Air France subsidiary Hop! is embarking on a restructuring plan which would entail, among other changes, reducing its reliance on leased capacity from other airlines. This move would reduce its use of BAe 146s and Avro RJs, among others. At present, aircraft operating for Hop! on ACMI leases include Jota Aviation‘s RJ100 G-JOTS on the Lyon-Pau route; Cello Aviation‘s Avro G-ILLR (msn E3379) on routes from Strasbourg; and WDL Aviation‘s 146-200 D-AWUE on a variety of routes. CityJet has also operated RJ85s for Hop! in the past, but it isn’t doing so at present (although it is operating for Air France itself). Hop! is planning to reduce the number of leased aircraft by one in November, and to phase out wet-leasing entirely by 2021. The airline is struggling to deal with competition with low-cost airlines, which have expanding their services in France, and with a shortage of pilots, having lost several to its parent airline. Its restructuring plan also include the withdrawal of its ATRs. The airline will retain its own identity, but will begin operating under AF flight codes rather than its own A5 code.
Recent news items on Hop!:
- CityJet contracts with Air France and Lufthansa end (2019-10-31)
- WDL’s EasyJet and Hop! contracts come to an end (2018-11-05)
- WDL ends flying for SAS (2018-09-30)
- Cello RJ100 resumes flying for Hop! (2018-09-05)
- Cello no longer flying in France (2018-08-21)
Recent news items on Jota Aviation:
- Jota flies for Aigle Azur (2019-08-23)
- Jota flies charter to Baku (2019-06-01)
- Jota launches cadet program (2019-02-15)
- Double charter for Jota BAe 146QTs (2018-12-15)
- Second Jota 146 freighter enters service (2018-11-25)
Recent news items on Cello Aviation:
- Cello ceases operations (2018-10-14)
- Cello RJ100 resumes flying for Hop! (2018-09-05)
- Cello no longer flying in France (2018-08-21)
- WDL Aviation buys Cello BAe 146 (2018-04-05)
- Cello Avro RJ100 flying for Hop! and Air France (2018-02-19)
Recent news items on WDL Aviation:
- WDL starts new Air France contract (2019-12-04)
- Second WDL BAe 146-200 ferried to Australia (2019-11-25)
- Pionair buys BAe 146s from WDL (2019-11-12)
- WDL flies Adria’s last services (2019-09-30)
- WDL BAe 146QTs sold to Pionair (2019-09-29)
Recent news items on CityJet:
- CityJet Avro RJ85 operates annual Christmas flight (2019-12-12)
- CityJet Avro RJ85 flies for Brussels Airlines (2019-12-10)
- CityJet contracts with Air France and Lufthansa end (2019-10-31)
- CityJet joint venture with Air Nostrum approved (2019-07-27)
- An Avro RJ85 once again flies for Lufthansa (2019-07-21)