenger.[3]
In November 2013, IGavion launched a weekday service between Albert-Picardie and Toulouse, a route created in partnership with the aerospace manufacturer Aérolia (later Stelia Aerospace) to facilitate employee travel between its factory at Méaulte and the Airbus production sites in Toulouse.[6] However, the Albert-Toulouse route was discontinued at the end of March 2014 due to insufficient load factors.
Expansion and international routes (2014–2016)
During the summers of 2014 and 2015, IGavion operated international seasonal routes from Dole to Girona and Palma de Mallorca. New domestic routes were introduced in 2015, including Dole-Bordeaux and Dole-Toulouse, as well as a Châteauroux-Nice service that proved successful, achieving an average load factor of around 80%.[1]
By August 2015, the cumulative number of passengers departing from Dole-Jura had reached 20,000 since operations began in June 2013.
In April 2016, IGavion abruptly withdrew all services from Dole-Jura Airport without providing an explanation, ending its routes to Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse from that base.[7] The airline subsequently shifted its focus to Châteauroux and other airports. From June 2016, a Nice-Bergerac route was inaugurated, and a Châteauroux-Lyon via Angers route was launched later that year, though the latter was quickly closed due to low passenger numbers (averaging around 15% load factor).
Final period and cessation (2017–2018)
In 2018, IGavion announced an ambitious expansion from Châteauroux with new routes to Biarritz, London-Southend, Lyon and Toulouse. However, in September 2018, the airline announced the closure of all its routes, including the established Châteauroux-Nice service, as the parent company SkyTaxi decided to refocus on cargo operations.[8][1] SkyTaxi's last Saab 340 left its fleet in February 2022, marking the definitive end of the company's involvement in passenger services.[1]
