Air Liberté

Air Liberté
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

Air Liberté (later known as Air Lib) was a French airline founded in July 1987. It was headquartered in Rungis.[1] Air Lib was headquartered in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste.[2][3]

History

Air Liberté began operations in April 1988 with a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-80. It mainly operated to destinations in European and Mediterranean holiday resorts, however it had some intercontinental routes. In 1991, Air Liberte 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 Caribbean at the time.[4] A route to Montreal was inaugurated in 1992,[5] and Réunion and the Caribbean were also served by the airline. Unsuccessful routes included one from Toulouse to Dakar and London, which were scrapped in a conflict over slot allocations at Orly Airport. 1996 saw a new route to Nice, and in May the route network of Euralair was taken on. Around 1996, the airline had a fleet of five Boeing 737-200s, eight McDonnell Douglas MD-83s and five McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.

1996 also brought with it financial distress. The airline lost 1 billion francs that year, and in 1997 British Airways acquired a 67% shareholding.[6] At this time, British Airways brought Air Liberté together with TAT and inaugurated them under one management. Nouvelair was born out of Air Liberté's subsidiary in Tunisia, Air Liberté Tunisie. On 5 May 2000, BA sold Air Liberté to a partnership between Taitbout Antibes and Swissair.

On 25 March 2001 AOM French Airlines merged with Air Liberté, the airline retaining the name "Air Liberté".[7] On 22 September 2001 the airline was renamed Air Lib[8] But in October, Swissair went bankrupt, unable to make all scheduled payments. The French Government then granted a loan of €30.5 million to the 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 without result, and the company was liquidated on 17 February 2003. As a result, no other competing international-level full-service French airline had appeared, leaving only Air France (now controlled by Air France–KLM) as a de facto monopoly until French Bee was founded in 2016.

Destinations

France

French overseas departments and territories

International routes

Fleet

Air Liberté operated the following aircraft during operations:

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
Fokker 100 12
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 5
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 5
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 13
Total 53

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.[9]

References

  1. ^ World Airline Directory 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. ^ 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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