Brit Air
| Company type | Regional airline (defunct) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Defunct | 2017 |
| Fate | Merged into HOP! |
| Headquarters | Morlaix , France |
Area served | Europe |
| Parent | Air France (franchise) |
Brit Air (), an abbreviation for Brittany Air International, was a regional carrier headquartered at Morlaix – Ploujean Airport in Morlaix, Brittany, France. It provided scheduled flights under an Air France franchise agreement from the bases at Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, Paris-Orly Airport, and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Following extensive negotiations over a year, the airline combined operations with Régional and Airlinair to establish HOP! in 2017.
History
Starting 31 March 2013, all flights operated by Brit Air were rebranded under the HOP! name, representing Air France's regional division. Brit Air discontinued its independent flight services in March 2017 as part of its integration into HOP!.
Destinations
By March 2013, Brit Air served a variety of European cities, using hubs located at Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Orly Airport within France. Its primary routes connected important urban centers such as Zagreb, Prague, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Florence, Rome, and Barcelona. The airline concentrated on linking French regions with key European commercial hubs.
Fleet
As of August 2019, Brit Air maintained a fleet consisting of 36 aircraft, with an average operational age of 10.6 years:
| Aircraft | In service | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Bombardier CRJ700 | 8 | 70 |
| Bombardier CRJ1000 | 14 | 100 |
| Total | 36 |
Fleet development
Over time, Brit Air operated various regional aircraft types aligned with its strategic needs, including ATR 42 and ATR 72 turboprops, multiple Bombardier CRJ variants, and Fokker jets. Significant fleet changes involved phasing out ATR models by 2005 and retiring Fokker 100 aircraft by 2011, marking a transition toward a more modernized Bombardier regional jet lineup.
| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired |
|---|---|---|
| ATR 42 | 1986 | 2005 |
| ATR 72 | 1991 | 2003 |
| Bombardier CRJ100 | 1995 | |
| Bombardier CRJ700 | 2001 | |
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Bombardier CRJ1000 | 2010 | |
| Fokker 100 | 1999 | 2011 |
Incidents and accidents
On 22 June 2003, Air France Flight 5672, flown by a Brit Air-operated CRJ100 from Nantes to Brest, crashed approximately 2.3 miles short of the runway at Brest Bretagne Airport around 23:55 local time. The accident resulted in the captain's fatality. After all 21 passengers evacuated safely, the aircraft (registration F-GRJS) caught fire and was destroyed beyond repair. The investigation attributed the cause primarily to pilot error during the instrument approach phase.