Air Austral

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
Subsidiaries Ewa Air
Fleet size 8
Destinations 13
Headquarters Roland Garros Airport
Sainte-Marie, Réunion
Website www.air-austral.com

Air Austral is a French airline with its headquarters at Roland Garros Airport in Sainte-Marie, Réunion, France.[1][2] The airline's main base of flight operations is Roland Garros Airport. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to metropolitan France, South Africa, Thailand, India and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The company has 900 employees.[3]

History

Air Austral B777-300ER on 26NOV14 with latest livery

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).[4][5] By August 1977 RAS had started regional services from Sainte-Marie to Mayotte[5] with a 32-seat Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop.[4] RAS became Air Réunion in December, 1986.[5]

In October 1990 Sematra, a company 46% owned by the local councils of Réunion with the remaining shares owned by banks and other private partners, purchased Air Réunion.[5] A month later, Air Réunion became Air Austral.[4] Two months later, Air Austral bought its first Boeing 737-500.[4] Another 737-300 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).[4] 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.[4]

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.[4]

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.[4] 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 would start scheduled flights from Réunion to Bordeaux and Nantes from February 2011.[3]

In August 2011, Air Austral received its first Boeing 777-200LR.[7]

In April 2012, founder and chief executive Gérard Ethève was replaced by Marie-Joseph Malé following financial difficulties caused by risky business decisions made worse by high fuel prices.[8] Non-profitable lines to Nouméa, Sidney, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon were closed. The company has since returned to profit.

Also 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.[9]

In February 2015, the company announced an order for 2 Boeing 787-8, to be delivered in May and October 2016 respectively.

In March 2015, it also announced the lease of 2 more B777-300ER from Air Lease Corporation (ALC). These aircraft, to be delivered in late 2016, will replace the ordest two models of the same type currently operated by Air Austral.

Destinations

This is a list of destinations served by Air Austral as of April 2015:[10]

[Hub] Hub
[Focus] Focus airport
[Seasonal] Seasonal destination
[Future] Future destination
Country-City Airport Code Airport Name Refs
IATAICAO
Réunion Réunion
Saint DenisRUNFMEERoland Garros Airport [Hub][11]
Saint PierreZSEFMEPPierrefonds Airport [Focus City]
Comoros Comoros
MoroniHAHFMCHPrince Said Ibrahim International Airport[12]
France France
ParisCDGLFPGParis-Charles de Gaulle Airport[13]
India India
ChennaiMAAVOMMChennai International Airport[14]
Madagascar Madagascar
AntananarivoTNRFMMIIvato Airport[15]
Nosy BeNOSFMNNFascene Airport
ToamasinaTMMFMMTToamasina Airport
Mauritius Mauritius
MahébourgMRUFIMPSir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport[16]
Mayotte Mayotte
DzaoudziDZAFMCZDzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport[17]
Seychelles Seychelles
MahéSEZFSIASeychelles International Airport[18]
South Africa South Africa
JohannesburgJNBFAORO.R. Tambo International Airport[19]
Thailand Thailand
BangkokBKKVTBSSuvarnabhumi Airport[20]

Former destinations (discontinued in 2012)

Fleet

An Air Austral Boeing 777-300ER
Current and future

Air Austral's average fleet age, as of April 2014 is 5.2 years and consists of the following aircraft:[21]

Air Austral fleet
Aircraft Current Orders Passengers Notes
C Y+ Y Total
Airbus A380-800[22] — 2 - - 840 840 Order not officially cancelled but A/C will probably never be delivered.
ATR 72-500 2[23] — 0 0 62 62
Boeing 737-800 2 — 0 18 144 162
Boeing 777-200LR 1 — 14 34 316 364
Boeing 777-300ER 3[3] 2 18 40 384 442
Boeing 787-8 — 2 - - - -
Total 8 6
Previously operated

Former liveries

References

  1. ↑ "Géographie." Sainte-Marie. Retrieved on 7 October 2009.
  2. ↑ "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."
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Air-Austral renfort de la flotte TourMag.com 2 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "30 years of history in the Indian ocean sky". Air Austral. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Air Austral brochure for Australian passengers, April 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  6. ↑ "Air Austral signs firm order for two single class A380s", Airbus press release 17 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-11-04
  7. ↑ "F-OLRA Air Austral Boeing 777-29M(LR) - cn 40955 / ln 952 - Planespotters.net Just Aviation". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  8. ↑ Ethève's management style and difficult relations with unions was also in question and played a role in the decision.
  9. ↑ "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
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Saint Denis/Saint-Pierre. "Dzaoudzi". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  12. ↑ Air Austral. "Moroni". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  13. ↑ Air Austral. "Paris". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  14. ↑ Air Austral. "Chennai". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  15. ↑ Air Austral. "Antananarivo". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  16. ↑ Air Austral. "Port Louis". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  17. ↑ Air Austral. "Dzaoudzi". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  18. ↑ Air Austral. "Mahé". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  19. ↑ Air Austral. "Johannesburg". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  20. ↑ Air Austral. "Bangkok". Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  21. ↑ "Air Austral Fleet Details and History - Planespotters.net Just Aviation". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  22. ↑ http://videos.airbus.com/video/iLyROoafIOuc.html
  23. ↑ 3 machines owned but one is leased to subsidiary airline Ewa Air based at Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air Austral.