Corsair International

Corsair International
IATA ICAO Callsign
SS CRL CORSAIR
Founded17 May 1981; 42 years ago (1981-05-17) (as Corse Air International)
Operating basesParis–Orly
Frequent-flyer programClub Corsair
Fleet size9
Destinations14
Parent companyConsortium of West Indian Investors
HeadquartersRungis, France
Key peoplePascal de Izaguirre
RevenueIncrease €470,582,300 (2018)[1]
Websitewww.flycorsair.com

Corsair International, legally Corsair S.A. and previously Corsairfly and Corse Air International, is a French airline headquartered in Rungis[2][3] and based at Orly Airport.[4] It is a subsidiary of German investor Intro Aviation (53%) and TUI Group (27%). It operates scheduled long-haul services to leisure destinations in the French overseas territories, Africa and North America, as well as charter flights to other destinations.[5]

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

A former Corse Air Sud Aviation Caravelle at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in 1986
A former Corsair Boeing 747-300 landing at Princess Juliana International Airport in 2007
A former Boeing 747-400 wearing the old Corsairfly livery on approach to Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2008

The airline was established in 1981 and started operations on 17 May 1981 as Corse Air International. It was founded by the Corsican Rossi family. In 1990 it was acquired by Nouvelles Frontières, a French tour operator, and the name was changed to Corsair. In 1991, the airline obtained worldwide traffic rights. In 2000, the TUI Group, one of the world's leading tour-operator groups, took over Nouvelles Frontières.

In 2004, Corsair aircraft were repainted with the colours of TUI, a blue fuselage with the TUI-logo, like its sister airlines. At the end of 2005, the TUI Group decided to rename all its affiliated airlines TUIfly. As an interim step Corsair aircraft were repainted with Corsairfly markings, although all airlines in the group were expected to have adopted the common TUIfly brand by 2008.[4]

The airline held the record for most seats on a passenger aircraft, with 587 seats on its Boeing 747-400s,[6] until they received a new interior which led to a new lower capacity of 533 passengers.

In 2008, the airline announced its intention to expand its medium-haul network to the Mediterranean and its long-haul network to Canada and the United States (where it regularly flew in the 1990s), including the establishment of codeshare agreements with Air Canada.[7] The first destination in this expansion was Miami in June 2010, but the rest of the plan was later abandoned due to a change in the airline's strategy.

Development since 2010[edit]

In May 2010 Corsairfly announced its "Takeoff 2012" modernisation plan, including a reduction of workforce by 25%, the replacement of three Boeing 747-400 aircraft by two Airbus A330-300 aircraft from TUI Group, the refurbishment of all aircraft cabins, leaving the charter flights market, and the termination of routes to Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Québec City, Moncton and Israel.[8][9][10]

In March 2012 the airline announced it would change its name to Corsair International and unveiled a new corporate image corresponding to planned operational changes.[citation needed]

In 2015 Corsair's owner, German tourism company TUI Group, tried to sell the loss-making airline. After take-over negotiations with Air Caraïbes, the potential buyer walked away after advanced talks due to ongoing opposition from Corsair's staff unions regarding the proposed future developments and cost reductions.[11] Also in 2015, TUI Group announced that all TUI companies and airlines except Corsair were to use the TUI name.[12]

In late 2018 it was reported that the TUI Group had restarted talks to sell the loss-making airline. It was expected to be sold by the end of the year to German investment corporation Intro, which had owned several other airlines in the past.[13] In May 2018, a Corsair shareholder announced that Corsair International would retire its three remaining Boeing 747-400s by September 2021 as part of fleet renewal and replacement plans.[14] In March 2019, Corsair officially announced that it would lease three Airbus A330-900s to replace its three Boeing 747-400s.[15]

In March 2019 TUI announced that it had agreed to sell 53% of Corsair to a German airline investor, Intro Aviation, for an undisclosed sum. TUI would retain 27% of the airline, while employees would hold the remaining 20%.[16] In October 2019, Corsair ended its codeshare agreement with Air Caraïbes.[17][18]

The company announced on 19 April 2020 that it would immediately retire its three Boeing 747-400s because of the COVID-19 crisis and grounding.[19] The then mixed fleet would have been transitioned to an all-A330 fleet, expected to comprise 13 aircraft by 2023.[20] On 17 August 2021, Corsair and Air Austral announced the formation of a joint venture between the two companies.[21]

On 13 March 2024, Corsair received its first of four additional Airbus A330-900s as part of transitioning to a fleet composed entirely of A330-900s, thus retiring its remaining A330-300 aircraft by the end of the year.[22]

Destinations[edit]

Corsair International operates to destinations in Africa, North America, and other French overseas territories from its base at Paris Orly Airport.

Airline partnerships[edit]

Corsair International has an interlining agreement with Air Antilles. The airline also partners with easyJet through its Worldwide by easyJet program,[23] and additionally has codeshare agreements with the SNCF, the French national railway operator.[24]

Fleet[edit]

A Corsair Airbus A330-300 taxiing at Orly Airport in 2018

Current fleet[edit]

As of March 2024, Corsair International operates an all-Airbus A330 fleet:[25][26]

Corsair International fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
J C Y+ Y Total
Airbus A330-300 3 — 18 12 36 232 298 To be replaced by Airbus A330-900.[22]
12 12 78 250 352
Airbus A330-900 6 3 20 21 33 278 352[27] Deliveries through 2024.[22]
Total 9 3

Former fleet[edit]

A former Corsair Airbus A330-200 taking off at Orly Airport in 2012

While the company started in business as an operator of short- and medium range aircraft such as the Sud Aviation Caravelle and various versions of the Boeing 737, beginning in the 1990s, it progressively shifted its operations to long-range only. As a long-range airline, Corsair has operated the following jet aircraft types:[28]

Corsair International former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A300B4 1 1995 1995 Leased from Premiair
Airbus A310-300 1 2004 2005 Leased from Islandsflug
Airbus A330-200 3 1999 2022
Airbus A340-300 1 2017 2017 Leased from Hi Fly Malta
2018 2018
Beechcraft King Air 1 1988 1994
Boeing 737-200 2 1995 2000
Boeing 737-300 3 1987 2004
Boeing 737-400 3 1992 2006
Boeing 747-100 5 1991 1998
Boeing 747-200B 1 1988 1989 Leased from Iberia
5 1992 2005
Boeing 747-300 6 1997 2007
Boeing 747-400 6 2005 2020
Boeing 747SP 1 1996 2002 Preserved at Châteauroux since September 2002
Boeing 767-300ER 1 2003 2003 Leased from Britannia Airways
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 2 1996 1997 Leased from ChallengAir
Sud Aviation Caravelle 5 1981 1987

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "CORSAIR Company website consulted on 10/19/20".
  2. ^ "Historique de Corsairfly Archived 2009-08-05 at the Wayback Machine." Corsairfly. Retrieved on 2 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Nos métiers Archived 2009-08-30 at the Wayback Machine." Corsairfly. Retrieved on 23 September 2009. "CORSAIRFLY – DRH 2 avenue Charles Lindbergh 94636 RUNGIS Cedex "
  4. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 69.
  5. ^ "Contenu de la balise "Title"". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Corsair.fr". Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Corsair : Etats-Unis, Québec et Israël en ligne de mire". Archived from the original on April 14, 2008.
  8. ^ "Corsairfly: plan de 380 départs volontaires sur deux ans". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Corsair.fr". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Corsair restructuring decision expected this week". Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  11. ^ "Gespräche in letzter Minute gescheitert: Tui wird Corsair doch nicht los" [Discussions failed at the last minute: TUI can't get rid of Corsair]. aeroTELEGRAPH. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Arke Fly kicks off TUI Group rebranding exercise". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  13. ^ "Tui verkauft französische Corsair an Intro" [TUI sells French Corsair to Intro]. airliners.de. 18 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Corsair International - Book Flights and Save". www.alternativeairlines.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  15. ^ Clark, Oliver (19 March 2019). "Corsair to lease A330neos and go all-Airbus under new owner Intro". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  16. ^ Clark, Oliver (18 March 2019). "TUI confirms sale of majority stake in Corsair to Intro". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Partenariat aérien" [Airline partnership]. Air Caraïbes (in French). Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  18. ^ Fabi, Serge (27 July 2019). "Air Caraïbes et Corsair arrêtent leur partage de codes sur les Antilles" [Air Caraïbes and Corsair end their codesharing to the Antilles] (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  19. ^ "End of an Era: Corsair Retires Its Final Boeing 747". 21 April 2020.
  20. ^ Clark, Oliver (19 March 2019). "Corsair to lease A330neos and go all-Airbus under new owner Intro".
  21. ^ Duclos, François (17 August 2021). "Un projet d'alliance entre Air Austral et Corsair" [An alliance project between Air Austral and Corsair]. Air Journal (in French).
  22. ^ a b c "AerCap Delivers First of Four New Airbus A330neo Aircraft to Corsair". AerCap (Press release). PRNewsWire. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  23. ^ Orban, André (30 September 2017). "easyJet adds four new partner airlines (Neos, Aurigny, La Compagnie, Corsair) to 'Worldwide by easyJet' distribution service". Aviation24.be. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Train + Air service". Corsair. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  25. ^ "Fleet". Corsair. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Corsair Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  27. ^ Bodell, Luke (31 March 2021). "Corsair Takes Delivery Of Its First Airbus A330neo". Simple Flying.
  28. ^ https://www.airliners.net, photos of Corsair aircraft

External links[edit]

Media related to Corsair International at Wikimedia Commons

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