Julian Moxon/PARIS
Proteus Airlines is set to more than double the size of its Raytheon Beech 1900 fleet with a $50 million order for ten 20-seat 1900Ds. The airline has also taken options on a further ten aircraft.
The French regional carrier already has eight 1900s in service, including six 1900Cs and two 1900Ds, making it Europe's largest operator of the type. Deliveries of the new aircraft have begun, and will continue through to the third quarter of 1998. The airline operates the 1900s from its St-Etienne base to cities including Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse and Strasbourg.
Exercising the 1900 options will, says Proteus president Franklin Devreux, depend on the development of the carrier's franchise agreement with Air France and on its relationship with Delta Air Lines, which took a 34% stake in Proteus in November. "If our strategy corresponds to a need for more 20-seaters, we will take the extra aircraft," he says.
Proteus is the launch customer for the new Fairchild Dornier 328JET, which it plans to put into service in early 1999. Devreux says that he is "still looking closely" at the planned 45- and 70-seat derivatives of the 328JET, "-but we'll have to see how things develop". The airline saw its business triple in 1997, with 220,000 passengers carried on its own routes and a further unspecified number under the Air France franchise, to which it now dedicates three aircraft.
Devreux says that the deal with Delta is unconnected directly with the proposed Air France/Delta tie-up. "It is part of our strategy of forging alliances with foreign airlines", he says. Operational planning with Delta will begin this month and take around 18 months, he adds. "At present, our role is to provide feeder services to our partners using 20 to 30-seat aircraft, but if the volume of business grows we'll look at other arrangements, including codesharing, and purchasing larger aircraft".
Source: Flight International
