AIR LITTORAL, S. A.: 417 Rue Samuel Morse Le Millenaire 2, F-34961 Montpellier Cedex 2, France; Phone (33-46) 720-6720; Fax (33-46) 764-1061; Http://www. airlittoral. com; Code FU; Year Founded 1976. This regional carrier is formed at Montpellier-Frejorgues Airport in spring 1976 to offer scheduled international commuter services to points in southern France, Spain, and Italy. Employing a fleet of 4 Embraer EMB-110P2 Bandeirantes, the first of the Brazilian aircraft flown by a European operator, flights are inaugurated to Clermont-Ferrand and Nice.
Between 1977 and 1981, a domestic route network is built up linking Montpellier with Perpignan, Lyon, Nice, and Bordeaux and Lyon with Pau and Biarritz. International service is offered from Nice to Milan and from Perpignan to Valencia. The fleet grows to include 2 Nord 262s and
4 Embraer EMB-110P2s.
Passenger boardings in 1981 total 49,000.
In 1982-1983 , as additional regional services are undertaken on behalf of Air France, enplanements rise to 60,000 in 1982 and 76,800 in 1983. Total revenues received during the latter year are FFr 60 million. An additional EMB-110P2 is added to the fleet in 1984 as one Nord 262 is retired. Orders are placed for the Avions de Transport Regional ATR42.
Passenger bookings soar 28% to 98,300 and revenues accelerate to FFr 62 million.
The first of two ordered ATR42-200s is delivered on November 13, 1985 and the carrier agrees to operate them on regional replacement service on behalf of Air France; the flights begin in January 1986. Chairman Robert Da Ros’s fleet now also receives its first Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia. The route network now includes stops at Barcelona, Beziers, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseilles, Milan, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Pau, Pise, Perpignan, and Venice. While on final approach to Bordeaux on a December 21, 1987 service from Brussels, an EMB-120RT with 3 crew and 13 passengers hits a line of trees in the fog and crashes 1,500 m. short of the runway; there are no survivors.
Enplanements for the year total 314,000.
In 1988, the company is reformed and merged with Compagnie Aeri-enne du Languedoc, S. A, also based at Montpellier; a 35% interest is taken by KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) and a third ATR42-200 is acquired.
Flight 440, a Swearingen Metro II with 2 crew and 2 passengers, fails its takeoff from Montlu9on for a November 18 service to Paris (ORY) and crashes 600 m. beyond the end of the runway; there are no survivors.
In 1989, General Manager Dominique Leonardon increases his fleet, adding 7 Brasilias, 2 ATR42-200s, and 6 Fairchild Metro IIs. Requests are made to KLM for the lease of up to 6 Fokker 100s.
Passenger boardings jump 8.8% to 375,962 and freight traffic is ahead by 15.6% to 12.2 million FTKs.
Marc Dufour becomes general manager of the 160-employee firm in 1990 as M. Leonardon takes the post of corporate planning director; the fleet is altered once again. Gone are all but 1 each of the Nords and EMB-110s, replaced by 2 more EMB-120s and 3 Fokker 100s, the latter leased from KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.).
Plans are made for a new European regional network and on June 17, Air Littoral begins operating daily EMB-120 return flights on behalf of KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) from Marseilles, Toulouse, and Bordeaux to Amsterdam.
Also in June, daily flights are opened from Bordeaux and Lyon to Manchester, England. During late summer, KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) increases its shareholding to 49%. Customer bookings move ahead by 11.7% to 420,000 and revenues increase 34% to $97 million.
The fleet in 1991 includes 5 leased ATR42-300s, 1 EMB-110P2, 9 chartered EMB-120 Brasilias, 3 leased Fokker 100s, 1 Nord 262A, and
5 leased Metro IIs. Orders are outstanding for 2 ATR72s. As one of the conditions of the Air France takeover of UTA French Airlines, S. A., the flag carrier is forced to hand over several of its regional routes to other French carriers.
Routes awarded to the regional in January are Paris (CDG) to Amsterdam, Belfast, Dublin, Florence, Manchester, and Newcastle; Marseilles to Lisbon and Madrid; Montpellier to Brussels; Nice to Dublin and Manchester; and Toulouse to Oporto. Rights to fly from Montpellier to Madrid are also received.
Passenger boardings jump 14.3% to 480,000 and revenues total $110 million. The operating loss is $18 million.
Airline employment stands at 860 in 1992. The first ATR72-202 is added in the spring and three Metro IIs are restored. New services are started from London (STN) to Montpellier and Biarritz and from Bordeaux to Manchester. An austerity program is put in place by the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V. management team; however, due largely to the French line’s inability to expand, the Dutch flag carrier sours on its ownership participation and elects to end its commitment.
Before that, however, KLM arranges for Air Littoral to fly additional wet-leased Fokker 100s on its French-speaking routes, four in March and six in October. On November 20, KLM sells its stock to a Euralair, S. A. subsidiary, Compagnie Francaise d’Investissements Aeronautiques (CIFA). It agrees, however, to continue its wet lease of the Fokkers for the next 17 months.
Customer bookings slide downward by 2.2% to 448,011 and cargo drops 22% to 98,000 FTKs. Revenues jump up to $126 million and a net $17.2-million loss is posted.
Airline employment in 1993 stands at 859, a 23.4% decline, as Marc Dufour becomes the carrier’s new president. A second ATR72-202 is delivered in May. Services are maintained between London (STN) and Biarritz/Montpellier and from Bordeaux to Manchester. Two Canadair RJ100s are delivered in October and enter service in November. One provides replacement services for Air France throughout Europe while the other operates between Paris and Beziers on behalf of Air Inter, S. A.
Passenger boardings plunge another 18.3% to 365,945. Revenues fall to $116.3 million and there is a $516,000-net profit.
Orders are placed in January 1994 for 1 Fokker 100 and 5 Fokker 70s. Six Fokker 100s on wet lease from KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) are returned to the Dutch flag carrier on April 1. The first of four new Canadair CRJ200 Regional Jets ordered in the spring are placed into service during December.
The Fokker 100 ordered 14 months earlier is delivered in March 1995 along with the second Canadair CRJ; they are followed in April by the first Fokker 70. Two more Canadairs arrive by summer.
When the “Air France-Air Inter Express” program is established during the fall, Air Littoral becomes a code-sharing partner, agreeing in exchange for subsidy to repaint its aircraft and to fly medium - and low-density domestic or regional routes for the Air France Groupe. Painted in modified “Air France Express” livery, the new Fokker 70s are employed to inaugurate 30 weekly return frequencies between Paris and London (LCY). Orders are now placed for 15 ATR42-512s.
Control of the company is purchased by Air France Groupe during the first quarter of 1996. The first ATR42-512 is delivered in early May; it displays a novel white, red, yellow, and blue color scheme. A new hub is launched at Nice during the early summer. The first of 3 Canadair CRJ100ERs joins the fleet in July.
Just prior to the inauguration of the fall schedule in October, the subsidiary Air Littoral Riviera, S. A. is created to takeover the company’s Nice operations. Service is launched by the new unit to Barcelona, Genoa, Naples, and Rome employing the parent’s wet-leased aircraft.
Enplanements reach 1.6 million, 30% of which figure is transported on “Air France Express” flights. A $1.5-million profit is reported on operating revenues of $170 million.
The leased fleet in 1997 includes 3 CRJ100ERs, 2 ATR42-300s, 10 ATR42-512s, 9 CRJ200s, 8 EMB-120s, 6 Beech 1900Cs, 5 Fokker 70s, and 1 Fokker 100. During the first quarter, an order is signed for 7 more RJ200s, with options for a further 5.
On June 1, a strategic franchise alliance is entered into with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. Under terms of the agreement, the companies link their frequent flyer programs and undertake joint marketing, customer, and ground support services. The regional will represent the German major in 29 French markets while Lufthansa will become general sales agent for Air Littoral in Germany, Italy, and Spain. The partnership also contains financing provisions that could allow Lufthansa to acquire up to a 15% stake and a clause under which the Germans become committed to assisting in the completion of the Air Littoral hub at Nice.
Coming into Florence on July 30 after a service from Nice, Flight 701, an ATR42-512 with 3 crew and 14 passengers lands long, skids off the runway, and comes to rest with its nose against highway A11 (1 dead).
The strategic agreement with Lufthansa becomes a full code-sharing partnership in September. Meanwhile, Air Littoral’s previous arrangement with Air France withers during the summer as the major comes to rely upon its new franchise partner Brit Air, S. A., which, in effect, becomes the French flag carrier’s regional feeder from Paris (CDG) in October.
Enplanements for the year total 1.06 million. On sales of FFr 1.5 billion, the carrier suffers a FFr 80-million ($15-million) loss.
Flights continue apace in 1998. The fleet now includes 14 ATR42-512s, 6 Beech 1900s, 13 Canadairs, 2 Embraer EMB-120s, 5 Fokker 70s, and 1 Fokker 100.
Late in the third week of September, SAirGroup purchases a 44% state in Air Littoral, which will now become a member of the Swissair, A. G.-led “Qualiflyer” alliance. In order to comply with European Union regulations, the commuter’s controlling shareholder, the MSC holding company, retains the majority interest and Air Littoral retains management control.
The acquisition is of concern to Air France, which has an important hub in Nice, where Air Littoral is now the second largest carrier. The code-share with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. between Nice and six German destinations is also threatened. Swissair requests that Air Littoral, which maintains management control, abandon its Lufthansa link, but the regional does not, at least initially, comply.
Passenger boardings total 1.07 million.
Airline employment at the beginning of 1999 stands at 1,365.
Enplanements for the year total 2.1 million and revenues of $340 million are generated.
As 2000 begins, the company is 66% owned by Taitbout Antibes, B. V. and SAirGroup, parent of Swissair, A. G.
In a surprise January action, the Corsican Regional Assembly cancels its public service tender for a link from Ajaccio, Calvi, and Bastilla to Marseilles and Nice. The carrier’s $30.8-million bid to operate the services with ATRs and Fokker 100s is thus not considered and Corse Mediterranee, S. A. remains the sole operator on routes to the island from southern France.
Under a contract with Air Littoral, the British company Atlantic Airlines, Ltd. stations an L-188AF at Marseilles in February to operate nightly Air Littoral Express mail and parcel roundtrips to Paris (CDG).
A code-sharing agreement is signed with Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. on February 18; under its terms, the major places its code on all Air Littoral services except those from Nice to Geneva and Marseilles to Zurich. Air Littoral will shortly begin dual-designator flights with Sabena on the Belgian carrier’s flights from Brussels to both Marseilles and Nice.
On February 22, daily CRJ roundtrips are initiated between Marseilles and Venice.
In May, plans are announced to merge Air Littoral with AOM French Airlines, Ltd., which had been taken over by the two investors the previous August, and Air Liberte, S. A. purchased from British Airways, Ltd. on May 5. The new combine will then compete with Air France over French domestic routes.
Work toward the merger of Air Liberte, AOM, and Air Littoral later in the year moves ahead in June, even in the face of stiff union resistance. AOM President Alexandre Couvelaire is tapped to head the new, but (as yet) unnamed entity within the framework of the “Qualiflyer” group. Ownership plans are put into place for a new airline holding company, Participations Aeronautiques, to be held by SAirGroup (49%) and Taitbout Antibes, B. V. (51%). Merger approval sought from the European Commission is granted on August 1.
At the end of July, SAirGroup President/CEO Philippe Bruggisser announces creation of a “Conseil de Surveillance,” a revised management structure for the airlines that are about to be merged. Chaired by Alexandre Couvelaire, the body’s executive management will be headed by Paul Reutlinger, current Sabena (Belgian World Airlines, S. A.) CEO, who will move to Paris to guide the fusion of the three into one, but will also become vice chair of the Belgian airline’s board of directors.
Merger approval for creation of the new airline is sought from the European Commission and is granted on August 1. The process of creating a single French carrier comes unglued at month’s end as SAirGroup CEO Bruggisser announces that not one, but two companies will be formed. One, comprised of elements of Air Liberte and Air Littoral, will be created at Nice and operate all aircraft up to the size of Fokker 70s.
Meanwhile, AOM will be left as the second entity, intact at Paris (ORY) to operate all jetliners of 100 seats or more. The revised idea is put to the French unions for approval, hopefully by October.
In a September 18 interview with Aviation Daily, CEO Reutlinger admits that labor problems and integration concerns prove a significant complication. Completion of arrangements may not be completed for a year.
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