Aircalin

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This article is about Aircalin, the international airline of New Caledonia. For the domestic airline, see Air Caledonie.
Aircalin
IATA
SB		 ICAO
ACI		 Callsign
AIRCALIN
Founded 1983
Hubs La Tontouta International Airport
Frequent flyer program Flying Blue, Club 500
Alliance Interline agreements
Fleet size 4
Destinations 11
Parent company Caisse d'Epargne Group
Headquarters Nouméa, New Caledonia
Key people Charles Lavoix (president), Jean-Michel Masson (managing director), Didier Tappero (second managing director)
Website: http://www.aircalin.com/
Aircalin's A320-200 at Port Vila
Aircalin's A320-200 at Port Vila

Aircalin (Air Caledonie International) is the international airline of New Caledonia and is based at Nouméa. It operates scheduled services to 10 regional destinations, including Japan. Its main base is La Tontouta International Airport, Nouméa[1].

Contents

[edit] History

[citation needed]

Aircalin was established in September 1983 and started operations on 2 December 1983 with a Nouméa to Melbourne service in partnership with Qantas using a Boeing 747. This service later became known as le Caledonian Express. A service also began to Brisbane, Port Vila, Wallis and Futuna and Nadi with a Boeing 737-200 leased from Air Nauru. In 1985, a Caravelle 10B3 was purchased and in 1987 a Twin Otter was based in Wallis for the Wallis and Futuna service. The Caravelle was removed from service in 1988 and a Boeing 737 acquired. During 1995-96, a Douglas DC-10-30 was used on Nouméa, Brisbane and Papeete services. In 1996, the new Aircalin logo was made public. A memorandum of understanding for alliance was signed with Qantas on 11 July 1996, leading to the establishment of joint services. A chartered Boeing 767 was used from 1997. In March 2000 an Airbus A310 began service on new flights to Osaka. Two Airbus A330-200 were ordered in 2001 and entered service in early 2003. In February 2004, the Airbus A320 was delivered and entered service between Nouméa and Sydney.

The airline is owned by Caisse d'Epargne Group (72%), Agence pour la Desserte aerienne de Nouvelle Caledonie (27%) and others, including staff (1%). It has 390 employees (at March 2007)[1].

[edit] Destinations

[edit] Asia

[edit] East Asia

[edit] Oceania

[edit] Australasia

[edit] Pacific Islands

[edit] Fleet

The Aircalin fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007) [1] :


[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Flight International 27 March 2007
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Airlines of France