 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1977 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs |
| ||||||
| Focus cities |
| ||||||
| Fleet size | 7 | ||||||
| Destinations | 6 | ||||||
| Parent company | Dynamic Technology | ||||||
| Headquarters | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||||||
| Key people | DL Van Dyke (founder & CEO), FG Baylis (founder) | ||||||
Command Airways was an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa operating scheduled services from 6 September 1977 to 30 June 1980 and thereafter non-scheduled services only.
Founded on 30 June 1977 and based at OR Tambo International Airport (then known as Jan Smuts Airport) (JNB), Johannesburg, Command Airways was the first scheduled helicopter airline in South Africa and on the African continent. [1] Services between Pretoria Central Heliport (HPR) and Johannesburg began on 6 September 1977. [2] Within a short period, the route system expanded to include Babelegi Industrial Park Heliport (HBL), Iscor Heliport (HIC) and Lanseria Airport (HLA).[ citation needed ]
Services linking Sandton City Heliport (HCS) and Johannesburg (JNB) were inaugurated on 19 February 1978. Passenger demand rose quickly and authority to increase flight frequency to Sandton City Heliport was given on 9 April 1979.
From 1 September 1979, the carrier allied with Magnum Airlines Ltd and rebranded as Magnum Airlines Helicopters. Sandton City Heliport became an active hub for the airline's scheduled services as well as for other charter and industrial aid operators. The noise of intensified operations was a major public concern and a high-profile media focus. Despite joint attempts by helicopter operators to mitigate their environmental impact, the city council ordered Sandton City Heliport closed effective from 30 June 1980.
The airline again operated as Command Airways, ceased scheduled operations and refocussed on developing its helicopter charter market. [3] Although no longer part of the Magnum Airlines alliance, it maintained other cooperative agreements.
The Command Airways fleet comprised the following aircraft:
South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten destinations in Africa. The carrier joined Star Alliance in April 2006, making it the first African carrier to sign with one of the three major airline alliances.
O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and since 2020, it is Africa's second busiest airport, with a capacity to handle up to 28 million passengers annually. The airport serves as the hub for South African Airways. The airport handled over 21 million passengers in 2017.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about 23 miles (37 km) north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 with direct access to the Hardy Toll Road expressway, George Bush Intercontinental Airport has scheduled flights to a large number of domestic and international destinations covering five continents. It is the busiest airport in Texas for international passenger traffic and number of international destinations, as well as being the second busiest airport in Texas overall, and the 12th busiest in the United States for total passenger traffic.
Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius, with its hub based at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The company was placed in voluntary administration on 22 April 2020 in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and exited administration mid-2021.
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.
Helijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Its scheduled passenger helicopter airline services operates flights from heliports at Vancouver International Airport (YVR), downtown Vancouver, downtown Nanaimo and downtown Victoria. It also operates a charter division serving the film, television, aerial tour, industrial and general charter markets, as well as helicopter and jet air ambulance services. Its head office and main hangar is Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
New York Airways was a helicopter airline in the New York City area, founded in 1949 as a mail and cargo carrier. On 9 July 1953 it may have been the first scheduled helicopter airline to carry passengers in the United States, with headquarters at LaGuardia Airport. Although primarily a helicopter airline operator with scheduled passenger operations, New York Airways also flew fixed wing aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 19-passenger STOL twin turboprop aircraft.
Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 and the airport was created to ease traffic congestion at OR Tambo International Airport.
Air Djibouti, also known as Red Sea Airlines, is the flag carrier of Djibouti. It first flew in 1963 and ceased all operations in 2002. In 2015, the airline was relaunched, first as a cargo airline and then, in 2016, with passenger services as well. It is headquartered in the capital, Djibouti.
Uganda Airlines was the flag carrier of Uganda. The airline was established in May 1976, and started operations in 1977. It was headquartered in Entebbe, Wakiso District, Uganda, and operated from its hub in Entebbe International Airport.
Comair Limited was an airline based in South Africa that operated scheduled services on domestic routes as a British Airways franchisee. It also operated as a low-cost carrier under its own kulula.com brand. Its main base was OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, while focus cities were Cape Town, flying from Cape Town International Airport and Durban, King Shaka International Airport. Its headquarters were near OR Tambo in the Bonaero Park area of Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation was the national airline of the Kingdom of Swaziland. Headquartered in Mbabane with its operational base at Matsapha Airport near Manzini, the airline was founded in 1978. The company still exists, since 2018 under the name Royal Eswatini National Airways Corporation (RENAC), although it does not own an airline, but provides services in the airline sector.
Heli Air Monaco is the flag carrier of Monaco.
Deccan Charters is an aviation company based in Bengaluru, India that operates helicopter and fixed-wing charter services. Its main base is HAL Bangalore International Airport. Deccan Technical Services, the maintenance unit of Deccan Charters, maintains helicopters on behalf of 50 Indian corporates such as Reliance Industries and Essar Group. Their Mumbai centre is the authorised customer service centre to support Sikorsky S-76 helicopters. In March 2017, the firm bagged 21 regional air routes under the Indian Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.
Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline has an ever-expanding network of over 60 routes across 50+ destinations. In January 2021, it became the second-largest carrier within Africa by number of flights, and third-largest by number of seats.
Soroti Airport is an airport serving Soroti, a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda, approximately 290 kilometres (180 mi), by road, north-east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The main runway and apron are asphalt and can support aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737, without damage to the surface. The airport is at an altitude of 3,697 feet (1,127 m), above sea level.
National Airways Corporation is a commercial aviation company with its head office on the grounds of Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company offers a range of products and services for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter markets, including aircraft sales, maintenance, parts, value-added products, aircraft charter, international operations, and pilot training. NAC Operations is the flight operations and charter division. NAC operates a South African network of offices, its main base is Lanseria Airport, with office hubs at Cape Town International Airport, Durban, Grand Central Airport, Wonderboom Airport and Rand Airport. NAC also has businesses internationally in Botswana Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, Gaborone, Awesome Flight Logistics in Perth, Australia and Specialized Aircraft Services in Wichita, USA.
Empire Airways was an airline based in Farmingdale, New York, USA. It operated fixed-wing and helicopter charter services, as well as VIP, corporate shuttle, air ambulance and aircraft maintenance services. Its main base was Republic Airport.
San Francisco and Oakland Helicopter Airlines was a helicopter airline service offering scheduled passenger flights between San Francisco, Oakland, and other Bay Area cities. It was founded in 1961 but disappeared from the Official Airline Guide 15 years later before finally going out of business in 1986.
Gum Air is a Surinamese airline based at Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo, Suriname. Gum Air cooperates with Trans Guyana Airways to provide daily flights between Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG) in Paramaribo, Suriname and Ogle Airport (OGL) in Georgetown, Guyana.
Companies based in Greater Johannesburg | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diversified conglomerates | |||
| Airlines |
| ||
| Construction and engineering | |||
| Energy | |||
| Financial |
| ||
| Hospitality | |||
| ICT | |||
| Legal | |||
| Manufacturing |
| ||
| Media | |||
| Mining | |||
| Retail and marketing | |||
| Restaurant franchises | |||
| Services | |||
| Transport | |||
| State-owned enterprises | |||
