Air Afrique

Infobox Airline
airline = Air Afrique

---

image_size =
IATA = RK
ICAO = RKA
callsign = AIR AFRIQUE
founded = 1961
ceased = 2002
hubs =
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
subsidiaries =
fleet_size =
destinations =
parent =
company_slogan =
headquarters = Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
key_people =
website =

Air Afrique was based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West Africa.

History

Air Afrique was founded on March 28, 1961. Its main shareholders at the time were Air France, Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT), Société pour le Développement du Transport Aérien en Afrique (SODETRAF) and the following West African countries:

* Benin
* Cameroon
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Congo-Brazzaville
* Gabon
* Ivory Coast
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Niger
* Republic of Upper Volta (today called Burkina Faso)
* Senegal.

Cameroon and Gabon withdrew from the consortium in the early 1970s, while Togo joined in January 1968.

UAT passed on its stake in Air Afrique to UTA, following its merger with Compagnie de Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI) in 1963. UTA's stake in turn passed into the hands of Air France, when that airline acquired a controlling stake in its erstwhile rival in 1990.

The objective was the creation of a comprehensive network of internal air services within the countries that co-owned Air Afrique as well as international air services within Africa and beyond.

The newly formed multinational airline commenced commercial operations in August 1961 with Douglas C-54/DC-4 and Douglas DC-6 piston-engined equipment.

Air Afrique launched its first intercontinental, long-haul scheduled service to Paris (operated with Lockheed Constellations) during its first year of operation itself. The airline's long-haul scheduled services also served other major French cities such as Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux, as well as Rome Fiumicino in Italy, Geneva in Switzerland and New York JFK in the US. During the 1980s there was a short-lived service to London Gatwick in the UK as well.

A leased Douglas DC-8 was the first jet aircraft to join Air Afrique's fleet in 1962.

In 1973 the airline acquired its first widebody, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 30 series. From October 1980 to March 1984 a Boeing 747 was operated as well. A number of Airbus A310 and Airbus A300-600s were used from the late 1980s onwards.

In addition, the company's fleet included the Airbus A300 B4 series, Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10B/11R series, Antonov An-12, Boeing 737 200/300 series as well as the Boeing 707 320C series freighter.

In 2001, the African governments, which originally owned 68% of the company, sold almost two thirds of their combined shareholding in Air Afrique to Air France and other, private investors in exchange for a $69 million investment in the ailing airline. Air Afrique eventually folded later the same year with debts of US$500 mn and three operational aircraft. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1676582.stm A striking end for Air Afrique – by BBC Africa analyst Elizabeth Blunt, 26 November 2001] ]

Incidents and accidents

On July 24 1987, Hussein Mohammed Hariri, a man claiming to be a member of Hezbollah, hijacked an Air Afrique DC-10 en route from Rome to Paris. He demanded to be flown to Beirut and, as a sign of his determination, murdered a French passenger, one of 148 passengers on board the flight. He also seriously wounded a flight attendant who attempted to overpower him.

Destinations

Africa

* Burkina Faso
** Ouagadougou" [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0F3A801A418E0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Africa's springtime of hope] ." "The Washington Times".]
* Central African Republic
** Bangui
* Côte d'Ivoire
** Abidjan [http://web.archive.org/web/20000905153401/http://www.airafrique-airlines.com/ Home Page] as of September 5, 2000. "Air Afrique".]
* Kenya
** Nairobi
* Liberia
** Monrovia (Roberts International Airport) [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=BBAB&d_place=BBAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F97D77450309C9F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Liberia: Air Afrique resumes flights] .]
* Mali
** Bamako
* Senegal
** Dakar [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DE103EF931A35752C0A961948260 SENEGAL HAILS VENDOR HOME FROM 5TH AVE.] ." "The New York Times".] "A filthy lobby, sullen-faced employees, no place to sit, and a vague sense of danger all add up to the World's Worst Airport.". "Ask the Pilot." "Salon". [http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/05/25/askthepilot233/index1.html 2] .]
* South Africa
** Johannesburg

Asia

outhwest Asia

* Saudi Arabia
** Jeddah
* United Arab Emirates
** Abu Dhabi

Europe

* France
** Bordeaux
** Lyon
** Marseille
** Paris
* Italy
** Rome
* Portugal
** Lisbon

North America

* United States
** New York City, New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)

Fleet

*Airbus A310 [" [http://web.archive.org/web/20000829121843/http://www.airafrique-airlines.com/RKNAIRO.html COMING INTO NAIROBI VERY SOON !] ." "Air Afrique".]

Notes

References

*cite journal| title=Flight International | publisher=Reed Business Information | place=Sutton, UK | issn= 0015-3710 (various backdated issues relating to Air Afrique, 1961-2001)

External links

*wayback|http://www.airafrique-airlines.com|Air Afrique official website
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/195482.stm Rescue plan for Air Afrique] "BBC"
* [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-462949.html Air Afrique's Fall to Earth; Politics Has Bankrupted the Soaring Dream of 11 African Nations]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D81330F935A35754C0A961948260 INTERNATIONAL REPORT; Air Afrique Warns Debtors]
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B15FD3D5F107B93CBAB178AD85F458785F9 African Airlines Go Trans-Atlantic]
* [https://www.fastcase.com/Google/Start.aspx?C=453179113e94a220cfec701ed17ec11084808c382eb8e68f&D=bb5e8837e5d596c912027588ae6e7e25d2964ba14085205e Marie Louise GUEYE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AIR AFRIQUE, Defendant-Appellee]
* [https://www.fastcase.com/Google/Start.aspx?C=7184bc6037d0ad8124d3524b5551c35336729c450613d204&D=a906dde6f6bad342fbaefecc48557e346ff45f52bdef19bd Leonard TCHOKPONHOVE, Plaintiff, v. AIR AFRIQUE, Defendant.]
* [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/soc.culture.nigeria/browse_frm/thread/88b69d812bf7bbcb/3cb61f1cce87c3f1?q=%22Air+Afrique%22&rnum=2&hl=en#3cb61f1cce87c3f1 Google Groups - History of Air Afrique]
* [http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5991096&nseq=2 JETPHOTOS.NET Air Afrique McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-53 TU-TCB at New York John F. Kennedy Airport, USA, on July 26, 1975]
* [http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5947996&nseq=3 JETPHOTOS.NET Air Afrique Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 11R TU-TCY at Lome Airport, Togo, on February 23, 1980]
* [http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5923538&nseq=7 JETPHOTOS.NET Air Afrique McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-30 TU-TAM at Marseille Provence Airport, France, on August 2, 1988]
* [http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=30142 JETPHOTOS.NET Air Afrique Sud Boeing 737-33A F-GFUC on a visit to Exeter Airport, UK, on October 29, 1989]
* [http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=5035 Terrorism Knowledge Database - Hezbollah attacked Airports & Airlines target (July 24, 1987, Congo (Brazzaville))]
* [http://www.airfrance.com/ Air France]