Air Littoral

Air Littoral
Founded	April 1972
Commenced operations	23 May 1972
Ceased operations	February 2004
Operating bases	Marseille; Montpellier; Nice; Paris–Orly;
Frequent-flyer program	Qualiflyer
Headquarters	Montpellier, France
Key people	Marc Dufour (President)

Air Littoral was a French regional airline based in Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport that operated from 1972 to 2004. The airline operated domestic services as well as a small amount of regional routes. The airline also operated feeder services on behalf of Air France.

History

Air Littoral was founded in April 1972 and originally based at Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport in Montpellier. It started operations on 23 May 1972 with a Nice-Montpellier-Perpignan service.^[1] In 1975 it was headquartered at Aérodrome du Castellet.^[2]

Over the years KLM, Euralair, Lufthansa and the SAir Group (Swissair), which sold their stake in 2001, all had ownership stakes in Air Littoral. A takeover failed in 2003 and the company was declared bankrupt. A number of groups considered taking over Air Littoral including Azzurra Air (which shortly after ceased operations due to its own financial difficulties), but none succeeded and the airline was closed down by the French authorities in February 2004.

By the moment of bankruptcy Air Littoral was operating a fleet of 17 Canadair CRJ-100s from bases in Nice, Montpellier, Paris (Orly) and Marseille, and was well known for the bright livery that its aircraft sported in the years before its demise.

In the 1990s, Air Littoral approached Metzler & Associés of Paris for a new identity which would propel it into a new market, and that is what was delivered. However, the design, a mix-and-match collection of identity elements, was so innovative that the airline's executives were afraid to implement it - until they called a company-wide meeting and showed Air Littoral employees models of the aircraft painted in the vivid new style. Marc-Antoine Herrmann, creative director & lead designer for the project told airline officers, "We must show all the positive things associated with the south - its warmth, friendliness and joie de vivre. This is your difference, and you must use it so people will feel they take a part of the south with them when they go on board." To help the design team develop a palette and graphic approach unique to the south, mood boards were created, displaying photos of the region and examples of its rich graphic heritage.
— Taken from Step-by-Step Graphics magazine, circa 1993

Fleet

Air Littoral has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:^[3]^[4]

Accidents

21 December 1987: Air Littoral Flight 1919, an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, operating a regular service from Brussels to Bordeaux, descended below the glideslope at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport and crash-landed in the midst of trees in the vicinity of the airport, ultimately causing the deaths of all 16 aboard.
18 November 1988: Air Littoral Flight 440, a Swearing SA-226 metroliner, operating a regular service from Montluçon – Guéret Airport to Orly Airport, climbed to 2,000 feet before impacting the ground due to a stick-shaker warning, resulting in all four passengers and crew to perish.
30 July 1997: Air Littoral Flight 701, an ATR 42 on a service from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport to Florence, Italy, overran the runway on landing at Florence Airport, crashed through the perimeter fence and into a ditch next to the nearby A11 motorway. The captain died of his injuries four days later; fourteen other people on board were injured.

References

^ ^a ^b Endres, Gunter G (1982). World Airline Fleets 1983. Feltham: The Aviation Data Centre. p. 133. ISBN 0946141029.
^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 20, 1975. "467.
^ Klee, Ulrich & Bucher, Frank et al. jp airline-fleets international. Zürich-Airport, 1974–2003.
^ airfleets.net