AOM French Airlines

AOM French Airlines
Founded	1988
Commenced operations	1990
Ceased operations	25 March 2001; (merged into Air Liberté)
Hubs	Orly Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Qualiflyer
Headquarters	Paray-Vieille-Poste, France
Key people	Marc Rochet

AOM French Airlines, previously named Air Outre-Mer, was the second-largest airline in France that operated from 1988 until 2001. Its head office was in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste.^[1]

History

Foundation

Air Outre Mer, or AOM for short, was founded in 1988 in the French overseas département of the island of Réunion and began scheduled passenger service in 1990 with a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and a Dornier 228. In October 1991, Air Outre Mer merged with Air Minerve, a French airline which was based at Orly Airport 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.". Air 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 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.

Merger

Due to inappropriate fleet management and overcapacity, the airline quickly accumulated huge debts and consequently ceased operations in 2001 (possibly as a result of the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the early 2000s recession which followed)^{[citation needed]}. The airline's final bankruptcy was approved after several months of strikes.^{[citation needed]} On 25 March 2001 AOM French Airlines merged with Air Liberté, the airline retaining the name "Air Liberté".^[2] On 22 September 2001 the airline was renamed "Air Lib".^[3] AOM's disappearance was followed by several other French airlines in the next several years.

Destinations

AOM French Airlines served the following destinations:

France

French overseas departments and territories

International routes

Australia

Sydney – Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (Paris-Colombo-Sydney-Nouméa from November 1995, ceased 2001.)^[4]

Bahamas

Nassau – Lynden Pindling International Airport

Cuba

Dominican Republic

Punta Cana – Punta Cana International Airport

Ecuador

Quito – Old Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Japan

Tokyo – Narita International Airport

Libya

Tripoli – Tripoli International Airport

Maldives

Malé – Velana International Airport

Sri Lanka

Colombo – Bandaranaike International Airport (Paris-Colombo-Sydney-Nouméa from November 1995, ceased 2001.)^[4]

Switzerland

Zürich – Zürich Airport

Thailand

Bangkok – Don Mueang International Airport (Paris-Bangkok-Nouméa, until November 1995.)^[4]

United States

Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City – Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Fleet

AOM French Airlines has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:^[5]

AOM French Airlines fleet
Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Airbus A300B4	1	1999	2000	Leased from TransAer International Airlines.
Airbus A340-200	3	1999	2001
Airbus A340-300	2	2000	2001
Boeing 737-200	1	1996	1996	Leased from Air Toulouse.
Boeing 737-500	3	1998	2000	Leased from LOT Polish Airlines.
Boeing 747-200B	1	1992	1993
Douglas DC-8-62CF	1	1992	1992
Douglas DC-8-73	1	1992	1992	Leased to Air Sweden.
Fokker 100	1	1996	1996	Leased from Transwede Airways.
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	15	1990	2001	One crashed as Cubana Flight 1216.
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	1	1994	1994	Leased from Meridiana.
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	14	1992	2001
McDonnell Douglas MD-87	1	1995	1996	Leased from Transwede Airways.

Accidents and incidents

On 21 December 1999, Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216, a Cubana de Aviación McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 (F-GTDI) on lease from AOM on an international non-scheduled passenger flight from Havana (José Martí International Airport) suffered a landing accident at Guatemala City (La Aurora Airport), Guatemala. The aircraft overran runway 19 and continued down a steep slope before coming to rest in a residential area. 8 of the 296 passengers and 8 of the 18 crew as well as 2 people on the ground were killed and the aircraft was written off.^[6] The Guatemalan Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil investigated the accident.^[7]^[8]

References

^ "World Airline Directory 1999." Flight International. 2000. 363.; "Nos coordonnées agences en "France Métropolitaine "." AOM French Airlines. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "SIEGE Bâtiment 363 B.P. 854 94 551 ORLY AEROGARE CEDEX"; "Résultat de votre recherche." Le Journal officiel électronique authentifié. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Siège social : compagnie Air Lib, bâtiment 363, zone centrale à l’aéroport d’Orly, 91550 Paray-Vieille-Poste."
^ "Home." AOM French Airlines. 6 May 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 25 Mars 2001 AOM change de nom et devient Air Liberté."
^ "Découvrir Air Liberté." Air Liberté. 23 February 2002. Retrieved on 15 May 2010. "Le 22 Septembre 2001, AOM et AIR LIBERTE ont donné naissance à une nouvelle compagnie aérienne qui porte désormais le nom AIR LIB."
^ ^a ^b ^c Flight Global News, 20 September 1995 [1]
^ "AOM French Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
^ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 F-GTDI Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport (GUA)". Archived from the original on 2005-03-07.
^ "INFORME FINAL ACCIDENTE AEROPUERTO LA AURORA, PISTA 19 CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA." (Archive) Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. Retrieved on 13 June 2011.
^ aviation-safety.net