Air Metro: CAF's domestic airline

Code data

IATA: TM | ICAO: TRM | Callsign: AIR METRO

Air Metro's pre-merger fleet

Airbus A300 B2/B4
Airbus A320
Dassault Mercure*
Douglas DC-3/C-47
Fokker F27 Friendship
Nord 262*
Sud Aviation Caravelle
Vickers Viscount 700*

*not shown in image due to absence of templates

Transports Aériens Métropolitaines - Air Metro was the former domestic arm of CAF which operated from 1960 until 1997. As a semi-public enterprise, Air Metro was jointly owned by CAF, Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (the state railway company), and the French government with each holding a 33% stake; the remaining 1% would be held by other private investors. Most of its routes originated from Paris Orly Airport, where the airline also had its engineering base.

Air Metro was created to provide efficient domestic air transport at the lowest cost, and its financial backers included French public and private sector transport businesses in road, rail, and air transport as well as banks. It continuously grew to become Europe's largest domestic airline and for much of its lifetime it faced fierce competition against France's high-speed rail network, heavily marketing its emphasis on punctuality to attract business travellers to its routes. It also served as a forerunner of today's European low-cost carriers with lower fares than most competing rail lines, bare-bones inflight service, and no seat allocation on board.

For post-merger history: http://www.airline-e...merger-history/