Blue Line was a short-lived French charter operator that existed between 2002 and 2010. Headquartered just outside of Paris, with an operating base at the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), the carrier flew some rather exclusive passengers over the years. Let’s take a look at the aircraft it used for these flights.
A pair of widebodies
According to data from ATDB.aero, Blue Line operated a total of 14 aircraft during its eight-year history. Of these, two were widebody aircraft, with both namely being examples of the twin-engine Airbus A310. The first (and longest-serving) of these joined the carrier in September 2004. It bore the French registration F-HBOY.
Built in April 1992, it had previously served the likes of Delta Air Lines, Air Jamaica, Air Maldives, and Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Pictured below, one of its final duties saw it fly the Japanese national football team to their training base at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It was scrapped in Bordeaux just six months later.
Blue Lines’s relationship with its second A310 (F-HBOS) was a much shorter affair, lasting just three months from July to October in 2010. This twinjet had also begun its career at Delta, and served several of the same airlines as F-HBOY along the way. After leaving Blue Line, it joined Bangladeshi carrier United Airways in December 2011. After 4.5 years there, it entered storage in Karachi in May 2015.
Single-aisle Boeing designs
When it came to aircraft designs with two examples in the fleet, Blue Line also operated a pair of Boeing 757-200s. It leased these narrowbody twinjets from Icelandic flag carrier Icelandair, with the first coming onboard in May 2005.
This aircraft served Blue Line for five months, eventually returning to Icelandair in October 2005. During this time, it retained an Icelandic registration, namely TF-FIW. This was also the case for TF-FII, which flew for Blue Line in September and October of 2006. This lease was so short that it retained its Icelandair livery.
Both of these aircraft were built in 1990, and thus are now some 32 years old. As such, it is unsurprising to read that, according to data from ch-aviation.com, both are now in storage. While TF-FIW went straight into storage after leaving Icelandair, TF-FIS first spent time at Cabo Verde Airlines after departing from the carrier.
In terms of Boeing-built narrowbody twinjets, Blue Line also flew a single example of the 737-400 model. Registered as TF-LED and leased from Islandsflug from March to October in 2005, this 1989-built aircraft served an incredible variety of airlines over the years. It is now in storage, having last flown for Jordan Aviation.
Rear-engined twinjets
More than half of Blue Line’s fleet over the years consisted of rear-engined aircraft, with nine twinjets falling under this category. Seven were examples of the McDonell Douglas MD-83, with one, as seen in the photograph at the top of the article, having been used by the band U2 in 2009 and 2010. Another example was part of a promotional campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, Blue Line’s remaining two aircraft were examples of the Dutch Fokker F28 ‘Fellowship’ jet. These 1991-built aircraft played an important role in the French charter operator’s earlier years, coming onboard in May 2002 (F-GNLH) and February 2003 (F-GNLG). Both were scrapped at Norwich Airport (NWI) in 2012.
Sources: ATDB.aero, ch-aviation.com
Source: simpleflying.com
