It was in 1994, when Air Liberté, a French charter airline with an aging Airbus fleet, added a 
DC-10-30 for long-range operations to the French Overseas Territories to the fleet. More aircraft were added in 1995 and 1996, bringing the fleet to five aircraft. There were a lot of roumours of a merger between Air Liberté and AOM which would have not only created Europe’s largest DC-10 operator but also a serious and hard competitor for Air France. Instead, Air Liberté was acquired by British Airways in 1997 and now the DC-10s wear "world images" instead of the stilisized tricolore. BA took its money out of Air Liberté later, which left the airline in fninancial problems. Three DC-10s remained in service on September 22nd 2001 when Air Liberté finally merged with AOM French Airlines to form Air Lib, Frances second largest air carrier.
Photos:
Upper right: Air Liberté DC-10 in world images (L'esprit Liberté) colors - MATHIAS HENIG
