 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1958 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 2006 | ||||||
| Hubs | Freetown Lungi International Airport | ||||||
| Alliance | Eagle Air | ||||||
| Fleet size | 1 | ||||||
| Destinations | 5 (London, Banjul, Monrovia, Conakry and Amsterdam) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Freetown, Sierra Leone | ||||||
| Website | http://www.flysna.com/ | ||||||
Sierra Leone Airways was [1] the national airline of Sierra Leone. It was based at the Lungi International Airport, in Lungi, Sierra Leone. It operated scheduled domestic, regional and international services.
Sierra Leone Airways was founded as Sierra Leone's national carrier in 1958 when the government withdrew from the regional West African Airways Corporation partnership with Nigeria, Ghana, and the Gambia. In 1982, the Sierra Leone government entered into a partnership with Alia/Royal Jordanian Airlines, and relaunched Sierra Leone Airways as Sierra Leone Airlines. [2] [3] Following the suspension of operations by Sierra Leone Airlines in 1987, services from Freetown were resumed on 1 May 1990 under the Sierra National Airlines. [4]
In early 2004 the airline experienced some problems with its United Kingdom Sales and Reservations structures which were restructured. Scheduled flights between London Gatwick Airport and Lungi International Airport, Freetown, resumed on 30 November 2004. [5]
They intend to operate a Douglas DC-9 on Freetown – Liberia – Accra – Abidjan services, and a service between Freetown and Johannesburg. A Boeing 767 would be used on the Freetown-London service, with connections to other cities in Europe. They also intended to commence flights to Dubai with connections through Banjul and Conakry [6]
In early 2005 the Sierra Leone Airports Authority claimed that SNA owed them US$800,000 in charges for landing fees, electricity, rent and ground handling services and complained that the refusal to pay the debts is affecting their operations. They won a court case against the airline but the government stopped the process. [7]
As of January 2005 Sierra National Airlines operated the following services:
First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel plc, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports. 70% of the airline's services were operated for its parent company, rising to 85% in the summer season, with the remainder on behalf of some 120 other tour operators. It also operated scheduled year-round leisure routes to Cyprus and the resorts of Spain and Portugal.
Iraqi Airways Company, operating as Iraqi Airways, is the national carrier of Iraq, headquartered on the grounds of Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad. It is the second oldest airline in the Middle East. Iraqi Airways operates domestic and regional services; its main base is Baghdad International Airport.
Ghana Airways Limited was the flag carrier of Ghana, with its main base of operation and hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. The airline ceased operations in 2004, although plans were discussed to revive it in 2020 in partnership with Egyptair.
ADC Airlines was a Nigerian airline owned by Aviation Development Company plc and headquartered in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. It operated domestic scheduled services and regional charter flights. It had applied to be designated on international routes. Its main base was Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
Afrinat International Airlines was an airline headquartered in Bakau, the Gambia. It was founded in 2002, and provided scheduled services within West Africa out of Banjul International Airport. In 2004, the airline ceased to exist.
Gambia International Airlines Limited (GIA) is the national carrier of the Gambia and the most experienced and trusted ground handler in Banjul, The Gambia. GIA's mandate is to provide air transportation and related services to carriers operating at Banjul International Airport. Since its inception, GIA's core activities were categorized into flight operations, ground handling, cargo operations, Ticket sales and reservation, and Hajj and Umrah activities. However, the flight operation unit of GIA has been dormant for a while due to the lack of a viable partner to reactivate this activity.
Bellview Airlines was an airline headquartered at Bellview Plaza in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria. Founded in 1992 and having had 308 employees, it operated scheduled passenger flights within Africa as well as international flights to London Heathrow Airport; Amsterdam Airport Schiphol; Dubai International Airport; Madrid–Barajas Airport; Düsseldorf Airport and Madrid–Barajas Airport out of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The airline was shut down in 2009.
Compagnie Nationale Air Guinée, in its latter years known as Air Guinee Express, was an airline based in Conakry, Guinea. Its main base was Conakry International Airport.
Slok Air International (Gambia) Ltd was a scheduled passenger airline registered in Gambia. Its main base was at Banjul International Airport in Banjul, the Gambia.
Titan Airways Limited is a British charter airline based at London Stansted Airport. The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI and wet lease operations, as well as ad-hoc passenger and cargo charter services to tour operators, corporations, governments, and the sports and entertainment sectors. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail, on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
Paramount Airlines is an aviation company in Sierra Leone that used to provide a helicopter service between the capital, Freetown, and Lungi International Airport as well as other cities within the country.
Nigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, was a one-time Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation (WAAC). It held the name West African Airways Corporation Nigeria until 1971, when it was renamed, until it ceased operations in 2003. The government of Nigeria owned a majority of the airline (51%) until 1961, when it boosted its shareholding in the company to 100% and made it the country's flag carrier. At the time of dissolution, the airline's headquarters were at Airways House in Abuja. Operations were concentrated at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and served both domestic and international destinations mainly concentrated in West Africa; the network also had points in Europe, North America and Saudi Arabia. The airline was managed by a number of foreign companies, including British Airways, KLM and South African Airways.
Freetown International Airport (officially), formerly known as Lungi International Airport, is an international airport is situated in the coastal town of Lungi, Sierra Leone. It is the sole international airport in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone River separates the airport from Freetown, the capital city.
Piedmont Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled carrier that operated from 1948 until it merged with USAir in 1989. Its headquarters were at One Piedmont Plaza in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a building that is now part of Wake Forest University.
James Spriggs Payne Airport is an airport located 5 kilometres (3 mi) from downtown Monrovia, the capital of the Republic of Liberia in West Africa. The airfield is located within the busy and thickly settled Sinkor section of the city, and is therefore convenient to the business and political districts of the capital. Whereas Roberts International Airport is the primary aviation facility for the city and indeed the entire country, Spriggs-Payne has the only other paved runway in Liberia and once had the only other international commercial flights into and out of Liberia. The airport is named after James Spriggs Payne who was president of the Republic of Liberia in 1868–70 and again in 1876–78.
Mauritania Airways S.A. was an airline based in Nouakchott, Mauritania, operating out of Nouakchott International Airport.
West African Airways Corporation, or WAAC for short, was an airline that operated from 1946 to 1958, jointly owned by the governments of Britain's four west African colonies, namely The Gambia, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The carrier was headquartered at the Airways House in Ikeja, Nigeria, and operated from its hub at Lagos Airport. It was dissolved on 30 September 1958, after all the shareholder countries but Nigeria set up their own national airlines following their independence. As the sole remaining major stockholder of the airline, the government of Nigeria continued to operate it as WAAC Nigeria, which was eventually renamed Nigeria Airways and became the flag carrier of the country.
Elysian Airlines is a cargo airline based at Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and had additional significant operations at Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, and at Conakry International Airport in Conakry, Guinea. According to the airline's website, it was founded in January 2006 as a public limited company, with 51% of shares held by a Cameroonian consortium and the remainder owned by a British/South African group. Elysian's scheduled operations stopped in 2010, but resumed in 2015.
Fly 6ix is a former passenger airline with its head office in Freetown, Sierra Leone, operating out of Lungi International Airport.
Fly Salone was an airline based in the United Kingdom that operated scheduled and charter flights between London and Freetown, Sierra Leone. The airline conducted its first flight on 11 December 2015. On 17 March 2016, Fly Salone announced it had ceased trading and operated its last flight the following day.
