Royale Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
OQ RAY Royale Air
Commenced operations1968
Ceased operations1989
Operating basesShreveport Regional Airport
HubsHouston Intercontinental Airport & Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
AllianceContinental Airlines
Fleet sizeSee Fleet below
DestinationsSee Destinations below
HeadquartersShreveport, Louisiana, United States

Royale Airlines was a regional airline with headquarters on the grounds of Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV) in Shreveport, Louisiana.[1]

Operations

Royale operated scheduled passenger flights in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Florida from 1962 to 1989.[2] It primarily operated turboprop aircraft such as the Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante, Beechcraft Model 99, Short 330 and Grumman Gulfstream G-I with the latter being a regional airliner version of Grumman's successful propjet business aircraft. Royale also flew two Douglas DC-9-14 jetliners on services from Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) primarily to Brownsville, Texas (BRO) on behalf of Continental Airlines. For a short period between 1985 and 1986 Royale operated de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft acquired from Metro Airlines which had moved its operations to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas and also to Atlanta, Georgia. These Twin Otter STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) turboprop aircraft were primarily utilized to shuttle passengers between the Clear Lake City STOLport, which was located near the NASA Johnson Space Center, and Houston Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush Intercontinental Airport).

Royale also operated as a Continental Express air carrier via a code sharing agreement with Continental Airlines and provided passenger feed at Continental's Houston hub (IAH) during the final years of operation prior to its bankruptcy Chapter 11 filing on September 9, 1987.[3]

Destinations

Royale Airlines served the following destinations at various times during its existence:[4][5]

  • Alexandria, Louisiana
  • Austin, Texas
  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas
  • Brownsville, Texas
  • Clear Lake City, Texas
  • College Station, Texas
  • Dallas, Texas (Love Field)
  • Greenwood, Mississippi
  • Fort Polk, Louisiana
  • Houma, Louisiana
  • Houston, Texas (Intercontinental Airport) - Hub
  • Jackson, Mississippi
  • Lafayette, Louisiana
  • Lake Charles, Louisiana
  • Lake Jackson, Texas
  • Laredo, Texas
  • Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi
  • Memphis, Tennessee
  • Morgan City/Patterson, Louisiana
  • Monroe, Louisiana
  • Natchez, Mississippi
  • New Orleans, Louisiana - Hub
  • Oxford/University, Mississippi
  • Pensacola, Florida
  • San Antonio, Texas
  • Shreveport, Louisiana - Home base
  • Victoria, Texas

Fleet

Remains of a Royale Airlines Grumman G-159 Gulfstream I fuselage stored at Rantoul, Kansas

Cessation of Operations

The airline encountered financial difficulties and then ceased operations during the late 1980s when its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of 1987 was changed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 1989.[7][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Staff writer; no by-line (1986). "World Airline Directory". Flight International. p. 120. Retrieved June 11, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Airline History, Inactive Airlines". AirlineHistory. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  3. 1 2 In re Royale Airlines, No. 95-31137, Nov. 4, 1996 (5th Cir.)
  4. ↑ "Collector's Guide to Airline Timetables: Royale Airlines". Air Times. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Royale Airlines route maps
  6. ↑ "Abstract, History 4238 Strategic Wing Jul 1961". Air Force History Index. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Royale Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
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