Twin Jet

Among Airbus jets and ATR turboprops, it looks almost lost: a slim, long-legged aircraft with lots of small fins on the tail. If you see an aircraft like that at a French regional airport, chances are good that it belongs to Twin Jet. The airline from Aix-en-Provence has flown nothing but the Beechcraft 1900D for over two decades – making it one of the last opportunities in Europe to photograph this type regularly in scheduled service. This page shows you what is behind the airline, how to recognize it and where to find it.

Twin Jet at a glance

Twin Jet is a French regional airline based in Aix-en-Provence. Flight operations management sits on the grounds of the former Aix-Les Milles air base, not far from the large Marseille Provence Airport. The company was founded in May 2001 by Olivier Manaut, who still heads it as president today. The air operator certificate came in early October 2001, and the first commercial flight took off the same month: a connection from Nîmes to Châteauroux – with a Beechcraft 1900D, of course.

The first regular route followed in March 2002. Twin Jet had won a public tender for the Cherbourg–Paris-Orly route. Such small connections, often supported by regions or the state, remain typical of the business model to this day: routes where an Airbus would be far too big, but where business travelers and commuters still want to get to their destination quickly.

Over the years, the network grew mainly in the south and southeast of France. Today, Twin Jet cites around 200 flights per week. Besides scheduled service, the airline offers crewed charter, cargo flights and medical transport. According to French sources, Twin Jet belongs to the holding company Fleet Management Airways, based in Switzerland.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code T7: appears in the flight number, so on the departure board, the ticket and in schedules.
• ICAO code TJT: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign TWINJET: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

For spotters, the ICAO code matters most. On many trackers you will see the flight as TJT plus a number, while the T7 flight number appears on the departure board in the terminal. How the two identifiers relate is explained in the article on callsign and flight number.

The fleet: only the Beechcraft 1900D

A fleet list at Twin Jet is quickly written. According to the airline, 13 aircraft are in service, and all of them are the same type.

Type	Number	Seats	Use	Spotter note
Beechcraft 1900D	13 (as of 2026)	designed for 19 passengers	Scheduled, charter, cargo, air ambulance	Production ended in 2002, all aircraft over 20 years old

The Beechcraft 1900D is the last and most-built version of the 1900 family, which Beechcraft derived from the Super King Air. It was built from 1991 to 2002, by then already under the Raytheon group. Today the Beechcraft brand belongs to Textron Aviation. The 1900D was a typical feeder aircraft, above all in North America. In Europe it has become rare in scheduled service – Twin Jet is among the best-known operators here.

For passengers, the 1900D has an advantage that many small turboprops do not offer: thanks to the raised fuselage, most people can stand upright in the cabin. There is a single seat on each side of the aisle, so every passenger sits by a window. Twin Jet advertises leather seats. Flight attendants are generally not carried in this size class – the two pilots handle the safety briefing.

Besides scheduled service, Twin Jet uses the aircraft for charter, urgent cargo and patient transport. That makes the fleet flexible – and interesting for you, because a Twin Jet Beechcraft can also turn up at airports that are not in the scheduled flight plan at all.

How to recognize Twin Jet

Because Twin Jet operates only one aircraft type, recognition starts with the aircraft itself. The Beechcraft 1900D has a few features that set it apart from almost all other small turboprops:

The registrations are French and begin with F-. How the registration system works and how to log them correctly is explained in the post Understanding aircraft registrations. With a fleet of only 13 aircraft, it is especially worthwhile to log each registration individually: anyone who has all the Twin Jet aircraft in their logbook has achieved one of the smaller but more demanding collecting feats in French regional flying.

The route network

Twin Jet’s network is small-scale and changes with every schedule. Instead of a hub, the airline connects regional airports directly with one another. Important stations are the bases in Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with further bases in Strasbourg and Le Puy-en-Velay, among others.

According to Twin Jet, the network in 2026 included these destinations, among others:

Region	Example destinations	Context
Southern France	Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Pau	Core of the network, for example Toulouse–Marseille and Nice–Toulouse
Rhône-Alpes and east	Lyon, Strasbourg	Lyon as a base, Strasbourg–Lyon back in the schedule since 2025
Massif Central and Paris	Le Puy-en-Velay, Paris-Orly	Link from Le Puy to Paris, a legacy of Hex’Air
West	Nantes, Rennes	Cross connections, for example Toulouse–Nantes and Toulouse–Rennes
Italy	Milan, Bologna, Venice, Olbia	Cross-border routes from Lyon, Marseille and Nice
Spain	Menorca	Connection from Nice

New routes have been added regularly in recent years. According to company information and French overviews, Toulouse–Marseille, for example, launched in early 2022, Lyon–Milan in fall 2022, Lyon–Bologna in late 2022, Lyon–Pau in summer 2023 and Nice–Toulouse in spring 2024. At the same time, connections also disappear again. So do not plan from old spotter reports; check the current schedule.

The role of Paris-Orly is interesting. In 2017, Twin Jet signed an agreement that linked its routes there to the network of Air France and HOP!. Next to the big Airbus jets, the small Beechcraft taxiing there makes for a real size comparison.

History: from Nîmes to Le Puy

Twin Jet’s history is rather quiet, but typical of French regional aviation. The key milestones:

• 2001: founded in May, air operator certificate and first commercial flight Nîmes–Châteauroux in October.
• 2002: first scheduled route Cherbourg–Paris-Orly after winning a tender; Flying Blue partnership; license for patient transport.
• 2006: call center in Aix-en-Provence and e-tickets for all passengers.
• 2008: distribution agreement with Air France-KLM for several European markets and launch of online sales.
• 2016: takeover of Hex’Air, a small airline from Le Puy-en-Velay that also flew Beechcraft 1900Ds in its final years. Routes and aircraft were absorbed into Twin Jet at the end of 2016.
• 2017: commercial agreement with HOP! and Air France via Paris-Orly.
• 2021: patient transport flights, including Covid patients between hospitals.
• from 2022: several new routes between regional airports and to Italy.

While other French regional airlines have disappeared – such as Air Littoral or Brit Air, which merged into HOP! – Twin Jet has survived with a very lean model: a single aircraft type, small routes and additional income from charter, cargo and patient transport.

Twin Jet in the French regional market

Twin Jet is not the only small airline in France. For comparison, take a look at Chalair, which also flies regional connections, Air Corsica with ATRs and A320s, and Amelia. You recognize the ATR operators by the high-wing shoulder-mounted design – for example the ATR 72-600 – while Twin Jet has a low-wing aircraft with a T-tail. A bigger overview is in the article on regional airlines in Europe.

Spotting Twin Jet: tips

Photographing Twin Jet is no sure thing. The aircraft are small, fly few rotations a day and are often parked far out on the apron at large airports. With a bit of planning, it still works.

At Nice Airport, the search is also worthwhile because the route to Toulouse is served there. As for the photo itself: propellers only look good when they visibly spin in the picture. So choose a somewhat longer shutter speed and pan with the aircraft. The guide Photographing propellers shows how.

Common mix-ups

• Taking the name literally – Twin Jet does not fly jets, but turboprops with four propeller blades per engine.
• Confusing T7 with the type – T7 is the airline’s IATA code, not an aircraft type.
• Assuming every 1900D in France is Twin Jet – charter and cargo operators fly the type too. Registration and ICAO code decide.
• Thinking Twin Jet is an Air France subsidiary – the airline is independent, does not belong to the Air France-KLM group and is only a partner in the Flying Blue frequent flyer program.
• Confusing the 1900D with the Jetstream – the T-tail and winglets point to the Beechcraft.

Conclusion

Twin Jet is one of France’s most unusual airlines: small, independent and loyal for over two decades to a single aircraft type that has long since gone out of production. That makes it doubly interesting for spotters – as an airline with a manageable fleet that you can collect completely, and as one of the few chances to see the Beechcraft 1900D in scheduled service in Europe. If you keep bases, times of day and the current schedule in mind, you can get the Beechcrafts in front of your lens in Marseille, Lyon or Toulouse.