One of the (real) legendary airlines from the early times of aviation was the French Aéropostale, that even had among its pilots Antoine de Saint-Éxupery, of "Little Prince" fame. Aéropostale is no more, but its legacy somehow still lives on with Europe Airpost.

Now in Irish hands, although still based in France, Europe Airpost is one of those airlines that might not ring a bell with the general public, yet, it has quite a significant player in its market segment. In Europe Airpost's case, the core business, as the name implies has traditionally been cargo and mail services, however, and this is the reason we are featuring it here today, it is expanding into the scheduled passenger services market.

Europe Airpost is not exactly a newcomer to the business of transporting passengers: it already flies 660,000 passengers per year and out of its fleet of 17 Boeing 737s only 5 are uniquely dedicated to cargo, while 9 are Boeing 737 QC aircraft that can be converted from cargo to passenger transport and another 3 are for passenger services exclusively. Most of Europe Airpost's passenger transport activity, however, is in the charter and VIP transport market. This business mix might change a bit if the company consolidates itself in the scheduled market.

The airline is starting the year by launching scheduled passenger flights between regional French airports, such as Brest, Brive and Rennes and seasonal destinations such as Grenoble and Porto. But what I find most interesting in Europe Airpost's plans is its move into the scheduled Transatlantic market with its Boeing 737-700s with a new regular route between Paris, Glasgow and Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the East Coast of Canada.

This new route is much in line with a trend we reported on a few days ago with new airlines venturing in the Transatlantic market with single-aisle aircraft and helping Halifax reclaim its historical role as the first port of call in the North American continent.