Sud Aviation Caravelle

Updated: October 2026 – Two engines at the back of the fuselage, windows shaped like rounded triangles and a nose reminiscent of the British Comet: if an aircraft like that stands in a French museum, it is very likely a Sud Aviation Caravelle. It was France’s first jet airliner and the first production airliner with both engines at the rear. On European short- and medium-haul routes it was everywhere in the 1960s and 1970s – with Air France, SAS, Swissair, Sabena, Alitalia and many leisure airlines. Here you learn how the Caravelle came about, how to tell the versions apart and where you can still get it in front of your lens today.

What is the Sud Aviation Caravelle?

The Caravelle is a twin-engine narrowbody jet for short and medium routes of French manufacture. The two engines hang on the sides of the rear fuselage, the wing is free of nacelles, and the horizontal stabilizer sits a little way up the fin. The early series offered around 80 seats, the stretched Caravelle 12 up to 140. The aircraft was planned under the designation SE 210 at the state-owned manufacturer SNCASE, which merged into Sud Aviation in 1957.

Between 1958 and 1972 a total of 282 Caravelles were built, counting the prototypes. Measured against American production numbers that is modest, but for a European jetliner of that time it was a great success – and above all an export success, all the way to the USA. Sud Aviation merged into Aérospatiale in 1970, one of the founding partners of Airbus. Many engineers who worked on the Caravelle went on to shape European aircraft building. The Concorde, which Sud Aviation developed together with BAC, comes from the same lineage.

Today the Caravelle is a historic aircraft. There has been no airworthy example since 2006. So you cannot spot an active Caravelle – but you can spot preserved examples in museums, and they are worth the trip.

From specification to the first French jetliner

The story begins in 1951. The French authorities issued a specification for a medium-haul airliner designed for around 55 to 65 passengers. SNCASE in Toulouse submitted several designs and in the end chose a solution that was unusual at the time: two Rolls-Royce Avon jet engines at the rear instead of under or in the wings.

The advantage was obvious. The wing stayed aerodynamically clean and could be used fully for lift and flaps. The cabin became much quieter up front because the engines worked behind the passengers. And with an engine failure there was hardly any yawing moment, because both engines sat close to the centerline of the fuselage.

To save time, SNCASE took the nose section with the cockpit from the de Havilland Comet under license. The Comet was the world’s first jet airliner – you can read more about it on the type page for the DH.106 Comet and in the article De Havilland Comet – the first jet airliner. The Caravelle’s fuselage, wing, tail and systems, on the other hand, were French in-house developments.

In March 1953, final assembly of the first prototype began in Toulouse. On May 27, 1955, F-WHHH took off for its first flight with Pierre Nadot and André Moynet in the cockpit. The second prototype followed on May 6, 1956. It had a big appearance on June 4, 1958: it flew President Charles de Gaulle to Algiers. De Gaulle afterward praised the aircraft as “la rapide, la sûre, la douce Caravelle” – the fast, safe, smooth Caravelle. Sud Aviation promptly made the phrase its advertising slogan.

Scheduled service: SAS ahead of Air France

The first order came from Air France in 1956, followed by the Scandinavian SAS. SAS nevertheless won the race for the first passenger flight: on April 26, 1959, the Caravelle entered scheduled service with the Scandinavians. Air France followed in May 1959 on the route from Paris via Rome and Athens to Istanbul.

After that things moved fast. Swissair, Sabena, Alitalia, Iberia and Finnair used the type, as did numerous airlines in South America, Africa and Asia. Sud Aviation pulled off a real coup in the USA: United Airlines took 20 Caravelle VI-Rs – a French jet in the scheduled service of a major US carrier was a sensation at the time.

In France the Caravelle became the backbone of domestic traffic. Air Inter flew 16 Series III aircraft and five Caravelle 12s. On January 9, 1969, Air Inter achieved the first landing with passengers in Category III all-weather conditions with a Caravelle at Paris-Orly – a milestone for landings in poor visibility.

The Caravelle was also at home in German charter traffic. LTU, Aero Lloyd and Transeuropa are named as operators. Aero Lloyd started leisure flights out of Frankfurt in 1981 with three Caravelles. In Scandinavia, Sterling Airways was one of the most important customers and the launch operator of the Caravelle 12.

The versions at a glance

The Caravelle was developed further over almost two decades. Roughly, two generations can be distinguished: the early series with Rolls-Royce Avon and the later ones with the Pratt & Whitney JT8D.

Version	Engines	Seats (typical)	Length	Special feature
Caravelle I / IA	Rolls-Royce Avon	approx. 80	32.01 m	First production version, scheduled service from 1959
Caravelle III	Rolls-Royce Avon	approx. 80	32.01 m	More powerful Avon, widely used, e.g. by Air Inter
Caravelle VI-N	Rolls-Royce Avon	approx. 80	32.01 m	Even more thrust
Caravelle VI-R	Rolls-Royce Avon	approx. 80	32.01 m	Thrust reversers, spoilers, larger cockpit windows; version for United
Caravelle 10A	General Electric CJ805-23C	–	–	One-off with fan engines, first flight 1962
Caravelle 10R	Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7	approx. 80	32.01 m	VI-R airframe with JT8D, 20 built
Caravelle 10B (Super B)	Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7	up to 105	33.01 m	Lengthened, launch customer Finnair, 22 built
Caravelle 11R	Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7	–	32.71 m	Combi version with cargo door at front left, 6 built
Caravelle 12	Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9	up to 140	36.24 m	Stretched Super B, first flight 1971, 12 built

For everyday spotting a simple rule of thumb is usually enough: slim engine nacelles point to an Avon Caravelle (Series I to VI), thicker, shorter nacelles to a JT8D version (Series 10 to 12). You also recognize the Caravelle 12 by its clearly longer fuselage. How to tell engines apart in general by nacelle shape and exhaust is explained in the guide Identifying engines.

By the way, the early aircraft still braked after landing with a brake parachute. Only the VI-R brought thrust reversers, which made rollout much easier.

The identifying features in detail

The Caravelle is one of those aircraft you hardly forget once you have consciously seen it. Three observations are enough in almost all cases.

Add to that the clean wing without engines and without winglets, and the moderate size: at 32 meters in length in the base versions the Caravelle is about as long as a modern Airbus A319, but looks completely different because of the rear engines and the high fin attachment.

Caravelle, One-Eleven, DC-9 or Tu-134?

The Caravelle set a trend. After it came numerous short-haul jets with engines at the rear, and in old photos many of them look similar at first glance. The finder helps you narrow it down.

The Caravelle is mistaken especially often for the BAC One-Eleven. Both are twin-engine short-haul jets with rear engines from Western Europe. The difference lies in the windows and tail: the One-Eleven has normal windows and a true T-tail, the Caravelle triangular windows and the cruciform tail. A good overview of other classics can be found in the article Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky.

The end of an era

Competition from the USA caught up with the Caravelle in the 1960s. The DC-9 and the Boeing 727 offered more seats, more range and a huge customer base. Sud Aviation countered with the Super B and the Caravelle 12, but production ended in 1972.

Air France retired the Caravelle from scheduled service in 1981, Air Inter followed in 1991. Among the last European operators was Air Toulouse from Toulouse-Blagnac, which used the type until the mid-1990s.

The Swedish Air Force wrote an unusual chapter. In the early 1970s it bought two former SAS Caravelles and used them under the designation Tp 85 for electronic reconnaissance until 1998. In January 1999 one of these aircraft, today’s SE-DAI, flew to Stockholm Arlanda – one of the last Caravelle flights in Europe.

Outside Europe some aircraft flew even longer, mainly in Africa and South America. The last known Caravelle in flight operations is considered to be a Waltair 10B that was in service until 2005. There has been no airworthy Caravelle since 2006.

Where you can see the Caravelle today

If you want to photograph the Caravelle, you plan a museum visit. The good news: several examples are preserved in Europe, some of them even outdoors with an airport view.

Place	Example	Note
Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, Le Bourget	Caravelle 12 F-GCVL, front section of the second prototype F-BHHI	Close to Paris, easy to combine with a visit to Le Bourget
Aeroscopia, Toulouse	Caravelle 12 F-BTOE in Air Inter colors	Considered the last Caravelle built (construction number 280)
Royal Army Museum, Brussels	Caravelle VI-N OO-SRA	Former Sabena aircraft
Flygvapenmuseum, Linköping	Former Tp 85 of the Swedish Air Force	Military Caravelle with an SAS past
Stockholm Arlanda	Caravelle III SE-DAI, looked after by the Caravelle Club	Maintained by volunteers, not airworthy
Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson	Caravelle VI-R N1001U (ex United)	Large outdoor area in Arizona

The most convenient for photos is Aeroscopia: the Caravelle 12 stands there outdoors next to the Concorde. You can find all the details on the location, the light and the best angles on the spot page Aeroscopia at Toulouse-Blagnac. If you are in Toulouse anyway, you can combine the museum visit with current Airbus traffic – tips for that are in the article Plane spotting at Toulouse-Blagnac.

In Le Bourget, the page on the Musée de l’Air at Le Bourget Airport helps you plan. In Sweden the Flygvapenmuseum at Malmen airfield is worth a visit, and at Stockholm Arlanda Airport the SE-DAI recalls SAS’s role as launch operator.

Photo tips for museum Caravelles

Photographing a Caravelle in a museum is a different task from a landing approach at the fence. The aircraft stands still, but you battle with barriers, hall lighting and other visitors.

You can calculate in advance when the light suits an outdoor exhibit – the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot shows you how. You can find more destinations for classics fans in Germany in the overview Aviation museums in Germany.

Conclusion

The Caravelle was more than just France’s first jetliner. With its engines at the rear it set a trend that shaped short-haul jets for decades – from the One-Eleven through the DC-9 to the Tu-134. Triangular windows, cruciform tail and Comet nose make it unmistakable to this day. You won’t see it fly anymore, but in Le Bourget, Toulouse, Brussels, Sweden and Tucson stand well-preserved examples that make any detour worthwhile.