Royal Aviation Incorporated was the parent of

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

scheduled passenger and charter airline, Royal Airlines, which was based in Montréal–Dorval International Airport. The airline was acquired in 2001 by Canada 3000, which in turn went bankrupt in the months following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

History

The airline was founded by Michel Leblanc in 1991. According to the June 1, 1999, North American edition of the

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the United States, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, ...

, Royal was operating

Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, Aircraft design process, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie GIE, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the Airbus ...

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

and Boeing 757-200 aircraft in scheduled passenger service to several destinations in Canada and the U.S., including

Charlottetown, PEI Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

, Halifax,

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

( Dorval Airport),

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, St. Petersburg, FL,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The airline also operated transatlantic scheduled passenger flights between Canada and Europe during its existence, including service to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as well as destinations in the U.K.http://timetableimages.com, Royal Aviation system timetables Royal was acquired by Canada 3000 on January 29, 2001 in an all-stock deal. While the takeover/merger was touted in glowing terms in press releases, analysts quietly shared the opinion that, based on the terms of the transaction, Royal had few options and little time left. Michel Leblanc received Canada 3000 shares worth $84 million and became a Canada 3000 vice-chairman. Almost all of Royal Aviation's Royal Airlines aircraft were re-painted into the Canada 3000 livery, although some maintained a mixed livery with the Canada 3000 logo and Royal Aviation tail design, to recognize the merger between the two airlines. Canada 3000 also purchased Royal Cargo Airlines, renaming it ''Canada 3000 Cargo''. Canada 3000 Cargo was later sold off and became Cargojet Airways. Only a few months after the merger closed in June 2001, Leblanc was fired from Canada 3000 in a bitter feud, as Canada 3000 filed a lawsuit against him for allegations of fraud and misrepresentation. However, the allegations were never proven in court and Leblanc claimed to have subsequently sold off all his shares of Canada 3000 before they stopped trading. However, a review of the cumulative trading volume in Canada 3000 shares over the period in question (June 2001 - November 10, 2001) shows that nowhere near that volume of shares crossed the trading floor, indicating that either the “glowing terms” referenced above were a continuing fabrication, or there were restrictions on the sale of these shares. On November 8, 2001, the entire Canada 3000 company suddenly ceased operations with no warning for travelers or employees. The company filed for bankruptcy, citing a downturn in air travel during the weeks following the

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in the United States. All Canada 3000 workers as well as the former Royal Aviation workers lost their jobs. Leblanc went on to create a discount airline named

Jetsgo Jetsgo Corporation was a short-lived Canadian low-cost airline based in the Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Saint-Laurent Borough#Canada, borough of Montreal. Jetsgo served 19 destinations across Canada, 10 destinations in the United States, and 12 sche ...

in 2002. It went bankrupt in 2005, in a similar unexpected manner to Canada 3000's demise.

Destinations

Royal Airlines served the following cities and airports: *

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

( Charlottetown Airport) *

(

Edmonton International Airport Edmonton International Airport , officially branded YEG Edmonton International Airport since 2022, is the primary air passenger and air cargo facility in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian pro ...

) * Halifax (

Halifax Stanfield International Airport Halifax Stanfield International Airport is a Canadian airport in Goffs, Nova Scotia, a rural community of the Halifax Regional Municipality. It serves the Halifax region, mainland Nova Scotia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring Maritime p ...

) *

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

( Montréal–Dorval International Airport) Hub *

(

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

) Focus city *

(

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is lo ...

) Sydney,NS J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney, NS *

(

Berlin Tempelhof Airport Berlin Tempelhof Airport () was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, leaving Tegel and Schönefeld as the ...

) *

( Munich Airport) *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

**(

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

) **(

London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...

) *

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...

) *

(

Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport is a major public airport located in Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, roughly southwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and north of Mi ...

) *

( Daniel K. Inouye International Airport) *

(

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is the primary international airport located southeast of downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2024, it had 57,211,628 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and ninth busiest airport in the United St ...

) *

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

( St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport)

Fleet

Royal Airlines formerly operated the following mainline jet aircraft types:

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Canada, Companies, Aviation Defunct airlines of Canada Airlines established in 1991 Airlines disestablished in 2001 1991 establishments in Canada Canadian companies established in 1991

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References

External links