What makes an airline special to aviation enthusiasts? Some unique route, some historic uninterrupted service or a special type of aircraft in operation. There are so many options that there is no simple answer to this question.
However, it is undeniable that there are two groups when it comes to airlines: the giants of the sector, which basically have their history intertwined with the development of global aviation, and those marginalized, considered mere props in the complete history of the segment.
One of these cases is certainly that of Aeromaritime, a small French company that could very well have entered the pool of forgotten ones, if it weren't for a peculiar milestone in its history: having been, during the 70s and 80s, one of the airline operators with one of the most peculiar fleets in the world, being one of the only ones to maintain regular flights of the peculiar Super Guppy.
For 15 years, Aéromaritime had a fleet of unique and charismatic turboprops, with the Guppy becoming a common sight in the skies of southern . These aircraft played a key role in the development of the European civil aviation industry, and their contribution, albeit minimal, was of paramount importance in the face of the commercial aviation boom of the 80s.
AÉROMARITIME AND THE CONNECTION WITH AIRBUS
The Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT), better known simply as Aéromaritime, was founded in 1949 as a mixed-capital company. The main shareholders were the state-owned Air (40%), the transport and services company Chargeurs Réunis (40%), and private shareholders (20%).
Although it was technically created to operate independently of Air , Aéromaritime was nothing more than a subsidiary of the French flag carrier, operating mainly on routes considered secondary. In particular, Aéromaritime was responsible for operating almost all flights between mainland and French colonies around the world.
In its early years, the company suffered greatly from a lack of resources and materials, which were almost all channeled through the parent company Air . To give you an idea, between 1949 and 50, UAT had only three former Liberator bombers in operation, hastily converted to enger transport.
One of the most important moments in the company's history occurred in its first months of operation. In response to an appeal from the French government for help during the Berlin Blockade crisis, UAT offered some of its Liberators, which transported supplies into the besieged city. In seven weeks of operations, Aéromaritime aircraft transported almost 7 tons of essential materials to the German capital.
Despite the company's expansive growth in routes, Air refused to provide the company with the necessary incentives. Such problems led UAT to break away from its parent company in the early 50s, and it obtained the company's first truly modern aircraft on its own: three DC-4s, formerly from Peruvian Air Lines. From then on, the company took off, progressively expanding until it had a fleet of six DC-4s and three DC-3s by the end of 1952.
In 1953, the company entered the jet age, giving Air a strong competition by purchasing three of the brand new DH 106 Comet 1As. Aéromaritime was the second airline in the world to use the jets, behind only the English BOAC – however, this was an operation that did not last long, with the Comets being withdrawn from service in 1955, after a series of accidents involving the aircraft.
Fast forward to 1960 and UAT was at the peak of its history. In addition to the acquisition of new aircraft (such as several Douglas DC-8s), Aéromaritime had undergone a complete rationalization of its operations, considerably improving the company's operating profit.
The major change was the abandonment of operations in French colonies and former colonies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (such as Vietnam and Tahiti), which were now managed by another former Air subsidiary, Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI).
Thus, in the early 60s, Aéromaritime's portfolio consisted solely of lucrative routes to Africa. According to the company's information, there were 110.000km of regular connections covering the French metropolitan area, as well as direct flights and stopovers in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, South Africa, Rhodesia, Congo, and a handful of other small African nations.
In 1963, amid strong pressure from Air towards French private companies, the UAT and TAI networks were unified under the aegis of the Union de Transports Aériens (UTA).
Although the merger seemed to spell the end of Aéromatime, this was not to be the case. The merger took longer than expected and, by the end of the 60s, all traces of the company had not disappeared, with some UTA aircraft still bearing the Aeromaritime name on their fuselages.
In 1970, Aéromaritime continued to be part of UTA and, at the end of 1973, the opportunity arose to revive the brand, through a somewhat unusual proposal.
Airbus, at the time a fledgling company in the aviation industry, was preparing to officially launch its first production model, the A300. Given the location chosen for the Airbus factory in Toulouse and the multinational nature of the project, with subcontractors spread across several Western European countries, it was imperative to transport materials quickly between these various sources in order to achieve the productivity expected by the consortium.
UTA, which still had several former Aéromaritime employees on its staff, had been promptly approached by Airbus to find a partner interested in transporting goods for the aircraft manufacturer. It seemed like an ideal business for the company's portfolio, which would sign a lucrative and exclusive contract with Airbus.
The choice of the European Airbus consortium fell on UTA for several reasons: the first was because it was a French company, which would operate mainly in and for a project that involved a large part of French resources – as it is worth ing that 47.9% of Airbus shares at the time were held by French investors.
Furthermore, many of the former Aéromaritime pilots had extensive experience in medium and long-haul flights, which was Airbus' main demand.
Thus, in 1974, UTA's newest subsidiary emerged: the consortium founded under the name Airbus Industrie – Aéromaritime, which would operate the necessary freight with the unique Aero Spacelines Super Guppy.
THE GUPPYS AND THEIR OPERATION BY AÉROMARITIME
Founded in 1960 in California, Aero Spacelines was the creator of the Guppy project. Conceived from a demand for an aircraft that could transport large sections of NASA rockets for the Gemini and Apollo projects, the first Guppy appeared in 1962, as a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser modified with a huge cargo hold that expanded above the fuselage.
After successful testing of the model, it was quickly requested by NASA, with Aero Spacelines being tasked with building other versions of the aircraft to meet the great demand of the American space project. It was not long before the Guppy gained the reputation of “the workhorse of the skies”, with the impressive performance of this aircraft catching the attention of aeronautical observers.
Still, with the exception of NASA orders, few customers were interested in buying Aero Spacelines' giants, and the company's finances slowly dwindled through the late 60s. Still, one last ace remained up the Van Nuys company's sleeve.
Launched in 1970, the Super Guppy Turbine, or simply SGT, was an expanded and improved version of the original Guppy. The model was a 'Frankenstein', combining parts of the Stratocruiser with others from various aircraft, such as Allison 501 engines from a C-130 and a nose landing gear from a Boeing 707.
Despite this, the end result was an impressive design, featuring a pressurized cabin and a significantly larger cargo hold than previous Guppies.
But not even this unexpected move by Aero Spacelines could save the company from bankruptcy. Only two Super Guppies were built, and these would be the aircraft that would later end up in the hands of Aéromaritime.
Well, high-density civilian cargo aircraft were rare in the 70s, and so Airbus didn't have many options when it began scouring the market for aircraft that could meet its special demand. It needed a large cargo hold that could accommodate large aircraft parts, and the A300 design, one of the world's first wide-body aircraft, was big on every count.
Thus, the Super Guppy offer appeared as a light for the Airbus project. At the time, the Super Guppies were under the ownership of Tracor Inc., which had purchased the bankrupt estate, with all the assets, of the defunct Aero Spacelines – among them, the company's designs and unsold aircraft.
Tracor Inc. was certainly relieved to receive the Airbus proposal, promptly selling the Super Guppies to the European consortium. Re-ed for the French system, with SGT N211AS becoming F-BTGV, and N212AS becoming F-BPPA, the Super Guppies were quickly put into operation by the Airbus – Aéromaritime company.
They were tasked with transporting sections of the Airbus A300 (and later A310) from a number of suppliers across Europe to the assembly line in Toulouse. Due to the scale of Airbus' operations, which gained momentum in the second half of the 70s, the aircraft regularly flew five days a week, mainly between Toulouse, Hamburg, Madrid, Seville, Bristol and Hawarden, where the main subcontractors for the type were based.
In 1977, with the success of the Airbus project already on solid ground, it was time to expand operations to accommodate the growing order book. This also involved improving the production input delivery service, which included Aéromaritime's Super Guppy cargo flights.
To this end, Airbus ordered two new Super Guppy Turbines from Tractor Inc., which were to be delivered as soon as possible. However, in order to meet Airbus's requirements, the American company had to find a way around it, so to speak.
The main problem was that there weren't many more Stratocruisers available to be cannibalized. While one of the new design's shells would be found in an aircraft scrapyard, the other SGT was built on the first Guppy manufactured in 1962.
Other engines also had to be reused from older aircraft due to compatibility and budget issues, such as parts from Caravalles and Constellations. Known as SGT-F, these two aircraft were delivered between 1982/83, forming part of the Aéromaritime fleet in the following years.
Despite the good partnership established between Airbus and UTA/Aeromaritime, this began to become quite unstable in the late 80s, with the European consortium completely taking over the operation of the SGT and SGT-F in 1989.
This move was due to the financial restrictions that the Union de Transports Aériens had been suffering from the French government, with exaggerated protectionism over Air 's operations. In view of a likely turbulent period for UTA, which would probably culminate in a merger with the French flag carrier, Airbus decided to terminate the contract, preserving the integrity of its operations with the Super Guppy.
Despite the split, the aircraft remained in operation with Airbus until 1997, when the last flight of a Super Guppy was operated. In almost two decades of operations by Airbus and Aéromaritime, the SGTs had a perfect record, without a single incident of note.
The saddest note in this story is the disappearance of Aéromaritime, which, after ending its contract with Airbus, was reabsorbed by UTA. And this one also had its days numbered, with the Union de Transports Aériens merging with Air in January 1990.
It was the end of one of the most peculiar and interesting companies in Europe, which was present at some of the most key moments in aviation in the 20th century.
Follow our channels:
