Ocean Airlines has recently purchased a Beech 200 to complement its Beech 90, currently in operation in the French charter market.

Arnaud Fourquenin, co-pilot and technician, said: “The Beech was purchased recently, and marked

an addition to our fleet, rather than a replacement.

The main reason for choosing it was the reasonable price and immediate availability.” The

aircraft was formerly operated by Proteus Airlines.

Based at La Rochelle, between Nantes and Bordeaux, the company’s business is made up of a mixture of corporate, vip, leisure and cargo flights within Europe, with the occasional journey being made to North Africa.

There are also a certain number of fixed contracts, which provide a steady flow of business.

Range for the 200 is 1,477 nautical miles: “We have carried out a number of three and four hour flights since its introduction onto our AOC, for all kinds of customers.

“The aircraft’s business has been equally distributed between freight and passenger journeys, proving popular with our clients,” said Fourquenin. “There has been no change to the original configuration with this resale. It has a six-seat club layout which, in my opinion, is definitely the most comfortable version.”

Ocean has found the French charter market to be a great deal calmer recently. “I don’t know if business will pick up after the presidential elections,” said Fourquenin.

“All of the air taxi operators are surprised at the lack of flights they are making at the moment,” he added.

That said, he remains optimistic about the future: “We think business has definitely been affected by the introduction of the euro.

“The change of prices through the exchange rate enables companies to make easier comparisons between countries. However, we do believe that there will be an increase in business over the coming three months.”