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| Belinda Balluku, the Albanian ambassador in Paris, Dritan Tola and the collaborators |
The company "Air France" officially started flights with Albania through a direct line Paris-Tirana. The first plane of this company landed at Rinas airport at noon today where the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku was also present.
She described as very good news for Albania the fact that one of the largest European companies, according to her, starts direct flights with our country.
Air France
Air France was formed on 7 October 1933, from a merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne (CIDNA) and Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA). Of these airlines, SGTA was the first commercial airline company in France, having been founded as Lignes Aériennes Farman in 1919. The constituent members of Air France had already built extensive networks across Europe, to French colonies in North Africa and farther afield. During World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca (Morocco).
In 1936, Air France added French-built twin-engine Potez 62 aircraft to its fleet featuring a two-compartment cabin that could accommodate 14 to 16 passengers. A high-wing monoplane, it had a wooden fuselage with composite coating while the wings were fabric covered with a metal leading edge. Equipped with Hispano-Suiza V-engines, they were used on routes in Europe, South America, and the Far East. Although cruising at only 175 miles per hour, the Potez 62 was a robust and reliable workhorse for Air France and remained in service until the Second World War with one used by the Free French Air Force.[9]
1936 Air France ad for service using Potez 62 twin-engine aircraft
An Air France Douglas DC-3 at Manchester Airport in 1952
On 26 June 1945 all of France's air transport companies were nationalized.[10] On 29 December 1945, a decree of the French Government granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network.[11] Air France appointed its first flight attendants in 1946. The same year the airline opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris. It was linked to Paris Le Bourget Airport, Air France's first operations and engineering base, by coach. At that time the network covered 160,000 km, claimed to be the longest in the world.[12] Société Nationale Air France was set up on 1 January 1946.
European schedules were initially operated by a fleet of Douglas DC-3 aircraft. On 1 July 1946, Air France started direct flights between Paris and New York via refueling stops at Shannon and Gander. Douglas DC-4 piston-engine airliners covered the route in just under 20 hours.[12] In September 1947 Air France's network stretched east from New York, Fort de France and Buenos Aires to Shanghai.
A Lockheed Super Constellation of Air France at Heathrow Airport in April 1955
By 1948 Air France operated 130 aircraft, one of the largest fleets in the world.[12] Between 1947 and 1965 the airline operated Lockheed Constellations on passenger and cargo services worldwide.[13] In 1946 and 1948, respectively, the French government authorized the creation of two private airlines: Transports Aériens Internationaux – later Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux – (TAI) and SATI. In 1949 the latter became part of Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT), a private French international airline.[12][14].