Air Liberté

Air Liberté
Boeing 747-100
IATA ICAO Call sign
IJ LIB LIBERTE
FoundedJuly 1987 (1987-07)
Commenced operationsApril 1988 (1988-04)
Ceased operations17 February 2003 (2003-02-17)
HubsOrly Airport
Frequent-flyer program
AllianceOneworld (affiliate; 1999–2000)
Headquarters
Key people
  • Eric Schulz (CEO)
  • Jean-Charles Corbet (former CEO of Air Lib)

Compagnie Air Liberté S.A., later renamed Air Lib, was a French airline founded in July 1987. It was headquartered in Rungis.[1] Instead Air Lib was headquartered in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste.[2][3]

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.[4] A route to Montreal was inaugurated in 1992,[5] 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 wfinancial distress. The airline lost 1 billion francs that year, and in early 1997 British Airways acquired a 67% shareholding.[6] 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[7] until 22 September, when 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 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.[9]

Destinations

France

French overseas departments and territories

International routes

Fleet

Air Liberté operated the following aircraft types:

Image Aircraft Total Notes
Airbus A300-600R 2
Airbus A310-200 2
Airbus A310-300 1 Owned 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
Total 53

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.[10]

References

  1. ^ World Airline Directory (Archive) Flight International 26 March 1997 page 44
  2. ^ World Airline Directory Flight International 12 March 2002 page 57
  3. ^ "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."
  4. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, June 1, 1991 Air Liberte/Minerve combined timetable
  5. ^ "OAG Desktop Flight Guide: Worldwide Edition". Official Airline Guides. August 1992. p. 842.
  6. ^ British Airways acquires Air Liberte Australian Aviation issue 124 December 1996 page 24
  7. ^ "Home." AOM French Airlines. 6 May 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 25 Mars 2001 AOM change de nom et devient Air Liberté."
  8. ^ "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."
  9. ^ G. Endres (editor), "World Airlines 2003", Flight International magazine directory, U.K.
  10. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) F-GHED, Thursday 25 May 2000". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  • Hengi, BI. Airlines Worldwide. Leicester: Midland Publishing, 1997.
  • Donald, David. The Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft Etobicoke: Prospero Books, 1999.

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