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 module highlights.