AOM French Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
IW AOM FRENCH LINES
Founded1988 (1988)
Commenced operations1990 (1990)
Ceased operations25 March 2001 (2001-03-25)
(merged into Air Liberté)
HubsOrly Airport
Frequent-flyer programQualiflyer
HeadquartersBuilding 363, Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste
Key peopleMarc Rochet

AOM French Airlines (previously Air Outre-Mer) was the second-largest airline in France that operated from 1988 until 2001. Its head office was in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste.[1]

History

Air Outre Mer (AOM) was founded in 1988 in the French overseas département of the island of Réunion and began scheduled passenger service in 1990 with a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and a Dornier 228. In October 1991, Air Outre Mer merged with Air Minerve, a French airline which was based at Orly Airport and had operated since 1975. The two companies began operating under the name AOM French Airlines although the administrative name was "AOM-Minerve S.A.". Air Minerve was the first airline to compete directly with Air Inter on the French domestic airline market by opening a Paris (Orly) - Nice route in May 1990. In February 1999, Swissair acquired a 49% stake in the airline as a part of its "hunter strategy". For most of the decade, the airline fiercely competed with Air France on both the French domestic market and on the air routes to the French overseas territories. Due to inappropriate fleet management and overcapacity, the airline quickly accumulated huge debts and consequently ceased operations in 2001 (possibly as a result of the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the early 2000s recession which followed). The airline's final bankruptcy was approved after several months of strikes.

On 25 March 2001 AOM French Airlines merged with Air Liberté, the airline retaining the name "Air Liberté".[2] On 22 September 2001 the airline was renamed "Air Lib".{Wikipedia French article}.[3]

AOM's disappearance was followed by several other French airlines such as Aeris, Air Littoral, Euralair and Star Airlines (later XL Airways France) in the next several years, leaving Air France and Corsair International as the two largest remaining airlines in France at the time.

Destinations

France

French overseas departments and territories

International routes

 Australia
 Bahamas
 Cuba
 Dominican Republic
 Ecuador
 Japan
 Libya
 Maldives
 Sri Lanka
  Switzerland
 Thailand
 United States
 Vietnam

Fleet

AOM French Airlines has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:[5]

AOM French Airlines fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A300B4 1 1999 2000 Leased from TransAer International Airlines.
Airbus A340-200 3 1999 2001
Airbus A340-300 2 2000 2001
Boeing 737-200 1 1996 1996 Leased from Air Toulouse.
Boeing 737-500 3 1998 2000 Leased from LOT Polish Airlines.
Boeing 747-200B 1 1992 1993
Douglas DC-8-62CF 1 1992 1992
Douglas DC-8-73 1 1992 1992 Leased to Air Sweden.
Fokker 100 1 1996 1996 Leased from Transwede Airways.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 15 1990 2001 One crash as Cubana Flight 1216.
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 1 1994 1994 Leased from Meridiana.
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 14 1992 2001
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 1 1995 1996 Leased from Transwede Airways.

Accidents and incidents

References

  1. "World Airline Directory 1999." Flight International. 2000. 363.; "Nos coordonnées agences en "France Métropolitaine "." AOM French Airlines. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "SIEGE Bâtiment 363 B.P. 854 94 551 ORLY AEROGARE CEDEX"; "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."
  2. "Home." AOM French Airlines. 6 May 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 25 Mars 2001 AOM change de nom et devient Air Liberté."
  3. "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."
  4. 1 2 3 Flight Global News, 20 September 1995
  5. "AOM French Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  6. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 F-GTDI Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport (GUA)". Archived from the original on 2005-03-07.
  7. "INFORME FINAL ACCIDENTE AEROPUERTO LA AURORA, PISTA 19 CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA." (Archive) Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. Retrieved on 13 June 2011.
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