2 de Havilland DH 84 Dragons, this company begins early morning London-Paris newspaper flights on May 14, 1934, continuing them until October 24. A weekend passenger service is operated London (Heston)-Paris via Le Touquet, during the summer. Early morning freight service is initiated over the same route beginning on September
3 and ends a month later.
WRIGHTWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (1934-1940). Capitalized at ?6,000, Wrightways, Ltd. is formed on December 17, 1934 as, actually, a reformation of Wrightson and Pearson, Ltd., with a better marketing title. The early morning London-Paris newspaper service is reopened year-round, beginning in April 1935.
In April 1937, new DH-86s are introduced to the newspaper operation. On-demand weekend passenger services are provided London (Croydon) to Le Touquet between June 10 and September 30, 1938.
War is declared on Germany on September 3, 1939 and all civil flying ceases. Joining neither the National Air Communications or Associated Airways Joint Committee, the company is liquidated in 1940.
WSG EXECUTIVE AIR SERVICE: 5230 W. 63rd St., Chicago, Illinois 60638, United States; Phone (800) 900-5390; Fax (773) 5820806; Year Founded 1995. WSG is set up at Chicago (MDW) in 1995 to provide executive and small group passenger charters to destinations around the world. Four pilots are hired and these fly 1 each Dassault Falcon 10 and Beech King Air 90.
WUHAN AIR LINES COMPANY, LTD.: 230-1 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China; Phone 86 (27) 385-4313; Fax 86 (27) 585-3692; Code WU; Year Founded 1986. Wuhan Air Lines is established at Wuhan, China, in 1986 to offer regional and domestic scheduled passenger and cargo services in and from Hubei Province. Cheng Yaokun is president and he inaugurates services with a fleet that includes 2 Avia 14Ms, 2 SAP Y-5s and 4 Xian Y-7-100s (license-built Antonov An-26s).
Operations continue apace in 1987-1991 as the company’s aircraft visit Beijing, Chengdu, Chongoing, Dallan, Enshi, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Haikou, Hangzhou, Huangyan, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenyang, Sheruhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xian, Xiamen, and Yiwu.
Having experienced engine problems, an Avia 14M with 7 crew and 28 passengers attempts to return from an April 6, 1992 service to Hua-jia and land at its point of origin at Lanzhou; the aircraft crashes before it can reach the runway (14 dead).
Flights are maintained in 1993-1995. During these years, the company begins to operate three leased Boeing 737-3Q8s and orders are outstanding for three more. Enplanements in the latter year total 592,000.
Airline employment stands at 200 in 1996 and passenger boardings jump 8% to 740,000. Cargo traffic accelerates 12.1% to 6.99 million FTKs.
Early in 1997, Wuhan enters into an agreement with the Texas-based leasing company Air Alaska for the charter of a B-737, which is to be delivered to China for the airline’s use. Wuhan makes required escrow and security deposits, including a standby letter of credit.
In compliance with the Chinese government’s desire to increase the efficiency of competition by reducing the number of regional airlines, Wuhan joins five other carriers to form the New Star Alliance in September.
Enplanements during the 12 months total 656,490.
When activated on the following January 1, 1998, the informal compact begins to boost the quality of its members’ services via integrated passenger and marketing services and code-sharing on selected routes.
Wuhan does not receive its little Boeing from Air Alaska and brings suit against the leasing firm and its President/CEO Thor K. Tjontveit in U. S. Federal District Court in Manhattan. Represented by the New York office of the international legal firm of Coudert Bros., the court decides a breach of contract claim in favor of the airline before the trial begins.
At the conclusion of the trial on October 30, Wuhan has won a historic victory. The jury returns a verdict finding both the company and Tjontveit liable for fraud for having failed to deliver the aircraft while keeping the deposits and drawing against the standby letter of credit. Wuhan is awarded compensatory damages of $10.4 million and punitive and exemplary damages of $10.4 million. This is the largest fraud finding in history by an American jury in favor of a Chinese company against an American concern.
Passenger boardings jump 15.4% this year to 790,000, while cargo traffic increases 59.5% to 9.69 million FTKs.
By the start of 1999, airline employment has been increased by 9.1% to 719.
Customer bookings for the year total 707,000 and 1.01 million FTKs are operated.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 200, an 11.7% increase over the previous 12 months The classic B-737 fleet includes 3 Dash-3Q8s, 2 Dash-36Rs, and 1 Dash-3S3.
While on approach to Wuhan in heavy rain and poor visibility at the completion of its June 22 service from Enshi, Flight 343, a Yunshuji Y7-100C with 4 crew and 40 passengers, crashes 12-18 mi. from Wuhan near the village of Sital, Yongfeng Township. Half of the aircraft crashes into a farmhouse while the other half comes to rest on a dike in the Han River after smashing into a vessel and instantly killing seven men installing generators. All aboard the aircraft are also fatalities. The local weather bureau has recorded 451 thunderclaps in the 10 minutes before the disaster and witnesses claim that the aircraft has been hit by lightning.
The remaining six Y-7s are immediately grounded for inspection and their flight crews receive extra training.
The first Y-7s return to service on July 16. At this point, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) orders all Yunshujis and Tupolevs removed from Chinese airline service by June 1, 2001.
On September 15, the carrier completes arrangements for the charter of two Next Generation B-737-86Rs from CIT Aerospace for eight years; they will be delivered in March and June 2001.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), on November 1, grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Wuhan, increase fares on November 5.
An earlier order for three B-717-200s is cancelled on December 11; the aircraft will, instead, be taken by Impulse Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. in Australia.
WYOMING AIR SERVICE: United States (1930-1938). With initial capitalization of $50,000, Richard (president) and Joseph (chief pilot) Leferink begin WAS as a Casper-based FBO on May 9, 1930. Flight training and charter services are offered.
Following an agreement with Border Airlines CEO Earl Vance, Wyoming Air Service, employing a Stinson SM-8A, begins scheduled Casper-Denver service in February 1931. A second SM-8A joins the first in April and during the summer both companies stretch their routes and meet at Sheridan. Border, which had come down from Great Falls, ceases operations in September; however, WAS then extends northward to Billings. Flag stops are now made at Hardin, Montana, Freely and Fort Collins, Colorado, and Buffalo, Glen Rock, Douglas, and Wheatland, Wyoming.
Leferink’s fleet is expanded in 1932-1933 by the addition of another SM-8A and two Stinson Model 5s.
A Post Office mail contract for service to Pueblo is received in February 1934 and the company’s operations are not interrupted by the spring controversy raised by the so-called “Air Mail Scandal.” Flights down to Pueblo from Denver commence on May 3. On May 25, the first three Stinson SR-5A Reliants are received and are placed on the Pueblo service. Another mail contract, Cheyenne-Billings via Casper and Sheridan, is received on June 4. Ten days later, three more Reliants and a Stearman 4D are obtained and the northward contract is initiated on June 20. A Stinson SM-8A is sold in August.
In retrospect, 1935 is a significant year for WAS because of its fleet changes. On January 31, a contract is signed with United Air Lines under which the major agrees to provide WAS with sufficient chartered and gift aircraft—and all attendant services to operate them save personnel— to fly three daily Denver-Cheyenne roundtrips. In return, WAS will give United 200 per airmail letter and half of all passenger revenues.
The Stearman 4D, a Stinson Model 5, and a Stinson SM-8A are sold, but, following the lease of a Boeing 247D from United Air Lines on May 1, the only two Boeing 221A Monomails produced are delivered on May 24. One piloted by Alva Lucas crashes 100 mi. N of Cheyenne, near Glendo, on May 27 (one dead). On August 6, two Lockheed Model 9D Orions are purchased from Northwest Airlines. During the fall, the second Monomail is destroyed in a Pueblo accident.
A third Orion and two B-247Ds (from United Air Lines, including the leased unit) are received in 1936, while all of the Reliants are sold. An Orion crash-lands at Buffalo, Wyoming, on October 24, and is damaged beyond repair.
A third B-247D is received from United Air Lines in February 1937, the same month in which the carrier sells to the Chicago-based major its Cheyenne to Denver route and AM-17 for $209,000. In the spring, Leferink sells his Denver-Pueblo route to Varney Air Transport for $35,000. On April 11, the U. S. Post Office accepts bids for four new airmail routes while the last Stinson Model 5 is sold in May.
On August 1, Billings to Great Falls mail flights begin; passenger service over the route begins two weeks later. On August 24, three B-247s are purchased from Pennsylvania-Central Airlines and following their upgrade to B-247D status, are added to the fleet. Also in August, the company receives AM-35, the postal route from Cheyenne to Huron via Pierre.
On April 14, 1938, new mail services are inaugurated from Cheyenne to Huron, South Dakota, via Rapid City, Buffalo, and Pierre; scheduled passenger service is launched over the new system on April 25. On May 3, a B-247D is acquired from United Air Lines and is christened City of Denver in honor the largest community on its route network. In celebration of its turn eastward, WAS is renamed Inland Air Lines on July 1.
XIAMEN AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: Gaoqi International Airport, Xiamen, Fujian, 361009, China; Phone 86 (592) 602-2961; Fax 86 (593) 602-8263; Http://www. xiamenair. com; Code MF; Year Founded 1989. This new Chinese entrant, the first independent airline to be formed under the government’s new liberalization policy, is a joint venture formed in 1989 between the port city of Xiamen (50%) and CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China). The company is outfitted with 3 Boeing 737-200s and inaugurates services from the city’s Gaoqi International Airport. Orders are placed for three B-757-25Cs. Neither traffic nor financial statistics are released.
Operations continue apace in 1990, though not without tragedy.
En route from Canton to Xiamen on October 2, Flight 8301, a B-737-247A with 104 passengers, is hijacked by “active criminal” Jiang Xi-aofeng, who claims to have 15 pounds of explosives strapped to his body. The pirate demands to be flown to Taiwan and refuses an offer to be flown instead to Hong Kong.
With fuel nearly exhausted, the government orders Capt. Cen Longyu to try a ruse in an effort to convince Xiaofeng that his demand has been met and that he is landing. When this gambit fails, a fight breaks out in the cockpit as the little Boeing completes its final approach to Canton’s Baiyun Airport.
The aircraft hits hard, veers off the runway, side swipes a China Southwest Airlines Company, Ltd. B-707-336C Stratoliner and then slams into a China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd. B-757-21B with 118 passengers, preparing to depart on a domestic service to Shanghai. In the explosion and fire that follows, both the B-737 and B-757 are burned out, 84 are killed aboard Flight 8301, 47 aboard the B-757, plus the driver of an airport service vehicle. Fifty other passengers are wounded, including the pilot of the Stratoliner. The fireball creates China’s worst air disaster ever.
In 1991, operational control of the carrier is taken over by China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd., which also assumes majority (60%) shareholding. A virtual subsidiary, the airline is able to retain its own service region and fleet, which now includes 1 each B-737-2L9A and B-737-25CA, the latter leased; in addition, the carrier flies two leased B-737-2T4As.
In 1992, a B-737-505 is leased from Braathens SAFE, A. S. and two B-737-25Cs are acquired for use as freighters. When the former arrives in China during August, it is the 100th Boeing airliner delivered into the PRC. In addition to routes to the eastern and southern part of the PRC, a new service is inaugurated to Hong Kong with the firest new B-757-25C, delivered on August 12.
In 1993, President Wu Rongnan oversees a workforce of 1,800 and 2 more B-737-505s are received from Norway. The company will be plagued with skyjackings during the year.
While en route from Changzhou to Xiamen on June 24, the B-737-505 with 71 passengers is taken over by state factory employee Zhang Wen-long and ordered to Taipei. There the plane is released and Zhang is taken in hand; following his trial, he will receive a nine-year prison term.
While en route from Guangzhou to Xiamen on November 5, a B-737-2T4A with 140 passengers is hijacked to Taipei by city government driver Zhang Hai. This Zhang will also be tried and he will receive a 10-year sentence.
Another B-737-2T4 with 100 passengers en route from Harbin to Xiamen is captured on December 12 by state firm salesman Qi Dachuan; it is also diverted to Taiwan. Again, the aircraft is released and the hijacker is jailed. Following his trial, Qi will receive a 12-year jail term.
Flights continue apace in 1994-1995 as 42 domestic destinations are now served. Over 2.5 million passengers are transported during the latter year.
Airline employment stands at 2,400 in 1996 and the company now leases 3 B-737-505s from Braathens SAFE, A. S. The last of 5 B-757-25Cs is received on February 7.
Upset that his wife has left him and run off with his life savings, an unidentified Hong Kong man, claiming to have a bomb, attempts on April 5 to divert a B-737-505 en route from Guangzhou to Xiamen with 172 passengers on board, on to Taipei. After landing at Xiamen, the pilot convinces the pirate that he has landed on Taiwan, a ruse that works until authorities come on board to make an arrest.
This year, the company’s 16 aircraft transport a total of 2,511,786 passengers (up 0.7%) and operate 44.5 million freight FTKs.
There is no change in the workforce in 1997. Orders are, however, placed for four B-737-700s.
On July 16, for the third straight time, air passengers cite the airline as the best among small Chinese airlines that carry less than 3 million passengers annually. Results of the survey are obtained from a total of 1.33 million questionnaires sent to solicit passenger opinion on the service quality of 25 airports and 16 major Chinese airlines.
Other winners are China Eastern Airlines Company, Ltd. and Shenzhen Airlines Company, Ltd., which each won first place in separate contests for the annual passenger volume exceeding 6 million and less than 2 million.
Passenger boardings jump 7.8% to 2,708,000 while freight advances 38.2% to 61.5 million FTKs.
Flights continue in 1998. The first of three B-737-75Cs to be delivered before the end of the year arrives on August 21. It will enter revenue service on September 1.
Late in the year, a Chinese-language homepage is opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web.
The “classic” B-737 fleet at the beginning of 2000 includes 1 each Dash-2T4C, Dash-2T4A, and Dash-25CA, plus 3 Dash-3Q8s and 6 Dash-505s. Also operated are 4 Next Generation B-737-75Cs and 5 B-757-25Cs.
A fire alarm sounds aboard a company B-737-2T4A while it is en route to Wuhan on March 28. An emergency landing is made at Xi’an International Airport at Xianyang, where all aboard exit down emergency chutes. Upon examination, firemen find that the bells had been set off by pigeons, which had gotten loose while being transported in the baggage compartment.
The same day, new twice-weekly roundtrips are inaugurated between Wuyishan, in the southeastern province of Fujian, and Macau.
Beginning in August the first of three B-737-3Q8s arrive under a five-year lease from ILFC. A fifth Next Generation B-737-75C is delivered on August 24 and a sixth on October 10.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), on November 1, grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Xiamen, increase fares on November 5.
The carrier’s B-737-25C is sold to Ethiopian Airlines, S. C. on December 29.
XINHUA AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: No. 1, Jong Song South Road, Beijing, China; Year Founded 1992; Http://www. chinaxin-huaair. com. Xinhua is established at the capital’s principal airport by the municipal government and local investors in August 1992. Domestic services commence with a single Boeing 737-341 on June 6, 1993.
Operations continue apace in 1994-1996 and the fleet is increased to include, by the latter year, the original “Baby Boeing,” plus 2 each B-737-332s and B-737-39Ks, plus 1 leased B-737-4Y0. Eventually, over 200 flights depart each week from Beijing and Tianjin to over 40 large - and medium-sized cities, such as Harbin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Haikou, Kunming, and Xian.
When the Oriental Falcon Jet Service is set up in April 1997, Xinhua becomes a partner with Dassault of France and Avion Pacific; it soon begins operating Dassault Falcon charters throughout China. One B-737-39K and three B-737-46Qs are delivered during the year, with one more of the latter type to follow in 1998.
Enplanements during these 12 months total 913,610.
A Chinese-language homepage is opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web later in 1998. Passenger boardings this year jump 19.1% to 1.12 million, while freight traffic rises 28.5% to 15.02 million FTKs.
Service is maintained without headline or incident in 1999. The workforce, at the beginning of 2000, totals 500.
While en route from Baotou, the second largest city in Inner Mongolia, to Beijing on September 26, a B-737-332 with 143 passengers is subjected to a hijacking attempt. A young man in his 20s rushes into the cockpit and stabs the plane’s captain. The pirate is himself immediately jumped upon by security police and is stabbed to death with his own dagger. This is believed to be the first time that Chinese airline guards have ever killed a hijacker. The copilot makes an emergency landing at Jinan and the pilot is rushed to hospital.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), on November 1, grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Xinhua, increase fares on November 5.
XINJIANG AIRLINES COMPANY, LTD.: 46 Yingbin Road, Diwopu Airport, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830016, China; Phone 86 (991) 335688; Fax 86 (991) 339084 ; Code XO; Year Founded 1985. A former CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) airline division, Xinjiang is formed in 1985 and is 50% owned by CAAC and 50% by Xinjiang Province. Based at Urumqui’s Diwopu Airport, the new entrant is provided with a chartered Boeing 737-200 and in November begins scheduled services as the first of several regional carriers established under auspices of the state airline. It undertakes domestic Chinese scheduled and charter services as well as charters to the CIS.
Operations continue apace, although the Boeing is replaced with Soviet equipment. The fleet in 1989 includes 4 Tupolev Tu-154Ms. By 1991, the number of airliners has been increased to 2 Antonov An-24s and 5 Tu-154Ms.
In 1992, the fleet comprises 2 Antonov An-24s, 2 de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, 2 Ilyushin Il-86s, 5 Tupolev Tu-154Ms, and 1 Yun-shuji Y-8B. Two B-757-2Y0s arrive under charter from ILFC. In 1993-1995, President Zhang Ruifu oversees a workforce of 3,880. One Il-86 is withdrawn and four Boeing 737-31Ls are added. Enplanements in the latter year total 1,201,628.
Airline employment stands at 4,597 in 1996 and the fleet includes 3 Il-86s, 2 Boeing 737-300s, 4 Boeing 737-31Ls, 2 An-24RVs, 2 Twin Otters, 7 Tu-154Ms, and 7 SAP Y-5s. The company is now also known as China Xinjiang Airlines.
Passenger boardings soar 13.2% to 1,384,364 and 30.75 million FTKs are operated, a 6.1% increase.
The workforce grows to 5,000 during 1997. In May, the China Aerospace Supply Corporation places an $80-million order with Aero International (Regional) for five ATR72-210As, with five options, that it will turn over to this carrier. The order is confirmed during French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to Beijing during the month.
The first ATR72-210A is delivered during the last week of August and after route proving in September enters scheduled service on October 1 from Urumqi to tourist areas. As the others arrive over the next year, they will serve on domestic routes throughout the remote home province.
A B-757-28A, chartered from ILFC on March 10 for eight years, is delivered on December 12. Meanwhile, orders are placed for two owned aircraft, Dash-28Ss.
Customer bookings fall 6.9% to 1,289,000, but cargo skyrockets 119.1% to 71.98 million FTKs.
The third of five ATR 72-210As is delivered to the company in April 1998. It is the 200th ATR 72 built.
Weekly roundtrip service is inaugurated on November 2 between Urumqi, in northwest China, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The first B-757-28S is delivered on July 8.
On December 17, the state approves a $24.09-million airport expansion project in the Kashi prefecture. The area, which borders on five neighboring countries including Pakistan, has become well known for its integration of eastern, western, and Islamic cultures.
Passenger boardings increase to 1.34 million, while freight traffic increases to 83.5 million FTKs.
On March 12, 1999, a fleet of four aircraft chartered from the company depart Urumqi, China, transporting a group of 1,101 Muslim pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The second B-757-28S is delivered on June 2.
Passenger boardings during these 12 months jump 7.8% to 1,444,000, while freight climbs 10.3% to 92.12 million FTKS.
The workforce at the beginning of 2000 totals 4,598. The Western-built fleet now includes 5 ATR72-210As, 2 Twin Otters, 3 Antonov An-24s, 4 B-737-31Ls, 2 each B-757-2Y0s and Dash-28Ss, and 1 B-757-28A. Also operated are 3 Il-86s and 5 Tu-154Ms.
Destinations visited include Altay, Aksu, Almaty, Ashgabat, Baku, Beijing, Bishkek, Can Tho, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Karamay, Kashi, Korla, Kunming, Kuqa, Lanzhu, Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Novosibirsk, Qiemo, Shanghai, Sharjah, Tacheng, Taos, Tashkenty, Xian Xianyang, Xining, and Yining.
When it is decided that three Next Generation B-737-700s that had been requested will go to another Chinese airline instead, the company, on March 28, places orders for three more B-757-28Ss.
In response to a fatal June 22 Xian Airlines Y-7-100C crash, CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) delivers a major reorganization plan to the China State Council in mid-July. Among the proposals is a release of all airlines from the requirement that they purchase aircraft through CAAC. More important, however, is a recommendation that the 13 largest of China’s 34 carriers be consolidated into 3 groups built around Air China International Corporation, China Eastern Airlines Company, Ltd., and China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd. Xinjiang negotiates to become a member of the China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd. group.
Agence France Presse reports on July 14 that the company will soon place orders for three new Voronezh-built Ilyushin Il-96-300s. Three spare PS-90A turbofan engines will be obtained for the new aircraft from Perm Motors.
Reacting to rising fuel costs, the CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), on November 1, grants the nation’s 34 airlines permission to raise ticket prices by 15% to balance passenger traffic and avgas costs; 23 companies, including Xinjiang, increase fares on November 5.
Discussions with China Southern continue during the fall. On November 23, former Xinjing Vice President Wang Chang Shun becomes the major carrier’s president.
XL AVIATION, LTD.: Suite 701, Chancery House, Lislet Geoffrey St., Port Louis, Mauritius; Phone 230 (211) 61 13; Fax 230 (211) 28 77; Http://www. xla. com. ch; Year Founded 1989. XL Aviation is established at Port Louis in 1989 to provide worldwide exectuvie and small group passenger services. By 2000, the small concern employs 7 full-time pilots and operates 1 each Canadair Challenger 600 and a Dassault Falcon 900B.
XP EXPRESS PARCEL SYSTEMS, B. V.: The Netherlands (19711989). Former Dutch student Jaap Mulders forms Roetsj (“Zoom”/ ”Vroom”) in 1971, a small company dedicated to providing fast ground pickup and delivery of small shipments around Amsterdam. In 1974, a night delivery system is developed and extended nationwide.
Between 1975-1978, the U. S. firm Purolator Courier acquires full control, holding the company until it elects to abandon European operations in mid-1978. At this point, founder Mulders and the original shareholders repurchase the company. Vendex International purchases control in 1979, but KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) buys half interest in 1980.
The first aircraft are put in service in 1981, as leased smallplanes are employed to make the carrier an air-express operator on behalf of the Dutch flag carrier. The name Roetsj is dropped in 1982 in favor of a more appropriate title. Nine owned and four leased Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains are placed in service in 1983.
In 1984, the fleet is augmented by the purchase of a Fokker F.27-200; a BN-2A Trislander, and a Fairchild Metroliner are also leased. Between 1985-1986, the workforce (much of it on the ground) grows to 800 as the total of offices grows to 52 in 18 nations. Since 1982, courier and intercity parcel transfer flights have been maintained or added to Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Great Britain, Italy, France, Denmark, and Switzerland.
A second F.27 is acquired and operations continue apace in 1987-1989, when TNT Express Worldwide, Ltd. acquires the company in April of the latter year.
XPRESS AIR: Chattanooga Airport, 1001 Airport Road, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421, United States; Phone (423) 490-4620; Fax (423) 265-5715; Year Founded 1996. XPress is set up at the East Tennessee city in 1996 to provide executive and small group passenger charters and express cargo flights around the country. Revenue operations commence with one each Cessna 560 Citation V and a Swearingen Merlin.
YACUMA (TRANSPORTES AEREOS YACUMA, LTDA.): Bolivia (1981-1991). Yacuma is established at La Paz in 1981 to offer contract service flights to destinations around the country. Operations commence with 1 each Convair CV-240 and CV-340, the latter an ex-USAF C-131. Flights continue for the next 10 years, primarily with the CV-340.
YAK SERVICE AIRLINE: P. O. Box 191, Leningradski Prospect, Moscow, 125315, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 151 8986; Fax 7 (095) 956 1613; Code AKY; Year Founded 1993. YSA is set up at Moscow on February 12, 1993 to provide executive and small group passenger charters to domestic and international destinations. Shareholding is divided between JSC Lavis and Yakovlev, the aircraft manufacturer.
Oleg Demchenko is named president. He recruits a workforce of 22 and assembles a fleet of 2 Yak-40s and 1 Yak-42D that begin revenue flights on November 25.
Although it is understood that this carrier continues to operate in the period after the beginning of the August 1998 Russian currency crisis, no definite information has been located to that effect.
YAKUTAVIATRANS AIR COMPANY (YAKUTAVIATRANS AVIA KOMPANII): Russia (1992-1995). When Aeroflot Soviet Airlines is reformed in early 1992, this directorate becomes an autonomous division of the new Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA).
Based at Yatutsk in Siberia, the company serves its region as both carrier and parent of new airlines forming in the city, while adding worldwide ad hoc cargo charter services. V. T. Pinacv is CEO and his fleet includes 8 Ilyushin Il-76s, 10 Tupolev Tu-154s, 8 Antonov An-12s, 20 An-26s, and 3 An-74s. Enplanements total 1,749,537.
An An-24B with 4 crew and 23 passengers aborts its takeoff from Ust-Kuiga on February 3, 1993, and runs off the runway; although the aircraft is badly damaged, there are no fatalities.
While landing at Aldan on August 26, a charter Let L410UVP with 2 crew and 22 passengers stalls and crashes 273 m. short of the runway; there are no survivors.
The downturn in the Russian economy causes a fall in traffic. Passenger boardings decline 23.9% to 1,412,056 while freight falls 10.6% to 287.2 million FTKs.
The fleet is reduced in 1994 to only 1 Tu-154M, 8 Il-76s, 8 An-12s, 3 An-24s, and 2 An-26s. Customer bookings fall another 11.5% to 1,250,000.
In 1995, the carrier is renamed Sakha Avia National Air Company.
World History
