Aeris was an airline company based in Toulouse, France. It was founded in 1969 as Air Toulouse and was defunct in 2003 after being unable to raise additional capital.
Aeris offered charter flights until 2003, after acquiring 7,612 slots at Orly Airport due to the bankruptcy of Air Liberté. Aeris took on passengers as a low-cost carrier, competing with EasyJet and Air France for flights between Paris and south of France. Aeris aimed for business travelers, but was only able to fill about 60% of their seat capacity. In 2003 the company missed a government deadline to raise extra capital which was extended in August 2003, with the airline hoping to raise 15m euros in the following weeks from a mixture of foreign and domestic investors. At Paris, Aeris' 12,092 annual slots were redistributed after the bankruptcy.
After rebranded as Aeris, the company began operation with a small fleet of Boeing 737-300 aircraft and 767-300 aircraft. These were generally operated in an all-economy configuration.
Aeris operated many scheduled services with fixed timetables. However, the airline soon branched out into charter services.
Air Toulouse was established in 1969 as a small air taxi operator based in Toulouse. The company initially operated a small fleet of light aircraft, including a Beechcraft 95C, a Cessna 402B, and a Piper PA-31 T. By 1975, Air Toulouse employed 21 staff, including four aircrew, and operated five aircraft totalling 1,700 flight hours per year on air taxi services.
The company remained a modest air taxi operator for approximately two decades, serving local demand in the Toulouse area.
In 1989, the company changed its name to Air Toulouse International, adopting the slogan "Pour voir la vie en rose" (a play on the nickname of Toulouse, "la Ville rose").
The transition to jet operations began in 1990, when the airline acquired its first Caravelle 10B (registered F-BJEN) from EAS Europe Aéro Services. This aircraft was used for flights to London and Manchester from Toulouse, as well as charter services. Six more Caravelles would join the fleet between 1991 and 1999. The airline also leased an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante from 1993 to 1997 for the Toulouse-Barcelona route. Additionally, the fleet included Boeing 737-200 aircraft, which allowed the airline to increase capacity significantly.
By 1997, Air Toulouse International operated scheduled and charter services from Toulouse to Ajaccio, Barcelona, Bastia, Lyon, Marseille, Dakar, Lisbon, and Tenerife, as well as services from Lourdes/Tarbes to Paris-CDG, and routes from Lyon and Bordeaux to various destinations including Porto and Dakar. The airline carried over 510,000 passengers in 1997 and maintained similar traffic levels through 1999.
At the time of its renaming, the fleet consisted of five Boeing 737-200 aircraft (F-GEXI, F-GHXK, F-GHXL, F-GLXF, F-GLXH) and one Dassault Falcon 50 (F-GPPF).
Facing financial difficulties at the end of the 1990s, Air Toulouse International was acquired in June 1999 by a group led by Jean-François Félix and Charles-Henri Rossignol, backed by the Philadelphia-based investment fund DSP Partners, which held 38% of the capital. The company was renamed Aeris and adopted a new slogan, "La compagnie qui vous aime". The ageing Boeing 737-200 fleet was replaced with more modern Boeing 737-300 aircraft to comply with European noise and pollution regulations.
Aeris initially focused on international medium- and long-haul charter flights on behalf of tour operators such as FRAM. The company later expanded by acquiring Brest-based carrier Westair, and by 2002 reported revenues of 135 million euros. However, after launching a low-cost domestic subsidiary called Aeris Express in June 2003, the company ran into severe financial difficulties. Aeris was placed into liquidation on 7 November 2003 by the Tribunal de Commerce of Toulouse, ceasing all operations.
A Caravelle 10B3 (construction number 249) that flew with Air Toulouse is preserved by the Ailes Anciennes Toulouse association at Blagnac, near Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. The aircraft, which first flew in April 1968, previously served with Danish charter airline Sterling Airways and was also briefly the personal aircraft of Central African Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa before joining Air Toulouse in 1992.