Air Bleu
Encyclopedia
Air Bleu was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 airline company between 1935 and 1940 that specialised in the delivery of mail within France.

Air Bleu started operations on the 10 July 1935 with Caudron Simoun
Caudron Simoun
|-See also:* Antoine de Saint Exupéry's desert crash-External links:*...

 aircraft operating four different airmail routes across France, the aircraft would leave Le Bourget in the morning and return later in the afternoon.

In August 1936 services were stopped and the aircraft grounded due to financial problems, mainly due to a new surcharge on the cost of letters reducing the volume of mail. In June 1937 the company was reformed with the French state owning 52% and Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...

 24% of the new company.

In September 1939 the airline was requisitioned for military duties and operated a mail service between Paris and London. In June 1940 the fleet was reduced to just the Caudron Goélands and by September 1940 the fleet was transfered to Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...

 and the company was disolved.

Fleet

  • 12 x Caudron Simoun
    Caudron Simoun
    |-See also:* Antoine de Saint Exupéry's desert crash-External links:*...

  • 5 x Caudron Goéland
  • 2 x Potez 630
    Potez 630
    The Potez 630 and its derivatives were a family of twin-engined aircraft developed for the Armée de l'Air in the late 1930s. The design was a contemporary of the British Bristol Blenheim and the German Messerschmitt Bf 110.-Design and development :...

    (fighter aircraft converted into mail carriers)
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