Air Liberté, later renamed Air Lib, was a French airline founded in July 1987. It was headquartered in Rungis.World Airline Directory (Archive) Flight International 26 March 1997 page 44 Air Lib was headquartered in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste.World Airline Directory Flight International 12 March 2002 page 57"Résultat de votre recherche." Le Journal officiel électronique authentifié. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Siège social : compagnie Air Lib, bâtiment 363, zone centrale à l’aéroport d’Orly, 91550 Paray-Vieille-Poste."
History Air Liberté began charter operations in April 1988 with a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-80. It mainly operated to holiday destinations in Europe and Mediterranean basins, but it had also some intercontinental routes. In 1991, Air Liberté 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 Caribbeans.http://www.timetableimages.com, June 1, 1991 Air Liberte/Minerve combined timetable A route to Montreal was inaugurated in 1992, and to Réunion and the Caribbeans later on. Unsuccessful routes included one from Toulouse to Dakar and London, which were scrapped in a conflict over slot allocations at Orly Airport. 1996 saw the inauguration of a route to Nice, and in May the Euralair network was taken on. In mid-1990s, the airline had a fleet of five Boeing 737-200s, eight McDonnell Douglas MD-83s and five McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.
1996 also brought financial distress. The airline lost 1 billion francs that year, and in early 1997 British Airways acquired a 67% shareholding.British Airways acquires Air Liberte Australian Aviation issue 124 December 1996 page 24 British Airways unified Air Liberté together with TAT (a subsidiary from August 1996) under one management between the end of 1997 and the first months of the following year. On 5 May 2000, the British airline sold Air Liberté to a partnership between Taitbout Antibes and Swiss flag carrier Swissair.
On 25 March 2001 AOM French Airlines merged with Air Liberté, and this name was kept"Home." AOM French Airlines. 6 May 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 25 Mars 2001 AOM change de nom et devient Air Liberté." until 22 September, when the airline was renamed Air Lib."Découvrir Air Liberté." Air Liberté. 23 February 2002. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 22 Septembre 2001, AOM et AIR LIBERTE ont donné naissance à une nouvelle compagnie aérienne qui porte désormais le nom AIR LIB." In October, Swissair went bankrupt, unable to make all scheduled payments. The French Government then granted a loan of €30.5 million to the battered 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 but all without result. The air carrier halted all operations on 6 February 2003 was liquidated on 17 February.G. Endres (editor), "World Airlines 2003", Flight International magazine directory, U.K.
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 Guadeloupe Pointe-à-Pitre – Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport Martinique Fort-de-France – Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport Réunion Saint-Denis – Roland Garros Airport
International routes
Montreal Montréal–Dorval International Airport Montréal–Mirabel International Airport Toronto – Toronto Pearson International Airport
Rome – Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
Valletta – Malta International Airport
Casablanca – Mohammed V International Airport
Karachi – Jinnah International Airport
Faro – Faro Airport Lisbon – Humberto Delgado Airport Porto – Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
Castries – Hewanorra International Airport
Princess Juliana International Airport
Alicante – Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández Airport Málaga – Málaga Airport
Colombo – Bandaranaike International Airport
Bangkok – Don Mueang International Airport
Djerba – Djerba–Zarzis International Airport Tunis – Tunis–Carthage International Airport
London – Heathrow Airport
Fleet Air Liberté operated the following aircraft types:
Image Aircraft TotalNotes Airbus A300-600R 2 Airbus A310-200 2 Airbus A310-300 1Owned by ILFC; later crashed operating Yemenia Flight 626 ATR 42-300 7 ATR 72-202 3 Boeing 737-200 3 Boeing 747-100 1 Embraer EMB-120 5 Fokker 100 12 McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 5 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 13 Total53
Aircraft in Air Lib colours
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.
References
Hengi, BI. Airlines Worldwide. Leicester: Midland Publishing, 1997. Donald, David. The Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft Etobicoke: Prospero Books, 1999.
External links