New Caledonia's Air Alizé faces Tahiti flight hurdles

US's Endeavor Air ends CRJ200 operations

Endeavor Air (9E, Minneapolis/St. Paul) has retired the last of its 50-seater CRJ200LRs with a final revenue flight, DL5278 from Brunswick to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, marking the end of an era for the wholly-owned Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) capacity provider.

"This aircraft truly transformed the regional industry," commented Endeavor Air Chief Executive Officer Jim Graham. "The CRJ-200s started operating Part 121 flights back in 1996, while this particular aircraft first came to us in 2004."

Following the final revenue flight under the Delta Connection brand, the 19-year-old N8918B (msn 7918) made a retirement tour from Atlanta to Endeavor Air's bases at Detroit Metropolitan and Minneapolis/St. Paul before it was ferried to Kingman on May 4 for storage.

Endeavor Air has been phasing out the 50-seater CRJ200 in line with a decision by parent Delta Air Lines in 2020 to retire the 125 CRJ200s flying as Delta Connection by the end of 2023, citing the absence of a higher-yield first-class cabin as one...

Sint Maarten's Winair to debut ATR42 ops in early 3Q23

Chalair Aviation to take over Castres route from Air France

Chalair Aviation (CE, Caen) is set to assume the Castres-Paris Orly route from Air France (AF, Paris CDG), ensuring the continuity of the southern French airport's only scheduled passenger service.

The regional carrier will launch the 11x weekly route on June 1, the day after Air France exits. The news comes as a relief to the regional authorities, who had fought to secure a replacement carrier for months. Chalair will operate the service using an ATR42-500 under a four-year contract with the regional authorities and businesses.

Air France currently deploys an E145 operated by Amelia International (NL, Ljubljana) to Castres.

As previously reported, Chalair Aviation will also take over the subsidised Aurillac-Orly route from Air France on June 1, 2023, where it will also become the sole scheduled operator. The airline is also the only one providing scheduled connectivity to Quimper.

Chalair Aviation operates a fleet of six Beech 1900Ds, three ATR42-500s and one ATR72-500, the ch-aviation fleets...

Nigeria's ValueJet secures first CRJ200 freighter

ValueJet (VK, Lagos) has secured the first of three CRJ200 converted freighters withCRJ200ER(PF) 5N-CBZ (msn 7452) having been ferried from the United States on May 21, 2023, in the Nigerian carrier's colours.

Ex-N114WF of Elite Airways (7Q, Portland International Jetport) had been stored in Tucson International since May 2022 and left on May 20, 2023 for Bangor, US, and was well en route to Reykjavik Keflavik in Iceland on May 21 when it diverted to St. John's in Canada, ADS-B data revealed.

The Nigerian carrier was not immediately available for comment.

The airline in January announced it was setting its sights on the domestic cargo industry and expected delivery of three CRJ200 converted freighters in the third quarter of 2023, claiming it would be the first such cargo operation in West Africa.

ValueJet started passenger operations from Lagos in October last year. It currently operates three CRJ900s, of which it owns two and leases one CRJ900LR from Regional One,...