AOM French Airlines

Infobox_Airline
airline=AOM French Airlines
logo=aom logo.gif
logo_size=120

IATA=IW
ICAO=AOM
callsign=French Lines
founded=1988
key_people=Marc Rochet
hubs=Orly Airport
frequent_flyer=Qualiflyer
fleet_size=34
destinations=24
headquarters=Orly Airport
website=

AOM French Airlines (previously Air Outre-Mer) was the second largest airline in France from 1990 to 2003.

History

Air Outre Mer (AOM) was founded in 1988 on the island of Réunion, and commenced scheduled passenger service in 1990 with a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and a Dornier Do 228. In October 1991 Air Outre Mer merged with "Minerve", a French airline which was based at Orly and had operated since 1975. The two companies began operating under the name "AOM French Airlines", although the administrative name was "AOM-Minerve S.A.". "Minerve" was the first airline to compete directly with Air Inter on the french domestic airline market by opening a Paris (Orly) - Nice route in may of 1990. In February 1999 Swissair acquired a 49% stake in the airline as a part of its "hunter strategy". For most of the decade, the airline fiercely competed with Air France on both the French domestic market and on the air routes to the French overseas territories. Due to inappropriate fleet management and overcapacity, the airline quickly accumulated huge debts and consequently ceased operating in 2001 (possibly as a result of the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the early 2000s recession which followed). The airline's final bankruptcy was approved after several months of strikes and AOM's disappearance was followed by several other French airlines such as Aeris, Air Littoral and Euralair in the next several years, leaving Air France and Corsairfly as the only two remaining major airlines in France as of today.

Destinations

France

* Marseille (Marseille Provence Airport)
* Nice (Côte d'Azur International Airport)
* Paris (Paris Orly Airport)
* Perpignan (Llabanère Airport)
* Toulon (Toulon Airport)

French overseas departments and territories

* French Guiana
** Cayenne (Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport)
* Guadeloupe
** Pointe-à-Pitre (Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport)
** Saint Martin (Princess Juliana International Airport)
* Martinique
** Fort-de-France (Le Lamentin Airport)
* New Caledonia
** Nouméa (La Tontouta International Airport)
* Réunion
** Saint-Denis (Roland Garros Airport)
* Tahiti
** Papeete (Faa'a International Airport)

International routes

* Australia
** Sydney (Sydney Airport)
* Bahamas
** Nassau (Lynden Pindling International Airport)
* Cuba
** Havana (José Martí International Airport)
** Varadero (Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport)
* Dominican Republic
** Punta Cana (Punta Cana International Airport)
* Ecuador
** Quito (Mariscal Sucre International Airport)
* Japan
** Tokyo (Narita International Airport)
* Libya
** Tripoli (Tripoli International Airport)
* Maldives
** Malé (Malé International Airport)
* Sri Lanka
** Colombo (Bandaranaike International Airport)
* Switzerland
** Zurich (Zurich Airport)
* Thailand
** Bangkok (Bangkok International Airport)
* USA
** Los Angeles (Los Angeles International Airport)
* Vietnam
** Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Son Nhat International Airport)

Fleet

The AOM French Airlines fleet has included:
*15 McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
*12 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E6DA163BF933A2575AC0A962958260]
*2 Airbus A340-200
*2 Airbus A340-300
*2 Boeing 737-500

External links

* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=4465 Air Outre-Mer] at the Aviation Safety Network Database
* [http://www.aviationexplorer.com/defunct_airlines_worldwide.htm Defunct airlines] at http://www.aviationexplorer.com
* [http://www.rati.com/ALLANDING_366.htm AOM French Airlines] at http://www.rati.com