Union de Transports Aériens

{{Short description|Defunct private airline of France (1963–1992)}}

{{about|the defunct French airline|the Guinean airline|Union des Transports Africains de Guinée|the Russian airline which now uses UTA's former IATA code|Utair}}

{{Infobox airline

| airline = Union de Transports Aériens(UTA)

| logo = Union des Transports Aériens.svg

| logo_size = 200px

| IATA = UT

| ICAO = UTA

| callsign = UTA

| founded = {{start date|1963|10|01|df=yes}}
{{small|(amalgamation)}}

| ceased = {{end date|1992|12|18|df=yes}}
{{small|(merged into Air France)}}

| hubs = {{ubl|class=nowrap

| Paris–Charles de Gaulle {{small|(1974–1992)}}

| Paris–Le Bourget {{small|(1963–1974)}}}}

| fleet_size =

| destinations =

| frequent_flyer = Fréquence Plus

| parent = {{ubl|class=nowrap

| Chargeurs {{small|(1963–1990)}}

| Air France {{small|(1990–1992)}}}}

| company_slogan =

| headquarters = 8th arrondissement, Paris, France

| key_people = {{ubl|class=nowrap

| Antoine Veil

| Georges Fayet

| Francis Fabre

| René Lapautre

| Edmond Braure

| Pierre Chagniot

| Luc Ragoucy

| Dominique Gretz

| Jean Claude Revil

| Marie-Line Cabrera }}

}}

Union de Transports Aériens ({{IPA|fr|ynjõ də tɾɑ̃spɔʁz‿aeʁjɛ̃}}; abbreviated as UTA and sometimes known as UTA French Airlines), was a private independent airline in France that operated from 1963 until it merged with Air France in 1992. UTA was formed by the merger of Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) and Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI). UTA was the largest wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline in France. It was also the second-largest international, as well as the second principal intercontinental, French airlineafter Air France and a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since its inception.

The airline was a subsidiary of Compagnie Maritime des Chargeurs Réunis,[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201062.html France's independent flag carrier, Air Transport, Flight International, 24 June 1971, p. 945] the French shipping line founded and controlled by the Fabre family, but was absorbed into Air France between 1990 and 1992.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200144.html UTA take-over makes Air France Europe's second-favourite airline, Operations: Air Transport, Flight International, 24-30 January 1990, p. 10][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%201535.html News in brief - UTA finance, Business, Flight International, 30 May – 5 June 1990, p. 13][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1991/1991%20-%202546.html Air France plans UTA break down, Headlines, Flight International, 2-8 October 1991, p. 4]

History

File:Bd Malesherbes, 3.jpg

File:Sydney Airport, 1969.jpg at Sydney Airport in 1969]]

The decision to merge Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT)based at Paris Le Bourget with Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI)based at Paris Orly was taken in September 1961, building on a commercial relationship between the two airlines that had begun in the early 1950s. UTA, the new company that succeeded UAT and TAI, came into being on 1 October 1963 with a capital of £2.6mn.

=Formation and early years=

At the time of its inception, UTA employed 4,900 personnel (including 630 aircrew)Airliner Classics (1960s: French Long-Haul Merger), Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, November 2011, p. 9 and inherited a fleet of 35 aircraft from its predecessors, comprising six jet aircraft and 29 piston engine airliners. These were progressively repainted in UTA's new livery, a combination of UAT's blue and TAI's green colour schemes. The inherited {{convert|118000|mi|km|abbr=on}} network spanned five continents. Most of these were intercontinental, long-haul routes connecting France with West and Southern Africa. On 1 November 1963 UTA introduced DC-8 jets on its flights from Paris to Lagos, Accra, Monrovia and Freetown. UTA's creation coincided with a new French aviation policy that established exclusive spheres of influence for UTA and Air France. Air France withdrew from UTA's sphere of influence but UTA continued serving the African routes it inherited from UAT in association with Air Afrique. This included UTA taking the place of UAT in the joint revenue sharing agreement with Air Afrique. In addition, UTA continued providing commercial and technical assistance to Air Afrique on the same terms as UAT.Aeroplane – World Transport Affairs: Agreement reached on U.A.T.-T.A.I. merger, Vol. 103, No. 2637, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 3 May 1962[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1963/1963%20-%201829.html Air Commerce ... Union de Transports Aériens, Flight International, 17 October 1963, p. 636]Aeroplane – Airline of the Month: UTA – Five-star independent, Vol. 109, No. 2798, p. 6, Temple Press, London, 3 June 1965

UTA had the largest African network of any European airline, flying to up to 25 destinations. Its busiest scheduled route was Paris—Abidjan, served daily in both directions. UTA primarily operated long-haul intercontinental scheduled services linking metropolitan France with most countries in francophone West and Central Africa, a number of countries in anglophone West and Southern Africa (including Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe), as well as Angola and Mozambique in lusophone Southern Africa, South Africa, Libya in North Africa, Malta, the Middle East (Bahrain and Oman), South Asia (Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore), New Caledonia, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Los Angeles.via the Asia-Pacific route only In addition, the airline had regional scheduled passenger traffic rights between Japan, New Caledonia and New Zealand, between South Africa and the French Réunion island in the Indian Ocean, as well as between Tahiti and the US West Coast.{{Cite web |url=http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mrg217/MA.pdf |title=M.R. Golder, The Changing Nature of French Dirigisme - A Case Study of Air France. Thesis submitted at Trinity College, Oxford, 1997, p.28 |access-date=8 October 2007 |archive-date=29 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729124610/https://files.nyu.edu/mrg217/public/MA.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Through most of its existence UTA was one of only four wholly privately owned, independent airlines outside of the US with a major, long-haul scheduled presence.British United Airways (BUA)/British Caledonian (BCal), Canadian Pacific Air Lines (CP Air)/Canadian Airlines International and Cathay Pacific were the other three contemporary non-US independent, long-haul scheduled carriers Unlike its British, Canadian and Hong Kong independent contemporaries, for most of its existence UTA did not have a network of short-/medium-haul scheduled routes nor did it compete on any of its scheduled routes with Air France, the primary French flag carrier at the time. This made it an almost exclusively long-haul, intercontinental scheduled airline. It also made its scheduled route network complementary to Air France and Air Inter. (UTA and Air France used to co-ordinate their schedules at Los Angeles to enable passengers to connect between Air France's transatlantic and UTA's transpacific services.)

=1980s and merger with Air France=

File:195309.jpg in the early 1990s]]

In 1986 the French government unexpectedly decided to relax its policy of neatly dividing traffic rights for scheduled air services between Air France, Air Inter and UTA, without any route overlaps between them. The regulatory framework governing France's air transport sector at the time dated from 1963. It had prevented the country's three main scheduled airlines from operating outside their respective spheres of influence and competing with each other. The French government's decision to adopt a less rigid interpretation of its policy gradually reversed both of these rules. It therefore enabled UTA to launch scheduled services to new destinations within Air France's sphere of influence, in competition with that airline, for the first time. Paris — San Francisco became the first route UTA served in competition with Air France non-stop from Paris. (Air France responded by extending some of its non-stop Paris – Los Angeles services to Papeete, Tahiti, which competed with UTA on the Los Angeles – Papeete sector.) UTA's ability to secure traffic rights outside its traditional sphere of influence in competition with Air France was the result of a successful campaign it had mounted to lobby its government to enable it to grow faster, thereby becoming a more dynamic and more profitable business. During that time, UTA also planned to launch a short-haul European feeder network,[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%202209.html AF and UTA battle for Air Inter, Air Transport, Flight International, 31 October 1987, p. 7][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%200206.html Air France shapes up for hotter markets, Air Transport, Flight International, 30 January 1988, p. 6] which was to be operated by its Aéromaritime subsidiary. In the event, these plans were scuppered by a long-running, bitter industrial dispute between UTA's management and the unions representing the majority of pilots at Aéromaritime as well as at UTA itself. The dispute was about the introduction of new, lower pay scales at Aéromaritime to prepare it for the competition it was likely to face at the hands of Europe's new breed of much lower cost, aggressively expanding independent airlines, as exemplified by UK-based Air Europe at that time. It lasted for the better part of a year from the end of 1988 until October 1989 and resulted in the grounding of both Aéromaritime and UTA during that period. UTA's plans for a European feeder network were also overtaken by its subsequent merger with Air France.[http://www.answers.com/topic/chargeurs-international?cat=biz-fin Answers.com (Business and Finance) — Chargeurs International][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%201000.html UTA aims at Newark, Air Transport, Flight International, 20 June 1987, p. 26][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201354.html UTA struggles for expansion, Flight International, 21 May 1988, p. 20][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%201543.html UTA denied Paris/Newark direct route, Flight International, 27 May 1989, p. 17]

1986 was also the year UTA lost its monopoly on the Paris—Papeete route to Minerve, France's leading contemporary charter airline.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%201264.html Minerve breaks UTA monopoly to Tahiti, Air Transport, Flight International, 7 June 1986, p. 8]

In 1988 French Transport Minister Michel Delebarre partially reversed the French government's relaxed policy on allocating traffic rights to the country's three main contemporary scheduled airlines when he decided to deny UTA the right to fly non-stop from Paris to Newark in direct competition with Air France.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1990/1990%20-%200145.html UTA take-over makes Air France Europe's second-favourite airline, Operations: Air Transport, Flight International, 24-30 January 1990, p. 11] The aim was to protect Air France's position as the country's dominant scheduled carrier by making UTA a less attractive takeover target for its foreign rivals in the event of a merger. The French government feared that Air France's smaller size relative to British Airways, Lufthansa and the US giants as well as its fragmented long-haul network put it at a commercial disadvantage in a liberalised air transport market. Air France, Air Inter and UTA were therefore encouraged to co-operate rather than compete with each other.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%203539.html French shakeup denies UTA new routes, Flight International, 10 December 1988, p. 13]

On 12 January 1990 UTA, along with Air Inter and Air France itself, became part of an enlarged Air France group, which in turn became a wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Air France.[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/13/business/air-france-buying-into-2-carriers.html The New York Times, 13 January 1990, Business - Air France Buying Into 2 Carriers] On 18 December 1992, UTA ceased to exist as a legal entity within Groupe Air France.[https://www.fotw.info/flags/fr$hfair.html Air France (Airline, France)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629173337/https://www.fotw.info/flags/fr%24hfair.html |date=29 June 2011 }}

Air France's acquisition of UTA and Air Inter was part of an early 1990s French government plan to create a unified national carrier with the economies of scale and global reach to counter threats resulting from the liberalisation of the air transport market in the European Union (EU).[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e6c07ce8-6de8-11dc-b8ab-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2Fe6c07ce8-6de8-11dc-b8ab-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den FT.com/Business Life, The Monday Interview, 30 September 2007 — Pilot who found the right trajectory]

Corporate affairs affairs and identity

= Head office=

UTA's corporate head office was located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1986/1986%20-%200795.html World Airline Directory, Flight International, 29 March 1986, p. 135] "Head Office: 3 Boulevard Malesherbes, F-75008, Paris, France." The head office of the Compagnie Aéromaritime d'Affrètement subsidiary was in Puteaux in Greater Paris."World Airline Directory." Flight International. 28 April 1979. p. [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%201428.html 1366]. "Head Office: 50 Rue Arago, Puteaux 92, France."

=Foreign offices =

In the UK, the airline operated a ticket-office for prospective passengers in 177 Piccadilly, French Railways House, in London from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, which also housed Maison de La France, the French Government Tourist Office, until its closure in the mid-2000s.{{Cite journal |date=1963 |title=UTA - Connections from UK |journal=The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News |volume=106 |pages=38}}

Fleet

File:UTA and Air Afrique planes at Paris CDG 1991 cropped.jpg next to Air Afrique planes at Paris-Charles de Gaulle in 1991.]]

UTA and its subsidiaries operated the following aircraft types and sub-types throughout its 29-year existence:

Throughout most of this time, UTA's "mainline" fleet strength stood at about ten to twelve aircraft only. The airline's small fleet size was conditioned by the nature of its operations, i.e. as a long-haul carrier serving most of its routes as multi-stop sectors at low frequencies of less than one flight per day.

1965 marked the beginning of a re-engining programme that saw UTA's fleet of six DC-8 series 30 turbojets gradually converted to series 50 turbofan standard.Aeroplane – Airline of the Month: UTA – Five-star independent, Vol. 109, No. 2798, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 3 June 1965[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%200878.html A DC-8F has been bought by UTA, ...., Air Transport ..., Flight International, 1 April 1965, p. 478]

In order to facilitate the smooth introduction of the DC-10 into its fleet, UTA joined the KSSUeach letter in the KSSU consortium's name represented the first letter of each of its members' names, in alphabetical order aircraft maintenance consortium, whose founding members were KLM, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Swissair.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200415.html KSSU Signs up UTA, Air Transport ..., Flight International, 12 March 1970, p. 371][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%203312.html Air Transport, Flight International, 14 December 1972, p. 855]

In August 1981, UTA became the second customer to order the Boeing 747-300.after launch customer Swissair[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%200340.html Air Transport, Flight International, 26 February 1983, p. 508] It took delivery of the first aircraft to roll off Boeing's production line on 2 March 1983.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%200418.html 747-300 deliveries begin, World News, Flight International, 12 March 1983, p. 634] The airline also had two Boeing 747-200s converted to 747-200 SUDs,SUD stood for stretched upper deck[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200296.html UTA stretches 747 top, Air Transport, Flight International, 2 February 1985, p. 4][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%202345.html UTA streamlines fleet, Air Transport, Flight International, 3 August 1985, p. 7] thereby joining a select group of only two airlines that chose to have some of their 747-200s re-manufactured in this manner with the other air carrier being KLM.KLM was the other airline in this group that had ten of their 747-200s converted to -200 SUDs, respectively. The earlier tidbit of misinformation in this reference stated Japan Air Lines remanufactured two -200s. This is in error. They purchased two factory-new 747SR-146B(SUD)aircraft from Boeing. JA8170 was delivered in March 1986 and JA8176 was delivered in September 1986.

UTA placed its first-ever order for Airbus aircraft in 1987. The order was for six four-engined Airbus A340-300 long-haul widebodied jets. It included an option on a further six aircraft. The aircraft on firm order were to be delivered between 1992 and 1994, at a rate of two planes per year.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DB1E3BF93BA25755C0A961948260 The New York Times, 18 June 1987, COMPANY NEWS — Order for Airbus] It was intended that the newly ordered A340s would replace the airline's ageing DC-10s as well as facilitate its future expansion into new long-haul markets from the early 1990s onwards.

In 1989, UTA also ordered Boeing's twin-engined 767 widebody on behalf of Aéromaritime. That order had a value of US$250mn. It was for three -300ER aircraft.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDF1F3DF93AA25752C0A96F948260 The New York Times, 19 January 1989, BRIEFS] Air France's acquisition of UTA in 1990 resulted in it inheriting two of Aéromaritime's three 767-300ERs,in addition to three of that carrier's subsequently acquired 767-200s thereby itself becoming a 767 operator by default.

=Fleet in 1970=

class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|+ UTA fleet in 1970[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1970/1970%20-%200557.html World Airlines 1970, Flight International, 26 March 1970, p. 507]

style="background:lightblue;"

!Aircraft

!Number

!Orders

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

Sud Aviation Caravelle

Total

|12

class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|+ Aeromaritime fleet in 1970

style="background:lightblue;"

!Aircraft

!Number

Douglas DC-6A

Douglas DC-6B

Aerospacelines Super Guppy

Total

=Fleet in 1978=

class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|+ UTA fleet in April 1978

style="background:lightblue;"

!Aircraft

!Number

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

Fokker F-27 Friendship

Total

|18

UTA also had one Boeing 747-200 on order at this time.

The Fokker Friendships and Boeing 737 were based out of La Tontouta Airport, New Caledonia and used on local Pacific services.

In addition, UTA's then subsidiary company Air Polynésie, based at Faa'a International Airport, Tahiti, had a fleet of three Fairchild F-27A Friendships, one Britten-Norman Islander, one de Havilland Canada Twin Otter series 200, and one de Havilland Twin Otter series 300.

(Source for the above fleet notes: UTA General Timetable 1/4/78 - 31/10/78)

=Fleet in 1986=

class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|+ UTA fleet in March 1986

style="background:lightblue;"

!Aircraft

!Number

Boeing 747-300

Boeing 747-200B Combi

Boeing 747-200F

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

Total

|13

UTA employed 6,569 people at this time.

Destinations

Union de Transports Aériens served the following destinations when it operated:{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/caribb/5380012760/in/photostream/lightbox/|title = UTA Destinations 1989|date = 22 January 2011}}

=Europe=

France
Bordeaux - Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport
Lyon - Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport
Marseille - Marseille Provence Airport
Montpellier — Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport
Nantes - Nantes Atlantique Airport
Nice - Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
Paris
Charles de Gaulle Airport (Hub; 1974–1992)
Le Bourget Airport (Hub; 1963–1974)
Orly Airport
Toulouse - Toulouse–Blagnac Airport
Malta
Valletta - Malta International Airport

=Africa=

=Asia=

Bahrain
Manama - Bahrain International Airport
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong - Kai Tak Airport
Indonesia
Jakarta - Soekarno–Hatta International Airport
Japan
Tokyo - Narita International Airport
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur - Subang International Airport
Oman
Muscat - Muscat International Airport
Pakistan
Karachi - Jinnah International Airport[https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/ut2/ut74/ut74-03.jpg UTA 1974 round the world time table]
Singapore
Changi Airport
Sri Lanka
Colombo - Bandaranaike International Airport

=Oceania=

=North America=

Incidents and accidents

There were six recorded incidents/accidents involving UTA aircraft. Four of these involved the loss of aircraft and three the loss of lives.[https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/operators/4692 Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) at the Aviation Safety Network Database]

On 2 October 1964, a UTA Douglas DC-6B inherited from predecessor UAT (registration F-BHMS)[https://web.archive.org/web/20050331001602/http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19641002-0&vnr=1&kind=PC Douglas DC-6B F-BHMS (photo)] crashed into Mt. Alcazaba near Granada, Andalusia, in Southern Spain. The doomed aircraft was operating the airline's scheduled sector from Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, to Port Étienne (as Nouadhibou was known then), Mauritania. There were no survivors among the aircraft's 80 occupants (seven crew and 73 passengers).[https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/332794 Douglas DC-6B F-BHMS (accident report)]
On 12 July 1972, a scheduled UTA flight en route from Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, to Paris was taken over by hijackers. There were two fatalities as a result of this incident.[https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/330441 1972 hijack of Abidjan-Paris flight resulting in two deaths]
On 10 March 1984, a UTA DC-8-63PF (registration F-BOLL)[https://web.archive.org/web/20050322020831/http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19840310-0&vnr=1&kind=PC McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63PF F-BOLL (photo)] flying from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo to Paris CDG with an intermediate stop at N'Djamena in Chad was destroyed, following two consecutive bomb explosions on board the aircraft while it was on the ground at N'Djamena Airport. There were no fatalities since all passengers and crew managed to evacuate the aircraft before the second explosion in the central baggage compartment tore the aircraft apart.[https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/327468 McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63PF F-BOLL (accident report)][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%202952.html UTA DC-10 "mid-air explosion" investigated, Operations: Safety, Flight International, 30 September 1989, p. 10]
On 16 March 1985, a UTA Boeing 747-3B3 (registration F-GDUA)[https://web.archive.org/web/20050319082046/http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19850316-1&vnr=1&kind=PC Boeing 747-3B3 F-GDUA (photo)] was destroyed on the ground at Paris CDG when a fire was accidentally started while cleaning of the aircraft's cabin was in progress. (According to contemporary press reports, the fire was allegedly started by a cleaner who carelessly dropped a burning cigarette in one of the toilets.) The fire rapidly spread, engulfing the entire cabin in flames. This resulted in the aircraft's total destruction, which was subsequently written off. There were no injuries as a result of this incident.[https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/327240 Boeing 747-3B3 F-GDUA (accident report)][http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%201305.html Record 747 hull payment expected, World News, Flight International, 4 May 1985, p. 3]
On 19 September 1989, UTA Flight 772, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, registered as N54629,[https://web.archive.org/web/20050405175256/http://www.aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=19890919-1&vnr=1&kind=PC McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N54629 (photo)] operating the Brazzaville – N'Djamena – Paris CDG sector, was bombed 46 minutes after take-off from N'Djamena causing the aircraft to crash while flying over Niger. Investigations and court cases have implicated Libyan state actors in the bombing. All 156 passengers and 14 crew members on board were killed.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3163621.stm UTA 772: The forgotten flight][https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/326212 McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N54629 (accident report)] For nearly 20 years, this incident marked the deadliest air disaster involving a French-operated airliner, in terms of loss of life. As of June 2009, it ranks as the second-deadliest (see Air France Flight 447) (This incident was briefly noted in Neil Peart's book The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa as he was on this flight just months prior.)

Notes and citations

;Notes

;Citations

References

{{Cite web| title=Airline of the month: UTA – Five-star independent, pp. 4-6 |url=http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mags/uk/ukmag03.htm#aeroplane| volume= 109, 2798 |date=3 June 1965 | publisher=Temple Press | place=London, UK}}
{{cite journal| title=Flight International | journal=Flight International| publisher=Reed Business Information | place=Sutton, UK | issn= 0015-3710}} (various backdated issues relating to UTA, 1963–1990)
{{cite journal |last1=Wickstead |first1=Maurice |title=French Wings over Five Continents: The Story of UTA, Part Two: The Merger of TAI & UAT and into the Jet Age, 1962–92 |journal=The Aviation Historian |date=2023 |issue=42 |pages=58–65 |issn=2051-1930}}
{{cite journal| title=OAG Flight Guide Worldwide | journal=OAG Flight Guide | publisher=OAG Worldwide | place=Dunstable, UK | issn= 1466-8718}} (various backdated issues relating to UTA scheduled flight information, 1963–1990)

External links

UTA – Defunct French airlines https://web.archive.org/web/20130327113642/http://www.uta-airlines.com/
UTA – In Memoriam http://www.al-airliners.be/t-z/uta/uta.htm
Aéromaritime (Compagnie Aéromaritime d'Affrètement) — In Memoriam http://www.al-airliners.be/a/aeromaritime/aeromaritime.htm
France's independent flag carrier, Flight International, 24 June 1971, p. 945 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201062.html
France's independent flag carrier ..., Flight International, 24 June 1971, p. 946 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201063.html
France's independent flag carrier ..., Flight International, 24 June 1971, p. 947 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201064.html
Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) at the Aviation Safety Network Database https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/operators/4692
Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) timetable images http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/ut2.htm
UTA French airlines uniforms 1987–1992 http://www.uniformfreak.com/1uta.html
BBC news, 19 September 2003 - UTA 772: The forgotten flight (19 September 1989) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3163621.stm
The New York Times, 18 June 1987, COMPANY NEWS – Order for Airbus https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DB1E3BF93BA25755C0A961948260
The New York Times, 19 January 1989, BRIEFS https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDF1F3DF93AA25752C0A96F948260
M.R. Golder, The Changing Nature of French Dirigisme – A Case Study of Air France, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. Thesis, submitted Trinity term, 1997 http://homepages.nyu.edu/~mrg217/MA.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729124610/https://files.nyu.edu/mrg217/public/MA.pdf |date=29 July 2012 }}
FT.com/Business Life, The Monday Interview, 30 September 2007 – Pilot who found the right trajectory (Financial Times interview with Jean-Cyril Spinetta, chairman of Air France-KLM group) http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e6c07ce8-6de8-11dc-b8ab-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2Fe6c07ce8-6de8-11dc-b8ab-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den
FOTW Flags of the World – Chargeurs Réunis (Shipping company, France) http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/fr~hfcha.html
Answers.com (Business and Finance) — Chargeurs International http://www.answers.com/topic/chargeurs-international?cat=biz-fin
Air France (Airline, France) https://web.archive.org/web/20110629173337/https://www.fotw.info/flags/fr%24hfair.html

Category:Defunct airlines of France

Category:Airlines established in 1963

Category:Airlines disestablished in 1992

Category:French companies established in 1963

Category:Companies based in Paris

Category:French companies disestablished in 1992