Air Liberté

If you browse photo archives from 1990s Orly, you’ll find another airline with a confident name between Air France, Air Inter and AOM: Air Liberté. It began as a charter carrier, took on Air Inter in a price war in 1995, switched from British Airways to Swissair within a few years and ended as Air Lib in one of France’s best-known airline collapses. Here you’ll learn how it all fits together, which aircraft the airline flew and how to recognize it in old photos.

Air Liberté at a glance

Air Liberté was a private French airline based at Paris-Orly Airport. It was founded in July 1987 by the entrepreneur Lotfi Belhassine, with the tour operator Aquarius as the main backer at first. In April 1988, the first aircraft took off, a leased jet of the MD-80 family. The business initially consisted of charter flights to vacation destinations in southern Europe and around the Mediterranean, plus a few long-haul destinations.

Unlike many charter airlines, Air Liberté did not stick to package holidays. It pushed early into scheduled service and used every gap offered by the gradual opening of French air transport – first on international and overseas routes, then from 1995 in the heart of the domestic market, which until then had belonged to Air Inter. That made Air Liberté one of the most important private competitors of the state-owned Air France and its subsidiary Air Inter.

The downside: the airline posted heavy losses in the mid-1990s, entered insolvency proceedings in 1996 and then changed owners several times. For spotters, that is a stroke of luck, because each phase brought its own aircraft and its own liveries.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code IJ: appeared before flight numbers and on tickets until 2001.
• ICAO code LIB: identifier in the flight plan – stayed in use at Air Lib until 2003.
• Callsign LIBERTE: this is how crews identified themselves on the radio; Air Lib later used “AIR LIB.”

After the merger with AOM, Air Lib took over the IATA code IW of AOM French Airlines. A schedule with IW flight numbers can therefore mean AOM, Air Lib or Air Lib Express – the date is what decides it. How IATA and ICAO codes are assigned and passed on is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes.

History: from charter carrier to Air Lib

Founding and charter years (1987–1990)

Air Liberté started as a classic leisure airline. Its aircraft took vacationers from France to the Mediterranean, to Spain, Portugal, Tunisia and Morocco. For Tunisia, it even set up its own subsidiary, Air Liberté Tunisie, which was sold to a Tunisian tourism group in the mid-1990s and continued flying as Nouvelair. As early as 1988, Air Liberté announced an order for two Airbus A300-600Rs – a sign that the company wanted to think bigger.

In December 1990, the airline made headlines with a flight to Cambodia, according to French Wikipedia the first by a Western carrier since 1975. Around 1990, Club Méditerranée also gained influence over the airline through its takeover of Aquarius.

First scheduled flights (1991–1994)

In the early 1990s, France relaxed access to scheduled routes, and private operators like Air Liberté and the charter airline Minerve – later part of AOM – pushed into the market; in 1991, the two even briefly appeared under a joint brand. From 1991, Air Liberté flew scheduled service to La Réunion as well as to Rome and Montreal. On August 1, 1993, scheduled flights to the Antilles followed, that is, to Pointe-à-Pitre and Fort-de-France. On these long-haul routes, the airline used the DC-10-30.

Attack on Air Inter (1995)

At the beginning of 1995, France opened the first major domestic routes from Orly, previously reserved for Air Inter, to competitors. Air Liberté was on the spot immediately: it launched Orly–Toulouse in 1995, with Bordeaux and Strasbourg following over the course of the year. A price war flared up on the Toulouse route, which the trade press covered extensively – both airlines undercut each other with bargain fares.

Shortly afterward, Air Liberté took over the scheduled operations of the charter airline Euralair, including its slots at Orly. That made the domestic network grow quickly. If you want to know what Toulouse looks like for spotters today, you’ll find tips in Plane spotting in Toulouse-Blagnac.

Insolvency and British Airways (1996–2000)

The rapid expansion cost a lot of money. On September 26, 1996, Air Liberté entered court-supervised restructuring. Several bidders competed for the airline, including AOM. The winner was British Airways: through its French subsidiary TAT European Airlines, BA took 67 percent in early 1997, with the Rivaud banking group also taking a stake. Marc Rochet, who had previously run AOM, took the helm.

From April 1, 1997, TAT and Air Liberté flew together as “TAT – Air Liberté,” and in October 1997 the name Air Liberté prevailed again. With TAT came regional aircraft such as the Fokker 100, ATR 42 and ATR 72 into the fleet. At the end of 1997, Air Liberté counted about 39 aircraft. From Bordeaux, it opened connections to Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon in December 1997.

In 1998, the airline got new uniforms designed by the fashion house Ted Lapidus. Passengers collected miles in BA’s Executive Club program, and according to English Wikipedia, Air Liberté was linked to the oneworld alliance as an affiliate from 1999 to 2000. Strikes and continuing losses remained an issue regardless.

In the Swissair group (2000–2001)

In May 2000, BA sold Air Liberté. The buyer was a structure around the Swissair parent company SAirGroup and the holding company Taitbout Antibes of the Marine Wendel group. Swissair already held stakes in AOM and Air Littoral at the time and wanted to shape the three French airlines into a counterweight to Air France. Air Liberté switched to the Qualiflyer frequent flyer program, which Swissair ran with partners such as Sabena and Crossair.

At the end of March 2001, the Swissair Group merged the flight operations of AOM and Air Liberté. The integration was difficult: two air operator certificates, overlapping routes, labor disputes. When Swissair and Marine Wendel were unwilling to put in more capital, AOM-Air Liberté filed for insolvency in June 2001.

Air Lib and the end (2001–2003)

On July 27, 2001, the holding company Holco of Air France pilot Jean-Charles Corbet won the bid. Its plan called for keeping about 2,700 of just over 4,500 jobs and 28 of 50 aircraft; Swissair promised money for the restructuring. In September 2001, the company appeared as Air Lib. Shortly afterward, Swissair itself collapsed, and the French state stepped in with a loan.

In 2002, Air Lib tried the low-cost brand Air Lib Express on connections from Paris to southern France and halved flights to the overseas territories in summer 2002. The rescue failed: at the beginning of February 2003, operations stood still (English Wikipedia gives February 6), and on February 17, 2003, the commercial court ordered liquidation. Corbet was convicted in 2007, among other things for the use of Swissair funds. You can read more about such collapses in Major airline failures in Europe.

The route network

Over the years, Air Liberté flew a colorful mix of domestic, overseas, vacation and long-haul destinations. The table shows a selection from different phases:

Region	Destinations (selection)	Typical type
France (mainland)	Toulouse, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nice, Montpellier, Perpignan, Toulon	MD-83, Fokker 100, ATR
Corsica and regional airports	Figari, Rodez, Aurillac, Brive, Lannion, Épinal	Fokker 100, ATR, Brasilia
Overseas territories	Saint-Denis (Réunion), Pointe-à-Pitre, Fort-de-France	DC-10-30
North America	Montreal, Toronto	DC-10-30
Europe and the Mediterranean	London Heathrow, Rome, Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Málaga, Alicante, Malta, Tunis, Djerba, Casablanca	MD-83, 737
Asia	Bangkok, Colombo, Karachi	DC-10-30

The many small French destinations mostly date from the TAT era, when regional feeders belonged to the fleet. How charter and scheduled service differ – a topic Air Liberté lived through itself – is explained in the article Charter flights vs. scheduled flights.

The fleet

There is no single reliable overall list, because the fleet changed with every change of ownership. According to English Wikipedia, in the mid-1990s it consisted of five Boeing 737-200s, eight MD-83s and five DC-10s – a figure with no further source. Over the entire period, the following types appear:

Type	Use	Note
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	Domestic, vacation destinations, medium-haul	Backbone of short and medium-haul
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	Short and medium-haul	Later also at Air Lib
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	Overseas territories, Canada, Asia	Long-haul workhorse
Boeing 737-200, -300, -600	Domestic and Europe	Partly taken over from Euralair
Airbus A300-600R, A310	Medium and long-haul	Only a few examples
Boeing 747-100	Long-haul	One-off in the early livery
Fokker 100, Fokker 28	Regional routes	From the TAT fleet
ATR 42-300, ATR 72-200	Regional routes	From the TAT fleet
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia	Small regional routes	From the TAT fleet

MD-83: the domestic workhorse

The MD-83 was the aircraft with which Air Liberté fought the battle for Orly. The slender twinjet with rear-mounted engines and a T-tail offered enough range for vacation destinations on the Mediterranean and enough seats for busy domestic routes. It was complemented by the MD-82, which looks practically identical from the outside – you can usually only tell the two apart by the registration. The manufacturer was McDonnell Douglas.

DC-10-30: the long-haul aircraft

For Réunion, the Antilles and Canada, Air Liberté used the DC-10-30. Its typical feature is the third engine in the vertical stabilizer and the extra center landing gear of the long-haul version. After the merger with AOM, which had itself relied heavily on the DC-10, the three-engine jet became Air Lib’s defining long-haul type.

Fokker and ATR: the TAT legacy

With the integration of TAT, Air Liberté got a regional fleet from 1997: the Fokker 100, older Fokker F28s, turboprops from ATR and the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia. How to tell the ATR 42 from the ATR 72 is shown in Telling turboprops apart. You recognize the Fokker jets by the T-tail with rear-mounted engines – similar to the MD-80, but much smaller. The manufacturer was Fokker.

How to recognize Air Liberté

In its short history, Air Liberté changed its look several times. That makes identifying old photos interesting:

As always, the registration gives you certainty. Air Liberté aircraft were registered in France and carry an F- before the letter sequence, such as F-GHED on the MD-83 involved in the May 2000 incident at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. With the registration, you can trace where an aircraft flew before and afterward. Tips on airline livery changes are in the article When airlines change their look, and general advice on old types is in Spotting vintage aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

The best-known incident happened at night on May 25, 2000, at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. The MD-83 F-GHED was due to take off as flight 8807 to Madrid when a Shorts 330 of the cargo airline Streamline Aviation taxied onto the same runway via a connecting taxiway. A wing of the MD-83 struck the cockpit of the Shorts; its first officer was killed and the captain was injured. The MD-83 aborted the takeoff, nobody on board was injured, and the aircraft returned to service after repairs.

The French investigation agency BEA saw the cause mainly in the controller’s incorrect picture of the two aircraft’s positions. As contributing factors, it named coordination problems between ground and tower controllers, poor visibility and confusing radio communication in French and English, among others. The BEA then recommended using only English on the radio at Charles de Gaulle.

Air Liberté today: traces for spotters

The airline has been history for over 20 years, and its aircraft have long since moved on or been scrapped. For spotters, Air Liberté remains an archive topic: old slides from Orly, boarding passes, schedules with IJ flight numbers, models in the various liveries. If you take photos at Orly, Toulouse or Bordeaux today, you see the successors in domestic and overseas service on the same runways. Before you take out your camera at French airports, read the advice on photography at French airports.

Common mix-ups

• Equating Air Liberté with AOM – both flew from Orly and were merged in 2001, but were independent competitors before that.
• Thinking Air Lib was a new startup – Air Lib was the renamed, merged company of Air Liberté and AOM.
• Attributing the IATA code IW to Air Liberté – IW came from AOM; Air Liberté itself flew under IJ.
• Mistaking Air Liberté in the BA era for British Airways – despite the British majority, the airline flew under its own titles and with French registrations.
• Confusing Air Liberté Tunisie with Tunisair – the former subsidiary became Nouvelair, not Tunisair.

Conclusion

Air Liberté embodies the upheaval years of French air transport like few other airlines. Starting out as a charter carrier, it used the market opening, challenged Air Inter on its core routes and became the plaything of big groups: first British Airways, then Swissair. The merger with AOM into Air Lib was meant to create a strong competitor to Air France but ended in liquidation in February 2003. For spotters, what remains is an airline with many faces – MD-83 and DC-10, Fokker and ATR, changing liveries of its own and finally Air Lib ones – that is easy to identify by its titles, date and registration.