Gérard Depardieu opens private airline
French actor Gerard Depardieu has set up his own airline so that he can make money by leasing out his private jet when he isn’t using it.
French film star Gerard Depardieu has named his new airline Cyran R (pronounced “See-ran air”), a reference to the French literary great he played in the 1990 film “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Last November, the actor founded a company enabling him to store his private jet and eventually rent it out to interested parties. The aircraft will be based at the Lesquin airport, outside of the French city of Lille, just across the Belgian border from Estaimpuis, where the actor currently lives.
According to newspaper reports the aircraft will serve to carry passengers as well as commercial cargo.
Depardieu has stepped away from acting in recent years, focusing instead on diversifying his sources of income. Tired of acting, as he told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche on January 5, Depardieu opened a commercial wine cellar last November in Estaimpuis.
At “La Cave à Gérard,” wine afficionados can buy wines that once belonged to the actor or to his famous acquaintances, including celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Depardieu also owns a bed and breakfast hotel in Estaimpuis, and he plans to open a gourmet restaurant in the neighboring city of Tournai before the end of 2014.
The actor is also investing in the real estate business following his acquisition of a stake in Cogimmo, a chain of real estate agencies; he plans to open several franchises in France and Belgium.
