Air Atlantique was an airline based at Coventry Airport operating a number of classic aircraft, both for passenger operation and for cargo transportation. They operated a large fleet of Douglas DC-3 aircraft alongside several Douglas DC-6 and Lockheed Electra aircraft.
Originally an air taxi operator, the group diversified into chartered and scheduled passenger and freight operations, as well as oil-spill response, aerial survey, and pleasure flights through various subsidiaries. The group was broken up as founder Mike Collett approached retirement with the freight arm becoming Atlantic Airlines and the aerial survey work continuing as RVL Aviation.
Many of the remaining classic aircraft were donated to Classic Flight (Classic Air Force) for display at air shows.
History
The Air Atlantique Group was founded in 1969 under the name of General Aviation Services, based in Jersey, Channel Islands. Initially operating as an aircraft sales and distribution business, the company received an Air Operator's Certificate in 1971 and began air taxi operations with Cessna 310 and Cessna 336 aircraft.
The Air Atlantique name was adopted in June 1977 when freight charter flights were launched with Douglas DC-3 aircraft. It was thought the name would both appeal to the French-speaking population of Jersey and appear near the top alphabetically in the Yellow Pages. Freight charter operations commenced on 19 July 1977 with the first flight transporting lobsters from Jersey to Morlaix.
From October 1977, the company stationed a Dakota at Coventry airport to operate a contract transporting car components to Cologne for Ford. The second aircraft was based at Aberdeen operating oil charters. In May 1979, two Douglas DC-6B aircraft were purchased from Greenlandair; however they proved uneconomical to operate due to the oil crisis and were disposed of soon after. The company ventured in to DC-6 operations again in 1987 when two other DC-6s joined the fleet
Between 1981 and 1982 the company purchased additional DC-3s and was awarded a lucrative postal contract on behalf of Royal Mail. A three year aerial survey contract was also awarded to Air Atlantique by the Ordnance Survey which led to the establishment of the Atlantic Surveys subsidiary. An engineering base was set up in the former British United Airways hangar at Blackpool airport which became the main UK operating base. Three Dakotas stationed at Blackpool operated newspaper flights to Belfast and the Isle of Man, with other aircraft operating nightly mail flights on the Glasgow-East Midlands-Luton and Newcastle-Liverpool runs.
In 1984, the company relocated all cargo operations to Stansted Airport under the subsidiary Atlantic Air Transport. At the same time, an association was formed with Instone Air Line. Instone imported two Bristol Freighters from New Zealand in 1981 to operate freight services; having sold one in 1984 it transferred the second to the Air Atlantique AOC. Air Atlantique operated the aircraft on behalf of Instone until 1987 when it was sold.
In 1985, delays caused by weather and engine problems forced Air Atlantique to sell the Royal Mail contract along with three Dakotas to Air Luton. The Group moved its base for a final time to Coventry in December 1985.
A new livery was introduced in November 1986, featuring a grey and white fuselage with a green stripe. The tail logo of an osprey was not added until 1987 following a competition open to both staff and customers.
Air Atlantique was awarded a five year maritime pollution control contract by the UK Department of Transport in 1987. The original terms of the contract required seven spray-equipped DC-3s to be kept on standby although this was later revised down to two. Nevertheless, this contract required a significant expansion of the fleet. The first call-out for Air Atlantique was the Piper Alpha disaster on 6 July 1988.
Between then and the late 1990s, it expanded its operations to create pilot training facilities, aircraft engineering shops, survey and aerial reconnaissance work and other aviation-related activities. In 1987 it formed Atlantic Flight Training with the acquisition of two Cessna 310 aircraft and the later addition of seven Cessna 152 aircraft for flight training.
The Atlantic Reconnaissance subsidiary was formed in 1988 to look after the pollution control work alongside other airborne remote sensing, survey, and patrol contracts. In 1994 it was awarded a contract with US-based Marine Oil Spill Response Corporation to operate a Shorts 360 aircraft in a surveillance role. The company was subject to a management buyout in 2007 and moved to a new East Midlands Airport base as RVL Aviation in 2010.