Air Austral is a French airline that is also the flag carrier of the overseas department and region of Réunion. The airline is based at Roland Garros Airport. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to metropolitan France, South Africa, Thailand and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The company has eight airplanes in the fleet and employs around 900 people.

History

thumb|Air Austral's former logo, used until 2014

1974–1990: Founding years as RAS and Air Réunion

Air Austral was created in December 1974 by local businessman Gérard Ethève as Réunion Air Services (RAS), Réunion's first commercial airline. By August 1977, RAS had started regional services from Sainte-Marie to Mayotte In June 2010, Air Austral announced it would start scheduled flights from Réunion to Bordeaux and Nantes from February 2011. Non-profitable routes to Nouméa, Sydney, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, and Lyon were closed. Additionally, Air Austral was unable to pay for a new 777-200LR awaiting delivery and looked to sell the plane instead of taking delivery. Following this development, Air Austral announced in May 2012 that it would defer or cancel its order for two Airbus A380s, with a decision to be made by the end of June 2012.

thumb|Former Air Austral [[Boeing 737-800 at Suvarnabhumi Airport]]

In June 2013, Air Austral introduced direct flights to Chennai, India with its new Boeing 737-800s. In February 2015, the company announced an order for two Boeing 787-8s, 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, delivered in late 2016, replaced the oldest two models of the same type then operated by Air Austral.

thumb|left|Air Austral [[Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at Charles de Gaulle Airport]]

In November 2015, the company sold its single Boeing 777-200LR to Florida-based broker Atlas Aviation, which became the "Crystal Skye" ultraluxury air cruise aircraft. Air Austral simultaneously announced the lease, from November 2015 to May 2016, of a Boeing 737-300QC (QC for quick change) from ASL Airlines France (formerly Europe Airpost). The plane involved was F-ODZZ, a convertible version of the 737–300 (a cabin that can be changed from passenger to freight configuration) that had already been in Air Austral service between 1997 and 2005. It was used until the first of two Boeing 787-8s ordered by the company was delivered in May 2016.

In October 2017, Air Austral signed a strategic partnership agreement with Air Madagascar to become the airline's minority shareholder, owning a 49% stake in the company, after the two companies established their relationship in 2016. The move was done in part to help Air Madagascar return to profitability and facilitate stronger connections within the regional market for the two airlines. In July 2018, Kenya Airways signed a memorandum of understanding to join the partnership in an effort to strengthen Nairobi's connections to Réunion and Madagascar and to also open up the possibilities of codesharing between the three carriers. The agreement was later finalized by the three airlines in December 2018. However, in November 2019, reports revealed that the partnership between Air Austral and Air Madagascar was at risk of dissolution after Air Austral did not contribute its second payment of €25 million for its equity share in the airline.

thumb|right|[[Hi Fly Malta A380-800 that Air Austral leased in 2018.]]

In August 2018, Air Austral began wet leasing an Airbus A380 from charter airline Hi Fly after it grounded one of its Boeing 787s due to inspections of the plane's Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. In October 2019, Air Austral announced it was developing its plans to renew its fleet. That month, the airline signed a purchase agreement for three Airbus A220-300 aircraft that would replace its two Boeing 737-800 and ATR 72-500 aircraft.

|-

|Comoros||Moroni||Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport||align=center| ||align=center|

|-

|rowspan="6"|France||Bordeaux||Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport||||align=center|

|-

|Lyon||Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport||||align=center|

|-

|Toulouse||Toulouse–Blagnac Airport||||align=center|

|-

|rowspan="6"|Madagascar||Antananarivo||Ivato Airport||align=center| ||align=center|

|-

|Antsiranana||Arrachart Airport||<br>Ewa Air planes used||align=center|

|-

|Fort-Dauphin||Tôlanaro Airport|| ||align=center|

|-

|Nosy Be||Fascene Airport||||align=center|

|-

|Toamasina||Toamasina Airport||<br>Ewa Air planes used||align=center|

|-

|Tuléar||Toliara Airport||||align=center|

|-

|rowspan="2"|Mauritius||Port Louis||Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport||align=center| ||align=center|

|-

|Rodrigues||Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport||<br>Ewa Air planes used||align=center|

|-

|Mayotte||Dzaoudzi||Dzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport||||align=center|

|-

|New Caledonia||Nouméa||La Tontouta International Airport||||align=center|

|-

|Saint-Pierre||Pierrefonds Airport||||align=center|

|-

|Seychelles||Mahé||Seychelles International Airport||||align=center|

|-

|South Africa||Johannesburg||O. R. Tambo International Airport||align=center| ||align=center|

|-

|Thailand||Bangkok||Suvarnabhumi Airport||align=center| ||align=center|

|-

|}

Interline agreements

Air Austral has interlining agreements with:

  • French Bee
  • Swiss International Air Lines
  • Thai Airways International

Codeshare agreements

Air Austral has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

  • Air France
  • Air Madagascar
  • Air India
  • Air Mauritius
  • Ewa Air
  • Kenya Airways

Fleet

thumb|Air Austral [[Boeing 777-300ER]]

thumb|Air Austral [[Boeing 787 Dreamliner|Boeing 787-8]]

Current fleet

, Air Austral operates the following aircraft:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"

|+ Air Austral fleet

|-

! rowspan="2" |Aircraft

! rowspan="2" |In service

! rowspan="2" |Orders

! colspan="4" |Passengers

! rowspan="2" |Notes

|- style="background:#09c;"

!<abbr title="Club Austral">J</abbr>

!<abbr title="Confort Class">W</abbr>

!<abbr title="Loisirs Class">Y</abbr>

!Total

|-

|Airbus A220-300

|3

|&mdash;

|&mdash;

|12

|120

|132

|F-OLAV stored, waiting for a new company. To be retired.

|-

|rowspan=2|Airbus A320neo

|rowspan=2|&mdash;

|rowspan=2|2

|&mdash;

|0

|180

|180

|rowspan=2|To replace Airbus A220s. Deliveries starting in 2027.

|-

|&mdash;

|20

|150

|170

|-

|Boeing 787-8

|2

|&mdash;

|18

|&mdash;

|244

|262

|

|-

|Boeing 777-300ER

|3

|&mdash;

|14

|40

|384

|438

|

|-

!Total

!8

!2

!colspan="5"|

|}

Former fleet

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:left;"

|+ Air Austral fleet

|-

! Aircraft

! Total

! Introduced

! Retired

! Notes

|-

|ATR 72-500

|3

|2000

|2022

|

|-

|Boeing 737-300

|1

|1994

|2011

|

|-

|Boeing 737-300QC

|2

|1997

|2016

|

|-

|Boeing 737-500

|1

|1990

|2011

|

|-

|Boeing 737-800

|2

|2010

|2023

|

|-

|Boeing 767-300ER

|1

|2009

|2009

|

|-

|Boeing 777-200ER

|3

|2003

|2017

|

|-

|Boeing 777-200LR

|1

|2011

|2015

|

|-

|Boeing 777-300ER

|2

|2013

|2017

|

|-

|Fokker F28 Fellowship

|1

|1989

|1995

|

|}

References

  • Official website