France’s HOP! retires last E145

Nearly 18 months after retiring the type from revenue service, HOP! (A5, Paris Orly) formally returned its last E145 on July 5, 2021.

F-GRGC (msn 145012), a 24-year-old regional jet operated by HOP! predecessors Régional and HOP!-Régional, since delivery in 1997, operated its last revenue flight on March 20, 2020, flying on behalf of Air France (AF, Paris CDG) from Brive-la-Gaillarde Vallée de la Dordogne to Paris Orly. It was subsequently parked at Clermont-Ferrand airport, from where it was ferried on July 5, 2021, to Toulouse Francazal for maintenance and repainting ahead of its redelivery to an undisclosed new operator.

According to the ch-aviation fleets history module, HOP! operated a total of thirteen E145s, including eight EMB-145EPs and five EMB-145MPs. The retirement of the type marks the exit of the Air France regional subsidiary from the 50-seat market as currently, its smallest-capacity aircraft are CRJ700s (seating up to 72 passengers in HOP!’s configuration) and E170s (76 passengers).

Air France continues to wet-lease three E145s from Amelia International (NL, Ljubljana) to operate its regional routes from Orly to Lourdes/Tarbes, Castres, and Brive-la-Gaillarde.