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Founded | 1960 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1998 | ||||||
Hubs | Bissau | ||||||
Headquarters | Bissau |
Air Bissau was the national airline of Guinea-Bissau, operating services from its base at Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in Bissau.
Transportes Aéreos da Guiné Portuguesa (TAGP) was founded in 1960 to operate flights within Portuguese Guinea as its flag carrier. Services on routes from Bissau to external destinations like Dakar, Ilha do Sal and Praia were inaugurated not long after foundation. A de Havilland Heron and two de Havilland Dragon Rapides were operating on the routes by 1961. By 1968 the airline was operating two de Havilland Herons, three Dornier Do 27s, one Cessna 206, one Cessna 172 and one Auster. The Portuguese national airline, TAP took over some TAGP flights, operating them with Boeing aircraft instead of with TAGP's Cessnas. TAP operated from Ilha do Sal to Bissau with the Boeings, and TAGP would operate the return flight with its light aircraft. [1]
When Portuguese Guinea gained independence from Portugal in 1974 and renamed Guinea-Bissau, the airline was also renamed to Linhas Aéreas da Guiné-Bissau. The company was operating one HS-748, one Dornier Do 27 and a Cessna 206 at that time.
By the mid 1980s the airline would be owned by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which at the time owned Maldives Airways as well. The name of the airline was changed to Transportes Aéreos da Guiné-Bissau (TAGB). [1] It operated services to Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia and Guinea, in addition to domestic services from Bissau to Bubaque. In 1988, a service from Bissau to Paris was inaugurated, as a joint-service with French airline Europe Aéro Service, operated with a Boeing 727 from the latter. [2] The name of the airline was changed to Air Bissau, its final name, in 1989. [3]
A Fokker F27 of the airline crashed near Dori in Burkina Faso on 15 August 1991, killing the three Palestinian crew members on board. [4] The aircraft which was on a flight from Kano in Nigeria to Bamako, Mali struck trees and then crashed and broke up. [5] The crash highlighted the role of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in the operations of Air Bissau, which reportedly supplied the airline with three Fokker F27s and which were operated by Palestinian crews. According to Flight International this role had been codified by an agreement between the PLO and Guinea-Bissau in 1988, [4] which according to Daniel Pipes saw George Khallaq buying part equity in the airline from the government of Guinea-Bissau. [6]
The airline also operated an Antonov An-24, [7] and it was this aircraft which crashed on 7 April 1992 near Ma'tan as-Sarra in Libya. The aircraft was on a flight from Khartoum, Sudan to Tunis, Tunisia, when it encountered a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert, forcing the Palestinian crew to attempt an emergency landing at Maaten al-Sarra Air Base. According to Libyan radio reports the aircraft vanished 15 minutes before reaching the base. The aircraft was carrying PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, and an entourage of bodyguards and assistants. [8] [9] [10] The aircraft was found by the Libyan Air Force almost 12 hours after the crash, where it was confirmed the three crew were killed, and all ten passengers, including Arafat, survived. [11]
It was reported that by 1996 all of the aircraft in the fleet were either sold or written off, and the government was planning to privatise the airline. All flights of the airline were being operated as joint services with other airlines, utilising their aircraft. Air Bissau was operating a joint-weekly service from Bissau to Lisbon with a Boeing 757 operated by Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde, and a weekly service from Bissau to Dakar, again in conjunction with the Cape Verde national airline, utilising one of its ATR 42s. [1]
The airline was liquidated in 1998, when the Guinea-Bissau government contracted all services to TACV of Cape Verde. [3]
Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline, is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The airline also operates charter flights throughout Canada and Alaska. The airline also provides ground handling services and fuel services to other airlines throughout Yukon, and it also provides ground handling services at Vancouver International Airport and Edmonton International Airport. Its main base is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
Egyptair is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in Africa, Europe, Asia, and The Americas. Egyptair is a member of Star Alliance.
Bradley Air Services Limited, operating as First Air, was an airline headquartered in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated services to 34 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, and the Northwest Territories. First Air has assisted in various humanitarian missions such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, airlifting relief supplies and equipment. Its main base, which included a large hangar, cargo and maintenance facility, was located at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, with hubs at Iqaluit Airport, and Yellowknife Airport. On November 1, 2019, the airline consolidated operations with Canadian North.
Tunisair is the national airline of Tunisia. Formed in 1948, it operates scheduled international services to four continents. Its main base is Tunis–Carthage International Airport. The airline's head office is in Tunis, near Tunis Airport.
Air Namibia (Pty) Limited, which traded as Air Namibia, was the national airline of Namibia, headquartered in the country's capital, Windhoek. It operated scheduled domestic, regional, and international passenger and cargo services, having its international hub in Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport and a domestic hub at the smaller Windhoek Eros Airport. As of December 2013, the carrier was wholly owned by the Namibian government. Air Namibia was a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association.
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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1975.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1976.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1977.
PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, operating as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was an airline in Indonesia based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta. It operated scheduled domestic services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled international services to East Timor and Malaysia. The word merpati is Indonesian for "dove", and Nusantara is a Javanese word found in the Pararaton meaning "the outer islands", referring to the Indonesian archipelago. The airline was based at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta. It also maintained both a maintenance and simulator facility at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya. The Merpati Training Centre at Surabaya housed Fokker F-27, AVIC MA60 and CN-235 full motion simulators.
TAAG Angola Airlines E.P. is a state-owned airline and flag carrier of Angola. Based in Luanda, the airline operates domestic services within Angola, medium-haul services in Africa and long-haul services to Brazil, Cuba, and Portugal. The airline was originally set up by the government as DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos in 1938, rechristened TAAG Angola Airlines in 1973, and gained flag carrier status in 1975. It is now a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association.
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LAM - Mozambique Airlines, S. A. or Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, Ltd., operating as LAM Mozambique Airlines, is the flag carrier of Mozambique. The airline was established by the Portuguese colonial government of Mozambique in August 1936 as a charter carrier named DETA - Direcção de Exploração de Transportes Aéreos, and was renamed in 1980 following reorganisation. LAM Mozambique Airlines is based in Maputo, and has its hub at Maputo International Airport. It operates scheduled services in Southern Africa. The company is a member of the International Air Transport Association, and of the African Airlines Association since 1976.
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Maldives Airways was an airline based in Malé, Maldives. It was operational between 1984 and 1986, offering scheduled passenger flights using a fleet of Four Douglas DC-8 aircraft, and three Fokker F-27 aircraft. The usage of American-made airplanes was quite impressive, considering that Air Maldives, the state airline, was operating only one Short Skyvan at that time.
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