Air Austral
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Air Austral
Not to be confused with Austral Líneas Aéreas.
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| Founded | 1975 | |||
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| Hubs | Roland Garros Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program |
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| Fleet size | 11 (+3 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 19 | |||
| Headquarters | Roland Garros Airport Sainte-Marie, Réunion |
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| Key people | Marie-Joseph Malé (director)[1] | |||
| Website | www.air-austral.com | |||
Air Austral is a French airline with its headquarters at Roland Garros Airport in Sainte-Marie, Réunion, France.[2][3] The airline's main base of flight operations is Roland Garros Airport. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to France, South Africa, Australia, New Caledonia, and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The company has 900 employees.[4]
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Contents
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History
Air Austral was created in December 1974 by local businessman Gérard Ethève. It was Réunion's first commercial airline, known as Réunion Air Services (RAS).[5][6] By August 1977 RAS had started regional services from Sainte-Marie to Mayotte[6] with a 32-seat Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop.[5] RAS became Air Réunion in December, 1986.[6]
In October 1990 Air Réunion is purchased by Sematra, a company 46% owned by the local councils of Réunion with the remaining shares owned by banks and other private partners.[6] A month later, Air Réunion became Air Austral.[5] Two months later, Air Austral bought its first Boeing 737-500.[5] Another 737-500 was acquired in 1994, and in 1997 the airline purchased a 737-300QC, which enabled both passenger and cargo only traffic.[6] In 2000 the airline took delivery of an ATR 72-500, a short-haul turboprop.[6] By then, Air Austral operated from both Roland Garros Airport in Sainte-Marie and Pierrefonds Airport in Saint Pierre with scheduled services to Mayotte, Johannesburg, South Africa, Comoros, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and three destinations in Madagascar (Antananarivo, Tamatave, Nosy Be, Majunga).[5] In 2003, Air Austral launched its first long-haul service between Réunion and Paris, with two Boeing 777-200ERs.[6] The two Boeing 777s were joined by a third Boeing 777-200ER in 2005. A second long-haul route from Réunion to Marseille and Lyon was established.[6]
In 2007, a third long-haul service to Toulouse via Marseille started.[5]
In 2008, the airline introduced new uniforms for staff and crew members, designed by Balenciaga. The second ATR 72-500 was added to the fleet, followed by a third a few months later.[5]
In April 2009, Air Austral started a new service to Sydney and New Caledonia, thus opening up a new route between Paris and Sydney via Réunion. The airline also acquired two Boeing 777-300ERs.[5] In November, it placed a firm order for two all-economy class 840-seat Airbus A380s, for delivery in 2014. These are intended for Air Austral's Réunion-Paris flights.[7]
In June 2010, it was announced that Air Austral will start scheduled flights from Réunion to Bordeaux and Nantes from February 2011.[4]
In August 2011, Air Austral received its first Boeing 777-200LR.[citation needed]
In March 2012, Air Austral announced it was removing its Reunion-Sydney-New Caledonia services from the market, less than 1 month later the airline announced these services would continue running, in May 2012 the airline again made the announcement that it would be removing all flights on this route from the market.[citation needed]
In April 2012, Air Austral was unable to pay for a new 777-200LR awaiting delivery. The company is looking to sell on the plane instead of taking delivery. Following this development, Air Austral announced in May 2012 that it would defer or cancel its order for 2 Airbus A380s, with a decision to be made by the end of June 2012.[8]
Destinations
This is a list of destinations served by Air Austral as of December 2011 [9]:
- Australia
- Sydney - Sydney Airport (Ends 15 Aug)
- Comoros
- France
- Bordeaux - Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (Ends 28 Oct)
- Lyon - Saint-Exupéry Airport (Ends 28 Oct)
- Marseilles - Provence Airport (Ends 28 Oct)
- Nantes - Nantes Atlantique Airport (Ends 28 Oct)
- Paris - Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport
- Toulouse - Blagnac Airport (Ends 28 Oct)
- Madagascar
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- New Caledonia
- Nouméa - La Tontouta International Airport (Ends 15 Aug)
- Réunion
- Saint-Denis - Roland Garros Airport - Main Hub
- Saint-Pierre - Pierrefonds Airport
- Seychelles
- South Africa
Fleet
- Current
Air Austral's average fleet age, as of 21 December 2010, 6.8 years.[10] As of January 2010, the airline's fleet consists of the following aircraft:[11]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| ATR 72-500 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 68 | 68 | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 2 | — | 0 | 18 0 |
144 171 |
162 171 |
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| Boeing 777-200ER | 2 | — | 14 | 34 | 316 | 364 | To be phased out |
| Boeing 777-200LR | 1 | 1[12][13] | 14 14 |
32 34 |
316 316 |
362 364 |
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| Boeing 777-300ER | 3[4] | 18 | 40 | 384 | 442 | ||
| Total | 11 | 1 | |||||
- Previously operated
Class naming
Air Austral offers three classes of service: Club Austral, Classe Confort and Classe Loisirs, which corresponds to Business, Premium Economy and Economy classes, respectively.[citation needed]
Frequent-flyer programme
Air Austral's frequent-flyer programme is called Capricorne, referring to the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs just to the south of Réunion.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Un ex-patron de Skyteam aux commandes d'Air Austral (in French)". www.challenges.fr. http://www.challenges.fr/entreprise/20120417.CHA5433/aerien-l-ancien-patron-de-skyteam-va-prendre-les-commandes-d-air-austral.html. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
- ^ "Géographie." Sainte-Marie. Retrieved on 7 October 2009.
- ^ "Legal notices." Air Austral. Retrieved on 7 9 September 2010. "Air Austral Anonymous company with executive board and supervisory board With a capital of 19 206 900€ Roland Garros Airport area 97438 Sainte Marie or BP 611 - 97472 Saint-Denis Cedex."
- ^ a b c Air-Austral renfort de la flotte TourMag.com 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-04
- ^ a b c d e f g h "30 years of history in the Indian ocean sky". Air Austral. http://www.air-austral.com/en/about-air-austral/30-years-or-history.html. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Air Austral brochure for Australian passengers[dead link], April 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
- ^ "Air Austral signs firm order for two single class A380s", Airbus press release 17 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
- ^ "European woes force changes for the better at Indian Ocean carriers, with Air Austral the latest", CAPA article, 24 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-29
- ^ http://www.air-austral.com/IMG/reseau-270409.png
- ^ "Air Austral - Details and Fleet History". Planespotters.net. http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Air-Austral. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "Fleet". Air Austral. http://www.air-austral.com/en/about-air-austral/fleet.html. Retrieved January 2011.
- ^ Boeing order list, retrieved 2010-11-04
- ^ Boeing Gets $501 Mln Order From Air Austral For 2 Long Range 777-200LR Worldliners Daily Markets 21 July 2010, retrieved 2010-11-04
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Air Austral |
- Official website (English)
- Official website (French)
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