When did the Breguet 763 Provence enter service?

Breguet began designing the Breguet 761, a two-deck passenger aircraft, in 1944, even before the end of the Second World War. The prototype, registered F-WASK, first flew at Villacoublay on 15 February 1949. The French government ordered twelve production aircraft, first designated Breguet 76-3 and later Breguet 763.

The 763 first flew on 20 July 1951. Air France received the first example in August 1952 (pending confirmation), and the 1952 dates sometimes given as the entry into service correspond to that delivery and the test flights. Scheduled service with Air France began in March 1953, on the 10th or the 16th of that month depending on the source (according to different sources). The inaugural route was Lyon to Algiers; All-Aero describes that first service as a run of Algiers–Marseille–Lyon–Marseille–Tunis.

The aircraft flew European routes from Paris, mainly to the Mediterranean and occasionally to London.

In 1964 Air France transferred six Breguet 763 to the French Air Force. The remaining six were converted into freighters under the name Universel.