Regional Airlines (France)
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1 January 1992 (amalgamation) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 30 March 2001 (merged with Flandre Air and Proteus Airlines to form Régional) | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size | See Fleet below | ||||||
| Destinations | See Destinations below | ||||||
| Headquarters | Nantes, France | ||||||
Regional Airlines S.A. was a French regional airline headquartered at Nantes Atlantique Airport, near Nantes city, in Bouguenais department, France.
History
[edit]
The airline was formed on 1 January 1992 by the merger of Air Exel, Air Vendée and Avions Taxis Pyrénéens regional airlines, and scheduled operations operated by Air Aquitaine Transport aviation company.[1] At the beginning the airline was legally a subsidiary of Air Vendée (79% shareholding) but after a few years majority ownership was taken over by Air France.[1]
On 30 March 2001 Regional Airlines, Flandre Air, and Proteus Airlines merged their operations.[2] In September of that same year Regional Airlines changed the corporate name to Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne and just Régional marketing and trading name was adopted.[2]
On 31 March 2013 all operations were branded HOP!, an Air France-linked trademark. In March 2017 HOP! became a fully registered air carrier, always working in close connection with Air France.
Fleet
[edit]
In early years the fleet included the following aircraft types, all inherited from the founding airlines:
At the beginning of 2001 the fleet included the following aircraft types[1]:
- 1 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia
- 6 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia Advanced
- 4 Embraer ERJ 135
- 12 Embraer ERJ-145
- 10 Saab 2000
Destinations
[edit]- International
-
- Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Copenhagen, Geneva, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Porto, Turin[1]
- Domestic
-
- Ajaccio, Angers, Angouleme, Brest, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Bourges, Clermont-Ferrand, Caen, Dijon, Basle, Le Havre, Lille, La Rochelle, Lyon, Montpellier, Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulon, Toulouse[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "World Airline Directory". Flight International. 2001. p. 66. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ^ a b "About Regional". Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- Jean de Galard, "Quatre transporteurs creent Regional Airlines", Air et Cosmos weekly magazine, Paris, 16-22 December 1991
- Olivier Constant, "Wave of success", Commuter World monthly magazine, U.S.A., December 1997-January 1998
- Olivier Constant. "French connection", Commuter World monthly magazine, U.S.A., August 1998
