At La Paz in 1972 to provide domestic all-cargo charters. Revenue operations begin with a trio of Curtiss C-46 Commandos.
Its No. 1 engine afire, a C-46D with three crew and a passenger carries out a safe emergency landing at Santa Ana on December 7, 1973;
Although the aircraft will be destroyed, all aboard are safely evacuated beforehand.
Service continues until the fail of 1980.
TRANSAFRIK: Sao Tome and Principe (1986-1993). This charter operator, headquartered at Shannon, Ireland, is formed at Sao Tome on November 28, 1984 to offer contract passenger and freight services to destinations primarily in Africa. President C. R. G. Hellinger’s company employs 220 workers and beginning on December 1, operates a fleet of 4 Lockheed L-382G Hercules and 2 Douglas DC-8-33Fs.
In 1987, two used Lockheed L-188A Electras replace one DC-8-33F. One had originally been operated by American Airlines and the other by Garuda Indonesian Airways.
On April 8, possibly as the result of multiple hits from small arms fire, an L-382G with four crew suffers a double engine fire while on final approach to Luena. The plane makes a forced landing in bush country about 1.5 km. from the end of the runway at Luena and although the aircraft is subsequently burned out, there are no fatalities.
In 1990-1991, two DC-8-20Fs and a BAC 1-11-322SR are acquired.
While at 17,000 ft. and en route from Luanda to Lunda Norte Province on March 16 of the latter year, another Hercules freighter, with three crew and six passengers, is hit by a surface-to-air guided missile. The turboprop crashes 32 km. from Malange and there are no survivors.
Three more Hercules freighters are leased from the South African operator Safair Freighters (Pty.), Ltd. in 1992. In 1993, the carrier is reformed and with the new name Transafrik International, is transferred to Luanda, Angola.
TRANSAFRIK INTERNATIONAL: P. O. Box 2839, Luanda International Airport, Luanda, Angola; Phone 244 (2) 352 141; Fax 244 (2) 393 397; Year Founded 1993. In 1993, the company headquarters of the Sao Tome and Principe-based Transafrik are transferred to Luanda, Angola. A new title, Transafrik International, is chosen, along with a revised logo and appropriate new aircraft livery. Managing Director Erich Koch’s airline continues to specialize in large-scale cargo lifts under difficult conditions. The fleet now includes 1 each British Aerospace BAe (BAC) 1-11-211AH, Douglas DC-8-33F, Grumman G-159 Gulf-stream I, Lockheed L-382E Hercules, L-382G Hercules leased from Safair Freighters (Pty.), Ltd. of South Africa, and a Bell 206B Je-tRanger helicopter.
The workforce stands at 200 in 1994 and the fleet is enhanced by the addition of a third Hercules freighter and two Boeing 727-100Fs.
While landing at M’Banza Congo, Angola, after an April 27 all-cargo service from Luanda, a B-727-44F with three crew touches down 2 m. short of the runway; the aircraft veers off the right side of the runway and crosses a road, striking a bus with its right wing. Although the aircraft and bus are badly damaged, there are no fatalities.
The UN is able to broker a shaky peace arrangement between warring factions in the former Portuguese colony. UN monitors will attempt to keep the pact from falling apart.
Services continue in 1995-1997, during which years the fleet is altered and comes to include just 1 Hercules plus 1 each B-727-51, B-727-82, B-727-22F, B-727-23F, and B-727-95F and 1 Bell 206B JetRanger.
The workforce is boosted by three employees in 1998. A Lockheed L-382C is leased from a Bolivian concern early in the year to operate all-cargo services in Africa on behalf of the UN. In mid-June, the plane crashes somewhere in Zambia, losing an engine and suffering its wing to be torn off. No fatalities are reported.
The company becomes the focus of a flurry of publicity over the Christmas holidays when two additional Hercules freighters, which it has leased to operate on behalf of the UN in Angola, are both shot down during renewed fighting between the Luanda government and its principal opposition.
The first, with 14 passengers, is lost on December 26 in the Vila Nova area shortly after taking off from Huambo. Although it appears from initial reconnaissance over the area, recently secured by government forces from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), that the aircraft has landed in such a condition that some aboard may have survived, such is not the case. After securing approval from both warring parties, a UN search party visits the scene and finds charred wreckage and bodies.
The second aircraft, with four crew and five passengers, is downed on January 2, 1999, near Huambo, again with no survivors. Due to fierce fighting, a visit to the crash site by a rescue team is not, however, possible for some time.
Other services continue without incident or headline during the remainder of the year. The B-727 fleet at year’s end includes 3 Dash-23Fs, 1 each Dash-30C, Dash-31F, Dash-22C, Dash-25F, Dash-95F, and Dash-90C.
Following its second ILS approach in storms to Luanda after an allcargo service from Salima on February 12, 2000, the B-727-82 with seven passengers lands hard with its right wing low. The wing hits the ground and breaks off. Although no injuries are reported, the jetliner must be written off.
TRANSAIR, LTD. (1): Canada (1956-1979). Central Northern Airways, Ltd. and Arctic Wings, Ltd. merge at Winnipeg in early 1956. The fleet and route system are based primarily upon the aircraft, services, and DEW Line construction support contracts brought into the partnership by the former CNA. Both of the Curtiss C-46s acquired by CNA in February 1955 are lost, one at Fox, Manitoba, on April 3 and the other at Coral Harbor, Northwest Territories, on July 6. Meanwhile, on May 30, one of the carrier’s three Bristol 170 Mk. 31 Freighters exceeds the runway when landing at Beaver Lodge Lake, Northwest Territories, and is lost through the ice. On June 18, a second Bristol Freighter is lost when it falls through the ice at Povungnituk, on Hudson’s Bay, sinking 40 ft.
Additional DEW Line air supply contracts are obtained and the first aircraft acquired by the new company is a Douglas DC-4 received in June. It is employed to fly to the Mid-Canada Line bases along a route from Montreal to Ottawa to Churchill, Manitoba. It is followed into service in August by a Consolidated PBY-5A Canso, which will, however, be sold in October. Also during the summer, two de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers are obtained.
Three Avro 685 York C.1s enter service in September. One of these is lost at Fox on September 13; no other information is available.
An Avro 685 York C.1 is lost 33 mi. S of Rankin Inlet on January 8, 1957; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities. Another Canso flying boat is received in March.
A fifth Cessna 180 is acquired in July but is withdrawn the following month. In August and September, three Douglas DC-3s are acquired from Canadian Pacific Air Lines, Ltd. In the latter month, Transair takes over CPAL’s route between Winnipeg and Churchill via Dauphin, the Pas, Flin Flon, and Lynn Lake. A Noorduyn Norseman VI sinks at Wabowden Lake on October 20.
Scheduled and contract services continue virtually unchanged over the next three years. In February 1958, a 10-year-old Avro Anson V is withdrawn and scrapped. The last Bristol Freighter is sold to Wardair Canada, Ltd. in March. On July 28, a Norseman VI is lost in a fire at Eskimo Point and in August, a decade-old Republic RC-3 is sold to Holiday Enterprises, Ltd.
A Norseman V is lost while landing at Fox Channel on January 18, 1959. Another DC-3 is purchased in April and in November, the carrier’s six-year-old Lockheed Model 12Ais passed to Superior Airways, Ltd. Meanwhile, in June, a Norseman V is destroyed in a crash at Sandy Bank Lake and an Avro Anson V acquired in March 1960 is sold in April to Spartan Air Service.
A large USAF DEW Line resupply contract is received in 1961 in addition to a new stop at Thompson on the Winnipeg to Churchill scheduled route. To undertake these new services, four additional DC-4s are acquired between March and May. In May and June, the last four Cessna 180s are withdrawn along with a Norseman IV. A sixth DC-4 joins the fleet in February 1962.
In April 1963, Trans-Canada Airlines, Ltd. sells its Prairie Air Service to Transair for C$1. To service this new network—Winnipeg to Regina via Brandon and Yorkton, plus Regina to Prince Albert via Saskatoon—the state carrier in March-May also provides two more DC-3s and a Vickers Viscount 724.
Airline employment in 1964 stands at 312 and the fleet includes 28 aircraft. The route from Regina to Calgary, via Swifts Current and Medicine Hat, is terminated in January. Simultaneously, the Prairie Air Service is now fully implemented. In April, the 1961 DEW Line airlift contract is once again awarded to the company.
A DC-6 is leased to supplement other aircraft making the regularly offered sportsmen’s fishing charter flight to Great Bear Lake from Winnipeg. This is the longest such route in the world. A DHC-2 Beaver is withdrawn in September. Enplanements are now 75,901.
The workforce increases to 349 in 1965. It is decided by the new management team, lead by President M. P. Martyn, to consolidate departments and to reorganize the company along functional lines. The decision is also taken to operate transatlantic charters and these are begun by 1 each new DC-7C and DC-6. A Beech 18S is acquired in February.
In the spring, a Viscount low-fare coach service, The Plainsman, is inaugurated on the prairie routes. Three Norsemen VIs, two PBY-5A Can-sos, a DHC-2 Beaver, and an Avro Anson V are also withdrawn as an option is taken on a Lockheed Hercules freighter. Passenger boardings climb to 85,022.
Two DC-4s are withdrawn in 1966, one in March and the other in June. A third Canso is also sold in March. Another DC-3 is received in December. The DC-7C is sold in January 1967 and the first de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter joins the fleet in February. The DC-6, a DHC-2 Beaver, and a Norseman VI are sold in June, followed by a 20-year-old Bellanca Air Cruiser in July and the Beech 18S in August.
A DC-4 is sold in April 1968 and two Japanese-made Nihon YS-11A turboprops are acquired in August. Christened Norway House and Cumberland House, they are the first Transair aircraft to receive individual aircraft names. A DC-3 is lost in a September 25 crash at Coral Harbor.
Formed by merger in April 1969, Midwest Airlines, Ltd. is taken over in November. The new subsidiary will be allowed to operate under its own name in modified Transair livery. Three of five Hawker Sidde-ley HS 748s leased by Midwest prior to the merger are returned by year’s end. Meanwhile, a DC-6B is acquired in March, two Grumman G-21A Gooses and a G-73 Mallard in April, and a Shorts SC-7 Skyvan in June. Two DC-4s are sold in September.
Orders are placed for two Boeing 737s, which are delivered in March 1970 and enter service in April on two new routes out of Winnipeg: to Toronto via Dryden, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie and to Resolute Bay via Churchill. These B-737-29ACs are the first Transair jetliners to be christened with individual names, i. e., Fort William and Fort York, respectively. Four Hawker Siddeley Argosy Freighters are obtained between April and July for a new, but ultimately unsuccessful, trans-Canada all-freight service. Meanwhile another Midwest Airlines, Ltd. HS 748 is withdrawn in February and a DC-3 in October.
The Vickers Viscount 724 is withdrawn in January 1971, followed by the G-73 Mallard in March and another ex-Midwest HS 748 in April. Two more DHC-6s arrive in July. The DC-6B is sold in June 1972 and the last two DC-4s in August. Two of the last three DC-3s are simultaneously withdrawn. The first of two Fokker F.28-1000s on order is delivered in its yellow and brown livery during October and is named Fort Resolution. When it enters service, it is the first of its type to operate scheduled airline service in North America.
Rosella Bjornson is now hired as a Fokker first officer. She will shortly become the first Canadian female airline pilot and the first woman in North America to fly a commercial jetliner on a scheduled service.
Charter frequencies are increased and Jamaica replaces Barbados as a Winnipeg charter destination. Agreements are reached with commuter carriers to provide third-level replacement services in several market areas.
Airline employment is now 500 and a total of 273,000 passenger boardings are generated during the year.
The second Fokker F.28-1000, christened Fort Prince of Wales, is placed into service in April 1973. A Canso is sold in May and another in July. Also, in July, the two G-21As are sold to West Coast Air. An Argosy Freighter is sold in October. A B-737-248 is leased from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. for the winter 1973-1974 season; named Fort Rouge while in Canadian colors, it will be leased again in 1974 and 1975.
The Irish state carrier also provides a B-707-348C, Fort Garry, on a five-month charter beginning in December. The employee population numbers 632.
Customer bookings increase 20% to 328,000 while FTKs operated rise an incredible 278% to 3.2 million.
Two additional Twin Otters are procured in February 1974 and the last DC-3 is sold in March. A second Argosy Freighter is sold in July and in October, a B-707-351C is purchased from Northwest Airlines and takes the Fort Garry name. Scheduled operations begin to Resolute Bay. Charter programs to Hawaii are expanded and the company applies for the Prairie Service route to Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert.
Enplanements for the year total 465,196.
The workforce in 1975 is 842. In February, the final HS 748 is withdrawn and sold. The unsuccessful Fort Garry is also withdrawn, on February 8, and sold to Bangladesh Biman Airlines, Ltd., which takes delivery in April. Also in February and into March, the last two Canso flying boats are withdrawn. A second frequency is inaugurated on April 1 between Winnipeg and Toronto via Dryden, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie.
The tour operator Filmont Tours International, Ltd. is purchased to ensure feed and the company enters heavily into the areas of maintenance and overhaul of flight equipment and begins to overhaul the government’s military B-707s. The Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. Fort Rouge is leased for a final time in December.
Passenger boardings decline 15% to 404,519 and a total of 636,000 FTKs are operated.
Plagued by financial difficulties unresolved since the recession and fuel price increases early in the decade, Transair in 1976 begins to sell off its short-haul routes to third-level carriers, disposing of three. In addition, two DHC-6s are sold to one of the purchasers, Perimeter Aviation, Ltd., in June.
The last two HS Argosy 222 Freighters are disposed of in November along with a DHC-6 that goes to Calm Air, Ltd. The workforce is reduced by 1.1% through the year to 757.
Customer bookings accelerate 16.2% to 455,114 while cargo is up by 28.3% to 7.7 million FTKs.
In February 1977, Pacific Western Airlines, Ltd. purchases 70% majority control and while seeking government approval, allows Transair to continue under its own name on a limited schedule.
Enplanements for the year total 515,252.
Planning the integration of the Winnipeg-based carrier into its new owner takes up most of 1978. During the year, Transair terminates all of its services east of Winnipeg. Still, passenger boardings rise 10.6% during this final period, to 576,344.
The takeover is officially completed on December 1, 1979.
World History
