AFI is established at Paris in 1990 to offer regional passenger charter services with a pair of Aerospatiale (Sud) Caravelle XBs leased from Europe Aero Service. One Caravelle is withdrawn in 1991. Operations continue apace in 1992-1994, but cease in 1995.
AERO FREIGHT: El Paso International Airport, El Paso, Texas 79925, United States; Phone (915) 772-3273; Fax (915) 772-9243; Year Founded 1979. AF is set up at El Paso in 1979 to offer both passenger and cargo charters. Over the next 20 years, people will be flown all over North America; however, cargo is originally transported in the Texas-Northern Mexico area.
By 1998-2000 , the company employs two full-time and two part-time pilots. It bases 1 Douglas DC-3 freighter at El Paso, along with 1 each Learjet 25 and Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
AERO GERAL, LTDA.: Brazil (1942-1953). Founded to provide services in the Amazon region, AG is formed at Manaus on February 10, 1942. Authorized to inaugurate scheduled services, the new entrant is unable to find a suitable aircraft; the only plane available is a Monocoupe 90A. Consequently, after flying a few charters, AG closes down in 1944.
The moribund operation is purchased and reorganized by F. A. McLaren and a partner in January 1947; unable to compete with Panair do Brazil, S. A. in the Amazon area, McLaren receives permission to transfer his carrier up to Natal. Simultaneously, a route permit is received for a scheduled coastal route. Five ex-military Consolidated PBY-5A Catalinas are purchased, and are employed in March to initiate flights from Rio de Janeiro-Natal. The route is stretched to Santos in May.
The Rio-Santos route is flown without significant fanfare over the next four years; the fleet is upgraded by the addition of 2 Douglas DC-3s and 1 Curtiss C-46 Commando freighter. Tragedy strikes on June 2, 1951, when a Catalina is lost in a crash with all aboard.
Unable to continue profitably thereafter, AG is purchased by VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense, S. A.) in May 1952, and subsequently absorbed into the larger carrier in July 1953.
AERO GUADALAJARA, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (1991-1994). Established at Guadalajara by two families in the ground express/trucking business during the spring of 1991, AG inaugurates regional scheduled passenger services with a pair of Grumman G-159 Gulfstream Is. Destinations initially visited include Monterrey, Tampico, Puerto Vallarta, and San Luis de Potosi.
In 1993, the company withdraws from scheduled services to offer only charters. Like the previous schedule, these, too, are unprofitable and the company shuts its doors in 1994.
AERO INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES: United States (1982-1984). In late 1982, Homestead, Florida-based Bahamas Caribbean Airlines
Is reformed and takes this name. Equipped with 1 each Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislander, BN-2 Islander, Beech 18, and Piper PA-34 Seneca, and 2 Cessna 402s, the company continues to provide on-demand air taxi services, linking its base with Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Marathon, Marco Island, Freeport, and Bimini. Additional destinations served include Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Pierce, and Titusville.
Operations continue apace in 1983 and, in late 1984, the small regional, having elected to inaugurate scheduled services, is renamed Air South (3).
AERO KUZNETSK NOVOKUZNETSK AIRLINE: Russia (19521999). A child of the West Siberian Regional Air Traffic Department, this carrier traces its heritage back to the Novokuznetsky United Air Traffic Unit established in 1952. In 1991, the aerial unit is renamed Novokuznet-skoe Avia State Enterprise and, in 1993, the current title is chosen.
Anatoli V. Postnikov is CEO, with Boris I. Kalintsev as general director. One of hundreds of airlines to become independent after the collapse of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines, this company, based at Novokuznetsk Airport, employs a total of 1,442, including 300 aircrew. A fleet is assembled that includes 9 Tupolum Tu-154B/Ms, 5 Antonov An-24s, 5 An-26s, 9 Mil Mi-2 helicopters, and 10 Mi-8s.
Scheduled services are undertaken to the domestic points of Anapa, Krasnodar, Moscow, Soshi, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Nishnevar-tovsk. International flights are made to Ankara, Antalya, Athens, Burgas, Barcelona, Fujairah, Istanbul, Larnaca, Malaga, Seoul, and Sharjah. Charters are also operated.
Traffic figures are released to the West for the first time in 1994 and show enplanements of 305,447. Passenger boardings inch up 0.7% in 1995 to 307,600 while freight rises 6.7% to 9.6 million FTKs.
Flights continue in 1996-1999; the fleet now includes 5 each An-24s and An-26s, 10 Mil Mi-8s, and 9 each Mil Mi-2s and Tu-154Bs. Principal destinations served are Istanbul, Krasnodar, Moscow, and Novosibirsk. During the spring of 1999, the carrier, unable to cover its bills, is forced into bankruptcy and must surrender most of its leased aircraft. One of Western Siberia’s last independent airlines, Aero Kuznetsk cannot be reorganized or salvaged and is sold on September 17 to cover its debts.
AERO LEASING GENEVE, S. A. (ALG): P. O. Box 310, Geneva Airport, Geneva, CH-1215, Switzerland; Phone 22-717-0000; Fax 22-717-0100; Code FP; Year Founded 1966. ALG is organized at Geneva Airport as a privately owned aircraft leasing operation in 1966.
In 1968, the company begins lightplane passenger and cargo charters around the country. By the end of the decade, the 75-employee carrier possesses a fleet comprising 3 Dassault Falcon 20s, 2 Gates Learjet 55s, 1 Gates Learjet 35, 1 Gates Learjet 24, and 3 Piper PA-31T Cheyennes.
Traffic growth is steady; for example, 7,489 passengers are carried in 1980 and 8,477 in 1982. In the latter year, ALG becomes a member of the JET Europe executive aircraft-marketing consortium.
Air ambulance, air taxi, and charter operations continue in 19831985. Traffic figures are no longer provided. In 1986, Managing Director Ernest Saxer’s company has increased the number of its Dassaults to 4, by adding a Falcon 10.
Operations continue throughout the remainder of the 1980s and into the 1990s. By 1998-2000, Managing Director Saxer’s fleet includes 2 Douglas DC-9s, 3 Falcon 900s and Falcon 50s, 7 Falcon 20s, 4 Falcon 10s, 1 Learjet 55,2 Learjet 36s, 6 Learjet 35s, 2 Learjet 31s, 2 Canadair Challenger 601s, 2 Cessna Citation IIs, 3 Yakovlev Yak-40s, and 1 Beech King Air 100.
AERO LEASING ITALIANA, S. p.A. (ALI): Via Gregorio Allegri 20, I-00198, Italy; Year Founded 1982. Organized at Ciampino Airport in Rome in 1982, ALI operates executive jet charter flights as a member of the JET Europe air taxi marketing consortium. President G. Giovannetti and General Manager E. Pulidori possess a fleet that comprises 2 Dassault Falcon 20s and 1 Gates Learjet 35.
Air ambulance and air taxi work continues apace over the next 18 years.
AERO LEASING UKRAINE: Kiev-Borispol Airport, Kiev, 252135, Ukraine; Phone 044-216-26-71; Fax 044-216-26-78; Year Founded 1989. ALU is founded at Kiev in 1989 as a subsidiary of the German executive charter operator Aeroleasing Deutschland, GmbH. Alexander Gerkin is appointed station manager and begins and continues flights with a single Dassault 20 leased from the parent.
Flights continue over the next decade, by which time Director Gerkin’s fleet has been doubled to 2 Falcon 20s.
AERO LICHT: Russia (1991-1995). One of a number of new, privately owned airlines, AL is established at Moscow in 1991 as a joint venture between Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) and
Israeli businessman Yaacov Nimrodi to provide a vehicle dedicated to the transport of Jewish immigrants to Tel Aviv.
Flights continue in 1992-1994 with 15 Ilyushin Il-86s leased from the Russian carrier, but cease in 1995.
AERO LLOYD, S. A.: Chile (1991-1995). Francisco Bartolu forms this passenger charter and air taxi service at Antofagasta in 1991. Revenue operations commence and continue with 1 Cessna 337 and 2 Piper PA-31-310 Navajos. By 1994, 3 more Navajos have been acquired, 1 of which is a PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain. The company folds in late 1995 as a result of the world airline recession.
AERO LLOYD FLUGREISEN, GmbH. & CO.: Lessingstrasse 7-9, Postfach 2029, Oberursei, D-61440, Germany; Phone 49 (6171) 6411; Fax 49 (6171) 641 129; Http://www. aerolloyd. de; Code YP; Year Founded 1980. Privately owned ALF is established at Frankfurt on December 20, 1980 as successor to another concern of the same name, founded in 1979, which went out of business for mysterious reasons on December 5.
After assembling a fleet of 3 Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle XRs, the company inaugurates passenger charter flights on April 1, 1981. Specializing in tour operations on behalf of travel organizations, including the Air Travel Market, ALF undertakes services to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East with a fleet that in May 1982 also receives 3 Douglas DC-9-32s.
Operations continue apace in 1983-1985 and passenger enplanements average 300,000 per year. A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 is acquired in March 1986, with another arriving in 1987. Orders are placed for 5 MD-83s and 4 MD-87s. On October 31, 1988, the carrier begins offering low-cost scheduled domestic services in competition with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. Major shareholding is held by Air Charter Market (52.25%) and Jan Klimitz (42.7%); orders are placed for MD-11s.
The 457-employee operator owns or leases a fleet of 11 aircraft in 1989: 3 Caravelles, 3 MD-83s, 3 DC-9-32s, and 2 MD-87s. Munich to London (LGW) scheduled flights begin on December 1.
Overall enplanements for the year total 1.35 million, including 44,000 scheduled.
The workforce in 1990 totals 740 and work begins on a $10.7-million headquarters building at Oberursel, near Frankfurt. Construction is also started on a new maintenance hangar at Munich 2 Airport.
Full-year scheduled figures show that a total of 231,147 passengers are transported.
Airline employment stands at 650 in 1991 and the fleet now includes
3 leased DC-9-32s, 6 owned and 7 leased MD-83s, and 4 MD-87s. Paris and Zurich join the scheduled network. Scheduled passenger boardings climb 15.3% to 266,605. Income exceeds expenses and the operating profit is $149.94 million. There is a $9.87-million net loss.
The workforce grows by 4.9% in 1992 to 886. In March, Senior General Manager Reinhard Kipke’s Aero Lloyd is taken over by Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. The new subsidiary suspends its last scheduled route, Frankfurt to Berlin, in April and returns to charter work.
Destinations visited from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg are primarily the Mediterranean and Canary Island holiday resorts. Overall enplanements slide 5.2% to 1,143,699 and revenues decline 6.4% to $341.14 million. Expenses fall 11.7% to $189.53 million and the operating surplus totals $151.6 million. The net gain is $1.63 million.
In 1993, Senior General Manager Kipke and General Manager Walter Schneider oversee a workforce of 950. The lease on the DC-9-32s is allowed to expire late in the year; however, an Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-300 is provided.
Atotal of 2,239,200 passengers are flown on the year and a $7-million loss is suffered.
Airline employment decreases to 850 in 1994 and the fleet now includes 2 MD-82s leased from Adria Airways, 13 chartered MD-83s, 2 of which are subleased to the Mexican airline Allegro Air, S. A., and
4 owned MD-87s.
Passenger boardings swell 17.4% to 2.7 million and revenues increase 13% to $610 million. A net $5-million profit is reported.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995, the fifteenth anniversary year. Orders remain outstanding for 6 A320-232s and 7 A321-100s.
Customer bookings total 1,245,000 and revenues are $431.8 million. A net gain of $4.1 million is posted.
The workforce remains at 850 in 1996 and the owned fleet comprises 6 MD-83s and 1 MD-87; operated under charter are 6 MD-87s and 2 each MD-82s and MD-87s. The first A320-232 arrives in January wearing the carrier’s new color scheme. The 1994 subleases to or from Adria and Allegro remain in place. Enplanements jump 5.9% to 1,319,400.
With the addition of 5 more A320-232s, all of the MD-87s are retired in 1997. Thirty minutes into a service from Munich to Cairo on November 4, the left engine of an MD-83 catches fire; on-board equipment extinguishes the blaze and the aircraft makes a safe emergency landing back at its point of origin.
Also in November, the company unveils a “logojet” MD-83, painted in the sponsored-style first pioneered by the U. S. carrier Western Pacific Airlines (Westpac). The inaugural unit serves as a flying billboard for Trigema, with titles proclaiming the carrier “Deutschlands grosster T-shirts - und Tennis-Bekleidungs-Hersteller” (Germany’s largest manufacturer of T-shirts and tennis wear).
Passenger boardings this year skyrocket 108.9% to 2,756,000.
Airline employment grows by 28% to 1,340 in 1998.
Taking off from Frankfurt for Palma de Mallorca on September 2, an MD-83 suffers an explosion of the tires on its left main landing gear, rubber from which is ingested in the left engine, which is subsequently put out of commission. A safe emergency landing is made and no injuries are reported.
Customer bookings dip 1.5% to 2.71 million.
A cooperative agreement is signed between ALF and Arkia Israel Airlines, Ltd. on January 24, 1999, under which the two will jointly market charter flights and lease aircraft. The partnership is the first for Arkia with a European airline.
With the beginning of the summer holiday season at the end of March 2000, new charters to Rome are started from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hanover, and Munich. Frequencies to Tel Aviv are also doubled.
AERO LLOYD WARSCHAU, S. A.: Poland (1922-1925). During the summer of 1922, Lloyd Ostflug, GmbH. CEO Gotthard Sachsenberg and Danziger Luftpost, GmbH. chief Erich Milch undertake further efforts to expand eastward. In Poland, the two enter into discussions with the Fanto and Polnaft oil companies, which agree to participate in the formation at Danzig of a Polish airline, Aero Lloyd Warschau, S. A.
Under terms of the July pact, the oil companies will provide fuel, Junkers Flugzeugwerke, A. G. will supply F-13s, and Danziger Luftpost will provide ground support and operational management. The new Polish company signs a contract for the eventual purchase of 14 F-13s. Revenue services commence in September over a route from Danzig to Warsaw and L’viv.
The company’s route system is expanded during the summer of 1923 from Warsaw to Krakow and Poznan. Operations continue apace until March 1925 when the Polish government takes over the company, renaming it Polska Linea Aerolot, S. A.
World History
