Bloch MB.220
Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.The Bloch MB.220 was a French twin-engined airliner built by Société des Avions Marcel Bloch in the 1930s. It carried 16 passengers in two cabins and first flew at Villacoublay on 11 June 1936. Close in size and appearance to the Douglas DC-2, which had appeared two years earlier, it could not match its economics, so only 17 were built: the prototype and 16 production aircraft for Air France, each named after a French province. They flew Air France's European network from 1937, including Paris–London, and in September 1938 one of them, Poitou, flew Prime Minister Édouard Daladier to the Munich conference. After wartime service in France and with Deutsche Luft Hansa, five survivors were re-engined with Wright Cyclones as MB.221s and flew again after the war.
Specifications
Figures for the MB.220 variant, the most representative of the family
The type first flew in 1936 (90 years ago) · About 17 units built · Production ended in 1938
Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.
The story of the type
Design and development
The MB.220 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane. It was powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines and had a retractable landing gear. Normal crew was four, with room for 16 passengers, with eight seats each side of a central aisle. The prototype first flew on 11 June 1936 at Villacoublay with André Curvale at the controls, and was followed by 16 production aircraft.
Six examples survived the war and were modified as the MB.221 with Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines.
Service
Air France took delivery of five Bloch MB.220s in 1937, with the type entering service on the Paris–Marseilles route in the winter of 1937–1938. On 27 March 1938, the Bloch MB.220 was introduced on the Le Bourget and Croydon (in south of London) route, replacing the Wibault 280 and cutting the flight time by 15 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. In September 1938, two MB-220s carried the French delegation, including Prime Minister of France Édouard Daladier to the negotiations that led to the Munich Agreement.
Following the outbreak of World War II, five MB.220s were requisitioned as transports by the French Air Force. Air France continued to operate the MB.220 after the Armistice of 22 June 1940, although its fleet was gradually transferred to Vichy French government service. Following the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, Germany occupied Vichy France, stopping Air France operations. Eleven MB.220s were leased to the German airline Deutsche Luft Hansa on 1 February 1943. The type entered service with Luft Hansa in June 1943, with three in service by September. It suffered engine problems in German service, particularly in cold weather, with French mechanics sometimes carried as part of the airliner's crew. Three MB.220s were used as military transports in North Africa by the Free French in 1944.
Five MB.220s survived the war, and returned to service with Air France on services within Europe in February 1946, after being reengined with 1,200 hp (890 kW) Wright R-1820 Cyclone to become MB.221s. This improved performance, with a 25 percent increase in range with the same weights and speed as the French engines. The type remained in Air France service until 1949, with the aircraft then being sold to the French airline Societé Auxiliaire de Navigation Aérienne. They had been withdrawn from use by 1952.
Variants
One prototype, registration F-AOHA, and 16 production aircraft with Gnome-Rhône 14N-16 and Gnome-Rhône 14N-17 engines (opposite rotation).
Six survivors, registration F-AOHC to F-AOHF, F-AQNM and F-AQNN, re-engined with the Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone.
Overview and history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · technical figures from the manufacturer’s published specifications and standard aviation references
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This page was last updated on October 11, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 11). Bloch MB.220. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220
MLA
“Bloch MB.220.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 11 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Bloch MB.220.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 11, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Bloch MB.220. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220 (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_model_mb220,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Bloch MB.220}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-11},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/model/mb220 |title=Bloch MB.220 |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-11 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}