Air Austral

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Not to be confused with Austral Líneas Aéreas.
Air Austral
IATA
UU		 ICAO
REU		 Callsign
REUNION
Founded 1975
Hubs Roland Garros Airport
Frequent-flyer program
  • Capricorn
  • Indigo Card
Fleet size 10(3 in orders)
Destinations 19
Headquarters Roland Garros Airport
Sainte-Marie, Réunion
Key people Gérard Ethève (founder)[1]
Website www.air-austral.com
Air Austral hangar

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]

Contents

[edit] History

An Air Austral Boeing 777-200ER in old livery at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2005.

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).[1][5] By August 1977 RAS had started regional services from Sainte-Marie to Mayotte[5] with a 32-seat Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop.[1] RAS became Air Réunion in December, 1986.[5]

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.[5] A month later, Air Réunion became Air Austral.[1] Two months later, Air Austral bought its first Boeing 737-500.[1] Another 737-500 was acquired in 1994, and in 1997 the airline purchased a 737-300QC, which enabled both passenger and cargo only traffic.[5] In 2000 the airline took delivery of an ATR 72-500, a short-haul turboprop.[5] 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).[1] In 2003, Air Austral launched its first long-haul service between Réunion and Paris, with two Boeing 777-200ERs.[5] 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.[5]

In 2007, a third long-haul service to Toulouse via Marseille started.[1]

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.[1]

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.[1] 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.[6]

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 which will enable the airline to fly non-stop from Mayotte to Paris.

[edit] Destinations

An Air Austral Boeing 777 at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand

This is a list of destinations served by Air Austral as of December 2011 [7]:

[edit] Fleet

An Air Austral Boeing 777-300ER
Current

Air Austral's average fleet age, as of 21 December 2010, 6.8 years.[8] As of January 2010, the airline's fleet consists of the following aircraft:[9]

Air Austral fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers Notes
C Y+ Y Total
ATR 72-500 2 — 0 0 68 68
Boeing 737-800 2 — 0 18
0		 144
171		 162
171
Boeing 777-200ER 1 — 14 34 316 364 To be phased out
Boeing 777-200LR 1 1[10][11] 14
14		 32
34		 316
316		 362
364
Boeing 777-300ER 3[4] 18 40 384 442
Airbus A380-800 — 2[6] 0 0 840 840[12] Entry into service: 2014
Total 12 3
Previously operated

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "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. 
  2. ^ "Géographie." Sainte-Marie. Retrieved on 7 October 2009.
  3. ^ "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."
  4. ^ a b c Air-Austral renfort de la flotte TourMag.com 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Air Austral brochure for Australian passengers[dead link], April 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  6. ^ a b "Air Austral signs firm order for two single class A380s", Airbus press release 17 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  7. ^ http://www.air-austral.com/IMG/reseau-270409.png
  8. ^ "Air Austral - Details and Fleet History". Planespotters.net. http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Air-Austral. Retrieved 7 January 2011. 
  9. ^ "Fleet". Air Austral. http://www.air-austral.com/en/about-air-austral/fleet.html. Retrieved January 2011. 
  10. ^ Boeing order list, retrieved 2010-11-04
  11. ^ Boeing Gets $501 Mln Order From Air Austral For 2 Long Range 777-200LR Worldliners Daily Markets 21 July 2010, retrieved 2010-11-04
  12. ^ "Air Austral signs firm order for two single class A380s" (Press release). Airbus. 2009-11-17. http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/press-release/detail/air-austral-signs-firm-order-for-two-single-class-a380s/news-browse/1/news-period/1257030000/2591999/archived/news-category/press_release/. Retrieved 7 January 2011. 

[edit] External links

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