Private company

Régional

Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne, commonly known as Régional, was an airline wholly owned by Air France which linked Paris and Lyon hubs to 49 airports in Europe.1

Last updated Oct 18, 2026.

Overview

2001Founded1

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Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne, commonly known as Régional, was an airline wholly owned by Air France which linked Paris and Lyon hubs to 49 airports in Europe. It was headquartered at Nantes Atlantique Airport in Loire-Atlantique administrative department.2

How it started

History

The airline had been formed as Regional Airlines on 1 January 1992 by the merger of Air Exel, Air Vendée and Avions Taxis Pyrénéens regional airlines and scheduled operations operated by Air Aquitaine Transport aviation company.

On 30 March 2001 Regional Airlines, Flandre Air, and Proteus Airlines merged their operations. In September of that same year, Regional Airlines changed its corporate name to Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne and the Régional marketing and trading name was adopted.

During 2006, the airline was upgrading and consolidating its fleet, considering allying with a partner with turboprop aircraft only as it increasingly turned its attention to operations with jetliners. The two remaining Saab 2000s were phased out in 2006, and the last of its nine Embraer EMB-120s followed in 2008. It became the first European operator of the Embraer E190 aircraft in November 2006.

On 31 March 2013, all operations were rebranded HOP!, an Air France-linked trademark. In March 2017, after a year of negotiations with Brit Air and Airlinair, HOP! became a fully registered air carrier, always working in close connection with Air France.

From Wikipedia’s article on Régional, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Timeline

  1. 2017Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 2001Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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