Airliner World — September 2017

92 AIRLINER WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017

basis between Dublin and London City,
to its hub in Paris/Charles de Gaulle.
In May 1999, the French flag carrier
took a 25% stake in return for a £2m
loan and subsequently assumed
complete control in February 2002.
Now marketed as ‘CityJet for Air
France’ it continued to focus on the
London City market and connecting
European cities to the Air France hub
in Paris, with a fleet of six BAe 146s
and two Saab 2000s.
On December 24, 2007 Air France-
KLM group purchased rival regional
carrier VLM. In order to improve cost
synergies, it decided to merge its
operations with CityJet. By June 1,
20 10 VLM’s fleet of seven Fokker 50s
had been repainted in CityJet colours.
However, the finances failed to
improve – in 2012 the airline made a
€209m loss.
In a bid to cut costs, Air France-
KLM put CityJet up for sale, with
German specialist airline investor Intro
Aviation acquiring the loss-making
carrier in May 2014. VLM, which
had retained its own AOC, was
later de-merged and sold in a
management buyout.
The new owners set to work
establishing CityJet as a competitive,
standalone regional airline, turning its
focus from poorly performing routes
towards building a more sustainable
network, focused on the needs of the
market.

Spreading its Wings
Free from the restraints of operating
under Air France, the airline began to
change its network and commercial
strategy. This included the launch
of new services from Cardiff and
Cambridge airports during 2014.

However, due to “shifting customer

demand” this operation was short

lived, with Cambridge flights ceasing

after just four months and Cardiff

flights ending on June 29, 2015.

Founder Pat Byrne rejoined the

airline board in February 2015 as

Executive Chairman and steered

the company during this period of

expansion and strategic development.

This included a complete rebranding,

unveiled in September 2015 to reflect

the company’s new independent spirit.

The following month the airline

signed the first of its new wet-lease

agreements with SAS Scandinavian

Airlines and as part of the deal,

purchased Finnish operator and SAS

subsidiary Blue1.

Describing how the Blue1 deal gave

The BAe 146 and

Avro RJ85 enabled the

carrier to operate from

London City, which

is now one of its

biggest hubs.

AVIATION IMAGE NETWORK/

BRAVONOVEMBER

Air France took a 25%

stake in CityJet in 1999

and assumed control

of the carrier in 2002.

AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/

DAVE STURGES

The Dublin-London City

route was operated

under a franchise

agreement with Virgin

until July 1997.

AVIATION IMAGE NETWORK/

SIMON GREGORY

CityJet is the official

airline of Irish rugby

team Leinster. To cel-

ebrate the partnership,

the carrier has painted

RJ85 EI-RJX (c/n E2372)

in this special livery.

AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/

MATTHIEU DOUHAIRE