The early years Air Afrique

air afrique douglas dc-6b @ manchester airport in 1963

cheikh fall appointed first ceo of company on 25 june 1961 (1961-06-25). started operations on 1 august 1961 (1961-08-01) serving internal routes 12 leased dc-4s air france , uat. on 15 october 1961 (1961-10-15), air france lockheed constellation flew paris–port etienne–dakar–abidjan–cotonou–douala route on behalf of company inaugurated long-haul operations. pressurised douglas dc-6 aircraft added fleet in 1960s, leased uat. on 5 january 1962 (1962-01-05), carrier deployed boeing 707s, leased air france, on paris–dakar–abidjan , paris–douala–brazzaville runs; these first jet aircraft introduced on carrier s intercontinental routes. 2 dc-8s first jets ordered airline in december same year. in 1962, carrier became member of international air transport association.

in january 1963 (1963-01), cheikh fall appointed general manager of company. union de transports aériens (uta) formed in october 1963 (1963-10) merger of uat , transports aériens intercontinentaux (tai). following this, air afrique ownership reorganised, sodetraf acquiring 28% stake , balance being held member states. first dc-8 delivered in october 1963 (1963-10), , entered service month later; second aircraft of type handed on in january next year, being deployed on route marseille late month. air afrique became owner of entire fleet in november 1963 (1963-11), following agreement uta. in 1963, hajj flights, carrying pilgirms mecca, commenced using starliner aircraft. in april 1964 (1964-04), air afrique authorised connect several african countries united states , in november, paris–abidjan run started calling @ geneva on weekly basis.

by april 1965 (1965-04), air afrique had 2,500 employees. @ time, there 2 dc-8-50s in service, along 3 dc-4s , 4 dc-6s. month, route paris, stopping @ dakar , geneva, began calling @ robertsfield. month later, air afrique passengers started flying united states allocated on pan flights. in 1965, company ordered 2 caravelles; third dc-8, convertible (dc-8f) 1 used increase cargo capacity, ordered in july. in 1966, dc-8f entered fleet , carrier started withdrawing dc-6s service. togo became 12th state in joining consortium in 1965, not until 1968 country held participation in carrier. mid-1960s, carrier took on air france , uta maintenance facilities located @ dakar-yoff airport. there, company carried out maintenance aircraft (excluding jet fleet) , undertook maintenance works foreign carriers, including air mauritanie , air senegal, , air forces of neighbour countries. maintenance centre located @ douala airport. however, major maintenance works provided uat @ le bourget airport.

air afrique received 2 caravelle 11rs, mixed passenger-cargo version of caravelle 10r, in september 1967 (1967-09). 2 dc-4s sold @ time in order company afford costs of these new aircraft. caravelles deployed on african routes, replacing dc-6s. in 1968, dc-8-50 joined fleet. then, route network included 22 african countries, along bordeaux, lyon, marseille, nice , paris in france, geneva in switzerland , new york in united states (in agreement pan am).

cite error: there <ref group=nb> tags on page, references not show without {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see page).