Brit Air

Not to be confused with Britt Airways or British Airways.
Brit Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
DB BZH BRITAIR
Founded1973 (1973)
Commenced operations1975 (1975)
Ceased operationsMarch 2017 (2017-03)
(merged with Airlinair and Régional to form Air France Hop)[1]
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programFlying Blue
AllianceSkyTeam (affiliate)
Parent companyAir France-KLM
HeadquartersMorlaix – Ploujean Airport
Ploujean, Morlaix, Brittany, France
Brit Air Bombardier CRJ100 at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (2006).
Brit Air Bombardier CRJ100 landing (2007).

Brit Air (short for Brittany Air International)[2] was a regional airline based at Morlaix – Ploujean Airport in Ploujean, Morlaix, Brittany, France,[3] operating scheduled services as an Air France franchise from Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, Paris-Orly Airport and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.[4]

The airline, along with Régional and Airlinair, was fully merged with HOP! since 2017 after a year of negotiation process.[1]

History

Since 31 March 2013, all Brit Air flights are operated under the HOP! name, Air France's new regional brand name.[5]

Brit Air ceased all flight operations in March 2017 after its merger with HOP!.[1][6]

Destinations

Brit Air operated the following services (as of March 2013):[citation needed]

Country City IATA ICAO Airport Notes
Croatia Zagreb ZAG LDZA Zagreb Airport
Czech Republic Prague PRG LKPR Václav Havel Airport Prague
Denmark Copenhagen CPH EKCH Copenhagen Airport
France Brest BES LFRB Brest Bretagne Airport
France Caen CFR LFRK Caen - Carpiquet Airport
France Limoges LIG LFBL Limoges - Bellegarde Airport
France Lorient LRT LFRH Lorient South Brittany Airport
France Lyon LYS LFLL Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport Hub
France Marseille MRS LFML Marseille Provence Airport
France Montpellier MPL LFMT Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport
France Nantes NTE LFRS Nantes Atlantique Airport
France Nice NCE LFMN Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
France Paris CDG LFPG Charles de Gaulle Airport Hub
France Paris ORY LFPO Orly Airport Hub
France Quimper UIP LFRQ Quimper–Cornouaille Airport
France Rennes RNS LFRN Rennes–Saint-Jacques Airport
France Rodez RDZ LFCR Rodez–Aveyron Airport
France Strasbourg SXB LFST Strasbourg Airport
France Toulouse TLS LFBO Toulouse–Blagnac Airport
France Tarbes LDE LFBT Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport
Germany Düsseldorf DUS EDDL Düsseldorf Airport
Germany Hamburg HAM EDDH Hamburg Airport
Italy Florence FLR LIRQ Florence Airport
Italy Genoa GOA LIMJ Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport
Italy Rome FCO LIRF Rome Fiumicino Airport
Spain Barcelona BCN LEBL Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport
Spain Bilbao BIO LEBB Bilbao Airport

Fleet

In August 2019, the Brit Air fleet consisted of the following aircraft with an average age of 10.6 years:[7]

Brit Air fleet
Aircraft In service Passengers
Bombardier CRJ700 8 70
Bombardier CRJ1000 14 100
Total 36

Fleet development

Over the years, the airline has operated various aircraft types including:[2][8]

Brit Air historic fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired
ATR 42 1986 2005
ATR 72 1991 2003
Bombardier CRJ100 1995
Bombardier CRJ700 2001
Bombardier CRJ900 2010 2011
Bombardier CRJ1000 2010
Fairchild Hiller FH-227
Fokker F27
Fokker F28
Fokker 100 1999 2011
Saab 340 1987 1998

Incidents and accidents

A Brit Air Fokker 100 at EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (2010).

On 22 June 2003, Air France Flight 5672 from Nantes to Brest, which was operated by a Brit Air CRJ100, crashed 2.3 miles short of the runway when attempting to land at Brest Bretagne Airport at 23:55 local time, resulting in the death of the captain. The aircraft involved (registered F-GRJS) subsequently caught fire (after all 21 passengers on board had been evacuated) and was damaged beyond repair. The most probable cause of the accident was declared to be pilot error, as the instrument approach had not been executed correctly.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Air France: les salariés de la filière Hop! poursuivent leur grève, des vols annulés". BFM TV (in French). 8 April 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "ATDB.aero aerotransport.org AeroTransport Data Bank". www.aerotransport.org. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Mentions Légales Archived 2010-01-23 at the Wayback Machine." Brit Air. Retrieved on 9 September 2010. "Adresse: Brit Air aéroport CS 27925 29679 MORLAIX cedex Tél : 02 98 63 63 63"
  4. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 27 March 2007. pp. 88–89.
  5. ^ "Air France Launches New Low-Cost Airline 'Hop!' Archived 2013-06-16 at archive.today." Reuters. 26 March 2013. Retrieved on 26 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Air France va fusionner ses filiales régionales sous la bannière Hop !". Les Echos (in French). 16 July 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Brit Air Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Brit Air Fleet | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  9. ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER F-GRJS Brest-Guipavas Airport (BES)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  10. ^ Official BEA report on Air France Flight 5672
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