Air Littoral

If you go through old photos from Nice, Marseille or Montpellier from the 1990s, sooner or later you end up at Air Littoral. The regional airline from Languedoc was a fixture in the south of France for three decades – and it wrote a piece of aircraft history: the very first ATR 42 in scheduled service carried its name. Here you’ll learn how a small Islander airline became a CRJ operator in the Swissair group, how to recognize Air Littoral in old pictures and why it was all over in 2004.

Air Littoral at a glance

Air Littoral was a French regional airline headquartered in Montpellier. Its network spanned the south of the country: Montpellier, Nice and Marseille were the most important bases, plus connections to Italy, Spain and Morocco. The airline flew both its own routes and flights on behalf of Air France.

Typical of Air Littoral was the constant change in its fleet. The airline tried many models but was at the front with two types: the ATR 42, for which it was launch customer, and Bombardier’s CRJ family, with which it moved into the jet era in the late 1990s.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code FU: appeared before flight numbers on tickets, departure boards and in the flight plan.
• ICAO code LIT: used by air traffic control to identify flights – an abbreviation of “Littoral.”
• Callsign AIR LITTORAL: this is how crews identified themselves on the radio.

With old documents, keep in mind that Air Littoral at times operated flights on behalf of Air France. In that case, the ticket showed an AF flight number, but the flight was operated by an Air Littoral aircraft with an Air Littoral crew. How IATA and ICAO codes work and why they don’t always match the operating airline is explained in the article on IATA and ICAO codes.

The history: from Logistair to the Swissair group

Beginnings with the Islander

The roots lie in 1972 at Le Castellet airfield near Toulon. There a small company called Logistair was formed, which flew the Nice–Montpellier–Perpignan route with a Britten-Norman Islander. Some sources give 1973 as the founding year. The start was bumpy: the company got into trouble early, and the pilot and co-owner Robert Da Ros took the helm when reportedly only one airworthy aircraft was left. Under him, the airline was renamed Air Littoral and moved to Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport.

Expansion in the south

In 1976 and 1977, routes such as Montpellier–Nice and Montpellier–Mende–Clermont-Ferrand were added, partly connecting to Air Inter domestic flights to Paris. Later, Marc Jorel joined, who imported Embraer aircraft to France – which explains why Brazilian turboprops defined the fleet. In 1982, the network grew significantly: besides routes such as Biarritz–Pau–Lyon and connections from Montpellier to Lyon, Bordeaux and Perpignan, international destinations were added with Nice–Milan and Nice–Venice.

In the mid-1980s (1986/87), the airline merged with Compagnie Aérienne du Languedoc (CAL).

Changing owners

The 1990s were marked by frequent changes of ownership. In the early 1990s, KLM held a stake in Air Littoral (according to German-language sources 1991–1992 with about 35 percent); French sources mention a link to the acquisition of the Fokker 100. The partnership was not pursued. From 1993, according to French sources, the majority was held by the entrepreneur Michel Seydoux, and from 1992 to 2000 Marc Dufour ran the airline. In 1997, Air Littoral went public.

In the same year, the airline founded Air Littoral Riviera in Nice, in which the Principality of Monaco held a stake, and built a connecting system there. On March 31, 1998, Air Littoral Riviera was integrated back into the parent company. For freight and parcels, Air Littoral Express was created with Beechcraft 1900s.

The fleet: from the Islander to the CRJ

Hardly any European regional airline tried as many models as Air Littoral. The following overview is based on available fleet lists; individual numbers vary by source.

Type	Number (approx.)	Era	Use and note
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander	5	1970s	Starter aircraft of the Logistair era
Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante	up to 8	from the late 1970s	Small turboprop for thin routes
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia	12	1980s	Partly operated for Air France
Fairchild Swearingen Metro	7	1980s	Small regional turboprop
Nord 262	approx. 4	1980s	French turboprop
ATR 42-300 and -500	up to 21	1985–2004	Launch customer of the ATR 42
ATR 72-200	2	1990s	Stretched ATR version
Fokker F27, F28, Fokker 70	1 / 3 / 5	1990s	Supplement and stopgap
Fokker 100	10–15 (depending on source)	from about 1990	Jet for longer routes
Boeing 737-300	1	briefly	The airline’s only Boeing jet
Beechcraft 1900C	7	from 1997	Freight at Air Littoral Express
Bombardier CRJ100/200	17 at the end	1997–2004	Backbone of the final years

ATR 42: Air Littoral as launch customer

The most important footnote in Air Littoral’s history: in December 1985, the airline took delivery of the first production ATR 42 – at the time in the ATR 42-300 version. The first scheduled flight went from Béziers to Paris-Orly. That began the career of a turboprop that can still be seen at many regional airports in Europe today. The manufacturer is ATR of Toulouse.

Later the modernized ATR 42-500 with six-blade propellers and two ATR 72-200s were added. When operations ceased in 2004, French sources say twelve ATR 42-500s were still in the fleet. How to tell the ATR 42 from the ATR 72 and from the Dash 8 is shown in the article Telling turboprops apart.

Embraer turboprops

Before the ATR, aircraft from Brazil defined the picture. The small EMB 110 Bandeirante and the larger EMB 120 Brasilia flew for Air Littoral, along with the Fairchild Swearingen Metro. You recognize the Brasilia by its T-tail and slender fuselage, the Metro by its very long, narrow nose. The manufacturer of the two Brazilian types is Embraer.

Fokker 100: the first jet

With the Fokker 100, Air Littoral entered jet operations around 1990. Several Fokker 70s, the shortened variant, also flew, along with individual F28 Fellowships and one F27 Friendship. Five Fokker 100s remained until the end. You can find more about the manufacturer at Fokker.

CRJ: the regional jet of the final years

On January 23, 1997, Air Littoral signed a purchase agreement for seven regional jets from Bombardier. The CRJ then became the most important type: when operations ceased in 2004, 17 aircraft belonged to the fleet. Sources call them CRJ100 in some places and CRJ200 in others – the two versions look practically identical from the outside, and on the Planetrack site you find them together under CRJ100/CRJ200. How to tell CRJs, ERJs and Fokkers apart is explained in Recognizing regional jets.

The route network

Air Littoral mainly connected the cities of southern France with each other and with other countries. According to French sources, the network last comprised about twenty destinations in France, Spain, Italy and Morocco, partly with codesharing.

Region	Destinations (selection)	Note
Southern France	Montpellier, Nice, Marseille, Perpignan, Béziers	Core network of the airline
Rest of France	Lyon, Bordeaux, Biarritz, Pau, Clermont-Ferrand, Paris-Orly	Partly connecting to Air Inter or Air France
Italy	Milan, Venice, Florence	Nice–Milan and Nice–Venice from 1982
Spain and Morocco	Valencia, other destinations	Often from Perpignan, Montpellier or Nice

Nice became especially important from 1997. With Air Littoral Riviera, the airline launched in October 1997 with 17 routes from the Côte d’Azur and organized connecting flights there – an ambitious concept for a regional airline. Other European regional airlines pursued similar approaches at the time; the article Regional airlines in Europe gives an overview.

Swissair, Qualiflyer and the end

Part of the Swissair holdings

In the late 1990s, Swissair bought into several European airlines. In 1998, SAirGroup acquired 44 percent of Air Littoral and later raised it to 49 percent; according to French Wikipedia, an approach to Lufthansa had previously failed. Air Littoral took part in the Qualiflyer frequent flyer program, which also included Crossair and Sabena.

At the same time, Swissair held stakes in France in AOM French Airlines and Air Liberté. A merger of all three companies was under discussion but was abandoned after the Swissair crisis in 2001. AOM and Air Liberté merged into Air Lib; Air Littoral stayed independent. The Swissair shares were taken over by former chief Marc Dufour.

Insolvency and shutdown

After a restructuring, flight operations were temporarily profitable according to French sources, but the accumulated debts were too high. After a failed takeover, insolvency proceedings came in summer 2003, and further rescue attempts were unsuccessful. In February 2004, a court ordered it shut down; the operating license had already been withdrawn beforehand. A successor project under the name “Littoral Airlines” with support from the Montpellier region failed for lack of financing.

You can find more examples of the end of storied companies in the article Major airline failures in Europe.

How to recognize Air Littoral

You no longer run into Air Littoral live, but you often see it in photos from southern France. These features help with identification:

The most reliable feature is the registration. Air Littoral aircraft were registered in France and carry an F- before the letter sequence, such as F-GPYE on one of the ATR 42s. With the registration, you can follow an aircraft’s history in databases and see where it went after 2004 – many CRJs and ATRs went on to fly for other airlines. How that works is explained in Researching an aircraft’s history.

Accidents and incidents

Three hull losses with a total of 21 fatalities are documented in the company’s history:

• December 21, 1987: An EMB 120 Brasilia (F-GEGH), flying on behalf of Air France from Brussels to Bordeaux, crashed on approach shortly before Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport. All 16 people on board died.
• November 18, 1988: A Fairchild Swearingen Metro crashed shortly after takeoff at Montluçon. All four occupants died.
• July 30, 1997: An ATR 42 (F-GPYE) on a flight from Nice to Florence landed too fast, overran the runway end and came to rest in a ditch. The captain died a few days later; the other occupants survived, several with injuries.

Air Littoral today: traces for spotters

The airline has vanished, and its aircraft have moved on or been scrapped. For spotters, Air Littoral remains a topic for archives and collections: old slides, schedules, boarding passes and models. The regional routes in the south of France are flown by others today, mainly HOP! or Air France and Air Corsica – often with ATRs, exactly the type Air Littoral once introduced.

If you travel in southern France, you can still watch regional traffic at the old bases of Nice or Marseille. Before you take photos there, read the article on photography at French airports. For placing old types, Spotting vintage aircraft helps.

Common mix-ups

• Equating Air Littoral with Air Liberté – both belonged to the Swissair world, but Air Liberté merged with AOM into Air Lib, and Air Littoral did not.
• Thinking Air Littoral was an Air France subsidiary – it flew on behalf of Air France at times but was independent.
• Attributing every CRJ in France to Air Littoral – Brit Air and other regional airlines flew the type too.
• Mistaking the earliest ATR 42s for a -500 – the early aircraft were -300s with four-blade propellers.
• Still attributing the code FU to Air Littoral today – IATA codes are reassigned after an airline ends.

Conclusion

For three decades, Air Littoral was the regional airline of the French south. A small Islander company at Le Castellet became an operator with ATRs, Fokkers and CRJs that connected Montpellier, Nice, Marseille and Lyon with each other and with the Mediterranean region. As launch customer of the ATR 42, it wrote aircraft history; as part of Swissair’s holdings, it shared that company’s fate in the end. For spotters, it remains a rewarding chapter that you can trace well through F- registrations and old photos.