French corporate charter and sub-lease provider Blue Line is seeking clearance to serve the USA and is about to add two more Boeing MD-83s to its four-aircraft fleet.
In response to customer demand, Paris Charles de Gaulle-based Blue Line is planning to expand its operations into transatlantic flights. Blue Line vice-president for sales Pierre-Emmanuel Allard says: "Our business is concentrated on corporate charters. The main purpose of this US filing is that a lot of our customers have requested trips out of Europe into the USA on a private charter basis, meaning that we are keen to operate several flights per month.
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"We are getting our air operator's certificate extended to include the North American and South American continents."
He adds that Blue Line has secured US Department of Transportation clearance, but is still waiting on the go-ahead from US Customs and the Transportation Security Administration: "That is being undertaken. We expect we will have permission granted sometime in mid-June."
He adds: "We are also in the process of being filed as a European United Nations provider. That is being done at the same time."
The French carrier, which has no ambitions of expanding its model into scheduled services, operates two Boeing MD-83s and two Fokker 100s.
Allard says: "This week we will lease our third MD-83 and a fourth will arrive by the end of May."
The first of the Blue Line-owned Fokker 100s has 100 economy seats, while the second is equipped with a low density 52-seat cabin. Once the additional MD-83s arrive, Blue Line will have two examples with a classic 167-economy seat layout and two in a 60-seat premium configuration.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
