History Air Afrique

1 history

1.1 years
1.2 1970s
1.3 1980s
1.4 1990s
1.5 final years

history
the years

air afrique conceived in february 1960 (1960-02) joint subsidiary of air france , union aéromaritime de transport (uat) take on regional services these airlines had operated in africa. new company registered in september 1960 air afrique (société de transports aériens en afrique). during first conference of francophone countries held in abidjan in october 1960 (1960-10), ivorian president felix houphouët boigny recommended constitution of multinational airline these countries. eleven heads of state attended next conference, held @ brazzaville in december same year, agreed form company. gambia, ghana , mali decided stay away project, had plans setting own airlines aid soviets. formation of company took place during third conference, held @ yaoundé in 1961: air afrique (société de transports aériens en afrique) changed name société pour le développement du transport aérien en afrique (sodetraf); eleven countries , sodetraf set new airline. treaty of yaoundé, signed on 28 march 1961 (1961-03-28), founded air afrique joint venture between air france , uat, each of had 17% holding, while eleven newly independent former french colonies in west africa, namely benin, burkina faso, cameroon, central african republic, chad, côte d ivoire, gabon, mauritania, niger, republic of congo , senegal, contributed remaining 66% of capital, estimated in 500 millions of cfa francs. léopoldine doualla-bell smith, flight attendant, invited move air afrique in 1960; qualified african person in french aviation, , became first employee hired 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).

the 1970s

an air afrique caravelle standing @ le bourget airport in 1977. third aircraft of type delivered in 1971.

the company ordered 2 mcdonnell douglas dc-10-30s in february 1970 (1970-02), boosting order 1 more aircraft of type same year. amid increasing tourism in africa, in march same year airline acquired 51% stake in société de développement hôtelier & touristique en afrique d l ouest; air afrique held interests in tourist agencies. @ april same year, number of employees 3,370 , aircraft park stood @ 3 dc-8s, 1 dc-8f, 2 caravelle 11rs, 1 dc-3 , 4 dc-4s. in december 1970 (1970-12), dc-8-63cf entered fleet , 2 namc ys-11as purchased; these turboprop airliners transferred air ivoire in 1972. air afrique started flights new york in own right in january 1971 (1971-01), using dc-8-63 aircraft. in august same year, central african republic s president jean bedel bokassa stated country leave consortium form own airline, air centrafrique; withdrawal plans shelved. shortly afterwards, cameroon s president ahmadou ahidjo discontented airline both lack of cameroonians in top management positions , location of head office in abidjan, douala city highest traffic among points served carrier in africa @ time, , ahidjo believed head office should located there. in september, cameroon withdrew support consortium run own national carrier, cameroon airlines, had been founded on 26 july 1971 (1971-07-26). ownership reorganised following cameroon breakaway, remaining shareholder countries participating 6.18% each , sodetraf keeping 28%.

a douglas dc-8-30 @ euroairport in 1978. dc-8 entered fleet in 1963.

during 1971, third caravelle incorporated fleet, , regional headquarters central africa moved douala, cameroon libreville in gabon. move angered chadian president françois tombalbaye, threatened withdraw support multinational enterprise in 1972, did not occur. carrier joined air france reservation system in 1973. first wide-bodied dc-10-30, named ″libreville″, delivered on 28 february 1973 (1973-02-28), arriving in dakar on 2 march. starting 13 march, type replaced dc-8s on paris–bordeaux–nouakchott–dakar, paris–dakar–abidjan, paris–fort lamy–dakar–brazaville, paris–marseilles–niamey–cotonou–abidjan routes in gradual manner. late in 1973, fourth caravelle acquired royal jordanian airlines , douglas dc-8-55f entered fleet. cheikh fall succeeded aoussou koffi @ head of company in 1974.

at march 1975 (1975-03), workforce had grown 3,726 , carrier s fleet comprised 3 caravelles (one 10r , 2 11rs), 1 dc-3, 5 dc-8s (one dc-8-63cf, 1 dc-8-30 , 3 dc-8-50s) , dc-10-30. in august, third dc-8-55f purchased. second dc-10-30, ″cotonou″, joined fleet in 1976; prior incorporation, aircraft had been delivered in june 1975 (1975-06) , leased thai international airways. in 1976, gabon left consortium , formed air gabon; sierra leone incorporated in 1978. third dc-10-30 ordered in 1977 , boeing 747-200c in 1978. in 1979, company placed order airbus 1 airbus a300b4, intended fly dakar–paris route, , 2 airbus a310s; order later homogenised include 3 a300b4s. boeing 747f ordered year.

the 1980s

a mcdonnell douglas dc-10-30 @ paris-charles de gaulle airport in 1980. airline received first aircraft of type in 1973. registration tu-tam , named ″cotonou″, particular aircraft second dc-10-30 company received, in 1976.

in july 1980 (1980-07) airline had 5,100 employees , fleet comprised pair of caravelle 10rs, 3 dc-8-50s, 2 dc-8-50fs, 1 dc-8-63 , 3 dc-10-30s served 22 african nations , intercontinental routes bordeaux, geneva, lyon, marseilles, nice, new york, paris, rome , zurich. 3 aircraft (an airbus a300b4, airbus a310 , boeing 747-200f) on order. dc-8-55f sold in 1981 ahead of incorporation of new aircraft; year, 3 airbus a300s, boeing 747-200c , third dc-10-30 named niamey joined fleet. airline had sell 3 caravelles , 2 dc-8-63s counter financial difficulties arose decline of passengers carried in 1983. on 1 march 1984, boeing 747-200f leased national airlines, in turn sub-leased aircraft saudi arabian airlines. business class introduced on of aircraft during 1984.

an air afrique airbus a300b4-200 departed geneva international airport in 1982. type first ordered in 1979.

the carrier began steep decline during decade, after ″africanisation″ of airline, i.e. africans holding top positions, completed. since time, overbooked flights became frequent, tickets reserved member states never paid, , schedules missed such extent flights arrived half day later or departed ahead of schedule without explanation. losses mounted frf 68 million , frf 6,8 million 1983 , 1984, respectively; contrast, carrier made frf 17.6 million (us$2.47 million) profit during 1985. number of passengers carried year 757,000, 9.5% increase previous year. largely due acquisition of new aircraft or wet-leasing planes other companies, @ 1985 carrier had total debt of us$250 million, approximately fifth of amount being unpaid contributions member states. director-general koffi aoussou attributed losses rise in fuel prices (air afrique spent us$35 million in fuel in 1978 , us$63 million in 1984), overstaffing, increase in competition (mainly uta in european routes), , poor performance of member countries economies. during 1985, auxence ickonga, former head of congolese state-owned oil company hydrocongo, succeeded ivorian aoussou koffi president , director general of airline plans reduce salaries, shrink 5,600-strong staff 515, , sell boeing 747 us$60 million in order make company economically viable. july 1986 (1986-07), debt-to-equity ratio 8:1, obligations rising frf 1,800 million. @ same time, fleet comprised 3 a300s, 2 boeing 727s (one chartered air france , other jat), 2 dc-8s , 3 dc-10s; boeing 747 cargo ickonga intended sell alleviate financial crisis acquired korean air lines us$60 million.

by late 1980s, air afrique had accumulated debts on 200 billion cfa francs. consortium members (benin, burkina faso, central african republic, chad, congo, ivory coast, mauritania, niger, senegal , togo) sought assistance france. on 2 march 1989, rolland billecart —a high-ranking official of french government— entered company, becoming first non-african chairman , ceo of air afrique plans keep company afloat included reduction of workforce 2,000. company carried 710,498 passengers in 1988 , recorded frf 288 million net loss year, whereas frf 7.3 million (us$1.3 million) net profit posted following year, 754,314 passengers carried. workforce cut 1,600 in june 1989. new management lobbied restrict foreign airlines serve member countries in order air afrique take advantage of situation. agadez made part of route network in fall of 1989. short period of time starting in late 1989, 302-seater lockheed l-1011, 137-seater boeing 737 , boeing 707 freighter leased american trans air, aeromaritime , naganagani, respectively, in order supplement fleet.

the 1990s

an air afrique airbus a310-300 @ charles de gaulle airport in 1991. year carrier received first aircraft of type.

at march 1990 (1990-03) fleet consisted of 3 airbus a300b4, 1 mcdonnell douglas dc-8-63f , 3 dc-10-30. in mid-1990, order placed airbus 4 airbus a310-300s plus 4 more options, deliveries starting in mid-1992. in 1990 air france became uta s controlling shareholder. resulted in uta s stake in air afrique passing air france s hands.

the first airbus a310-304 entered fleet in 1991. in 1994 fleet comprised 12 aircraft , carrier had more 4,200 employees. cash position dramatically worsened year after 50% devaluation of cfa franc, situation led seizure of 1 fourth of fleet, due debt defaults, in forthcoming years. subsequently, indebted company had lease in order revert lack of aircraft. nevertheless suspended, or reduced frequency on routes, , codeshared others. during 1995, airline transported 761,000 passengers, losing us$19,000,000 (equivalent $29,863,071 in 2016). in 1995, dhl started participating airline. 1 dc-10-30 sold aom french airlines in february 1996.

billecart left air afrique in 1997 , succeeded sir harry tirvangadum, mauritian national, director general. billecart s management plagued of accusations. claimed failed restructure company due excessive interference governments owned it, whereas employees accused him of worsening air afrique s financial position acquiring 4 airbus a310-300s. tirvangadum reduced debts 31 billion cfa francs. member states, côte d ivoire, mali , senegal provided quota total of 20 billion cfa francs necessary alleviate financial difficulties of carrier @ time. during tirvangandum s mandate, air afrique entered partnership world bank, aimed operations restricted africa. in july 1998 (1998-07), carrier reduced fleet 15 11 when 4 airbus a310-300s returned creditors. late year, debts rose us$300,000,000 (equivalent $440,812,577 in 2016). time, eleven countries on cfa zone major shareholders of airline (70.4%), african , french investors had participation of 13.7%, air france had 12.2% stake, , dhl owned 3.2%.

the final years

at april 2000 (2000-04), carrier had 4,440 employees, fleet comprised 1 antonov an-12, 2 airbus a300-600rs, 3 airbus a300b4-200s, 2 airbus a310-300s, 2 boeing 707-320cs, 5 boeing 737-300s , boeing 767-300er, whereas 2 airbus a330-200s on order. @ same time, route network included abidjan, abu dhabi, accra, athens, bamako, bangui, banjul, beirut, bissau, bordeaux, brazzaville, casablanca, conakry, cotonou, dakar, douala, geneva, jeddah, johannesburg, lagos, libreville, lisbon, lome, malabo, marseille, monrovia, nairobi, ndjamena, new york, niamey, nouakchott, ouagadougou, paris, pointe noire, rome , zürich. in january 2001 (2001-01), jeffrey erickson, former ceo of trans world airlines, attempted re-structure heavily indebted carrier, backed both consultancy , world bank grant, setting 14-month privatization plan. @ time schedules commonly missed airline suffering lack of aircraft. june 2001 (2001-06), air afrique still ranked among top 5 african airlines alongside egyptair, kenya airways, royal air maroc , south african airways debts had risen us$431 million. later year, airline appealed french carrier air france –still minor shareholder in air afrique– negotiation capacity. air france became major shareholder of company when holding raised 35% after cash injection. eleven african governments reduced participation in air afrique 22%, 5% belonged employees, , remaining stake owned other investors. plan air france had in mind close down air afrique , set new airline using same name. despite this, air afrique went out of business in january 2002 (2002-01), in wake of downturn in aviation industry created 2001-09-11 attacks, , never revived. less year earlier company had 4,600 employees service fleet of 6 planes; @ time of closure, had 1 leased operative aircraft, , partly owned air burkina (17%), air mali (11.5%) , air mauritanie (32%). carrier declared bankrupt on 7 february 2002 (2002-02-07). air france took on of air afrique routes.

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