Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne (often shortened to Régional) was a subsidiary

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

wholly owned by

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

which connected hubs at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

to 49 airports in Europe. The airline operated in Air France livery, retaining its name in small titles and logo on the front fuselage and engines. It became the first European operator of the

Embraer E190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ...

aircraft in November 2006.

Airliner World ''Airliner World'' is an aviation magazine published by Key Publishing in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. In the United States, the magazine is distributed from the Key Publishing office in Avenel, New Jersey. The first edition of ''Airliner Wo ...

January 2007 It was headquartered in

Bouguenais Bouguenais (; Gallo: ''Bógonaè'' or ''Boug·naï'', ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France near Nantes. Bouguenais is home to the Nantes Atlantique Airport. Population Economy Régional, a regional airline, ...

at the

Nantes Atlantique Airport Nantes Atlantique Airport (, formerly known as ''Aéroport Château Bougon'') is an international airport serving Nantes, France. It is located southwest of the city, in Bouguenais. The airport is operated by the ''Chambre de commerce et d'i ...

.Contact
" Régional. Retrieved on 30 April 2010. The airline, along with

Brit Air Brit Air (), short for Brittany Air International, was a regional airline based at Morlaix – Ploujean Airport in Ploujean, Morlaix, Brittany, France, operating scheduled services as an Air France franchise from Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airpor ...

and

Airlinair Société Airlinair, simply known as Airlinair, was a French regional airline based in Rungis, France, operating scheduled regional flights (some of which were on behalf of Air France), and aircraft lease services. The airline has set up bases ...

, was fully merged in

HOP! Air France Hop, formerly branded HOP!, is a French regional airline operating flights on behalf of its parent company Air France. The airline was founded on 21 December 2012 after the merger of Airlinair, Brit Air and Régional brands. Its hea ...

since 2017 after a year of negotiation process.

History

On 30 March 2001,

Flandre Air Flandre Air was a French regional airline headquartered at Lille Airport in Lesquin, France, near Lille.His ...

Proteus Airlines Proteus Airlines was a French regional airline with its head offices in Saint-Apollinaire, Côte-d'Or, Saint-Apollinaire, Côte-d'Or, France, near Dijon, and in Saint-Étienne. Founded in 1986, it remained operational until its merger into Régio ...

, and

Regional Airlines A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

into Régional. Régional as of 2006 was upgrading and consolidating its fleet, considering to ally with a

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

partner as it increasingly turned its focus to its jet operations. The two remaining

Saab 2000 The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and able to cruise at a maximum speed of . Production took place in Linköping, Sweden. It ...

s were phased out in 2006 and the last of its nine Embraer EMB-120s followed in 2008, marking the exit of all of Régional's turboprop aircraft. From 31 March 2013, Régional services were operated under the

brand. Régional ceased all flight operations in March 2017 after its merger in

Fleet

The Régional fleet includes the following aircraft in March 2013, the average fleet age is 12.3 years. It became the first European operator of the

on 23 November 2006, when the first of six on order was delivered. The 100-seat aircraft would operate domestic and intra-European services in full

colours. Régional received its first Embraer E170 of 6 orders, which wears the new Régional logo, on September 2, 2008. The Embraer E190s are part of a new order over the Air France-KLM group with another 18 further options. All Fokkers have been transferred to

KLM Cityhopper KLM Cityhopper is the regional airline subsidiary of KLM, headquartered in Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands. It is based at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. As a subsidiary of Air France–KLM, it is an affiliate of SkyTeam. The airli ...

. The last propeller aircraft Embraer EMB-120 left the fleet on October 10, 2008, replaced by the ERJ-135.

Head office

The head office of the airline was located on the grounds of

, near

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. The head office was adjacent to the airport hotels. Nantes Atlantique Airport had the head office of

, the largest of the three companies that were merged into the new Régional.Air France fusionne trois de ses compagnies régionales
" '' Les Echos'' #18280. 16 November 2000. Page 30. Retrieved on 2 May 2010. "Nantes, où est basé Regional Airlines, la plus importante des trois compagnies, sera le siège de la nouvelle entité.""World Airline Directory." ''

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

''. 3–9 April 2001
66

Incidents and accidents

*On 25 January 2007,

Air France Flight 7775 An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

from Pau to

, operated by Régional, crashed shortly after take-off. All 54 passengers and crew escaped from the

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet that was produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 was based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay tur ...

although one person was killed on the ground. An investigation by the BEA revealed that the cause of the accident was ice on the wings of the aircraft involved.

History

Fleet

Head office

Incidents and accidents

References

External links