Air Charter International

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Air Charter International

A Sud Aviation Caravelle 3 with which operations began in 1966
IATA ICAO Call sign SF ACF AIR CHARTER
Founded	7 February 1966
Ceased operations	24 October 1998
Hubs	Paris-Orly Airport
Fleet size	6
Parent company	Air France (80%) Air Inter (20%)
Headquarters	Paris, France

Air Charter International was a French charter airline which operated from 1966 to 1998.

The air carrier was established on 7 February 1966 as a subsidiary of Air France under the corporate name Societé Aérienne Française d'Affrètements (SAFA). Flight operations began on 25 July 1966 with two Sud Caravelles and two Lockheed Super Constellations made available by the parent company. These flew charter flights from Paris to the Mediterranean basin.

On 8 December 1969 the airline changed its trading name to Air Charter International (ACI). In 1971, ACI operated a fleet of seven Caravelles and carried about 420.000 passengers. The first two Boeing 727-200 were introduced in 1972. Transatlantic charter flights to the USA and Canada were offered from 1982 onwards with leased Boeing 747-200 aircraft operated by Air France.^[1] Six Super Caravelles were leased from EAS Europe Airlines until 1992.

In 1984, the airline's trading name was shortened to Air Charter. As the business grew, the first wide-body aircraft was introduced in 1988, the Airbus A300B4. Two Boeing 737-200 from EAS Europe Aéro Service on 1988. In November 1993 the airline started flying schedules on Air France behalf.^[2] By the mid-1990s, the 727s were replaced by the Airbus A320. After the merger of Air France and Air Inter in Spring 1997, Air Charter had he finished his mission and all services were discontinued on 24 October 1998.

Air Charter operated the following aircraft:^[3]

• On 26 June 1988, an Airbus A320-100 operated for Air France as Air France Flight 296Q crashed into a forest while performing a low pass over the Habsheim Air Show.

• G. Sedbon, "Air France aims at the charter market", Flight International weekly magazine, Surrey (U.K.), 29 September 1984

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