Metrea becomes the world’s largest private air refueling provider
With the purchase of the entire fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers decommissioned by the French Air and Space Force, Metrea has become the largest private provider in the air-to-air refueling business.
Metrea is an American company that offers air refueling and training services to national security customers, providing services to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, NATO and other allied nations.
Through an agreement signed on May 17, 2024, Metrea acquired all 14 KC-/C-135 tankers from the French Air and Space Force (FASF), including the KC-/C-135FR and KC-/C-135RG variants. The FASF is divesting this fleet as it transitions to A330 MRTT «Phenix» tankers.
“With this acquisition, Metrea is putting even more ‘skin in the game’ to ensure that we have the necessary fleet capacity to provide our partners with the commercial aerial refueling support they require for training, exercises, and force movement,” said Jon “Ty” Thomas, Head of Metrea’s Air & Space Group. “As the only provider of KC-135 commercial refueling, we ensure that US, allied, and partners forces can train as they are very likely to operate in a contingency — refueling behind KC-135 tankers which remain far and away the most prevalent AAR tanker in service today and for the foreseeable future.”
On June 26, 2024, the acquisition includes a first tranche of 11 KC-/C-135FRs, which were transferred to Metrea, and a second tranche of 3 KC-135RGs, which will be transferred at a future date to be determined. The additional aircraft join Metrea’s existing fleet of 4 KC-135Rs, previously acquired from the Singapore government.
Following this acquisition, Metrea comfortably surpasses its largest competitor in the in-flight refueling business, Omega Tanker, which has a fleet of three KDC-10s (acquired from the Royal Netherlands Air Force) and two KC-707s. With 18 KC-135 planes, Metrea now has the world’s largest commercial aerial refueling fleet and the fifth largest tanker fleet in the world.
“At Metrea, we are pleased to continue the employment of these KC-135s which served the French armed forces for over 60 years,” said Thomas. “These aircraft were maintained to the highest standard while in French service and we will continue to do the same as we put them to work as commercial assets. We are excited to show that even more commercial AAR can now be provided to receiver units that need our support.”
Metrea currently has a contract with the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for commercial aerial refueling support to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and NATO allied nations. And after the recent acquisition, the company expects to win even more contracts.
