France's Regional Airlines, based in Nantes, has recorded a 43% increase in passenger traffic for the first half of this year, along with a 46% growth in turnover.
Passengers numbers for the period stood at 293,000, against 408,000 for the whole of 1996, while turnover, standing at Fr412.4 million ($68.6 million), is approaching the Fr578 million figure for the previous year - itself up by 28% on 1995.
The figures reflect the overall improvement in French regional-airline performance since the liberalisation of European air transport.
Airline president Jean-Paul Dubreuil attributes the improved performance to the development of the new hub operation at Clermont-Ferrand, in the centre of France, and to the incorporation of turboprop routes taken over from British Airways' German subsidiary Deutsche BA.
Links with KLM of the Netherlands are also being pursued, according to the airline.
Source: Flight International
