Formed at New Plymouth in 1973, Charles J. Haywood’s small non-scheduled carrier provides charter and contract services throughout New Zealand for six years. In September 1979, the company inaugurates a scheduled service to Auckland. The route is maintained into the new decade and in late 1981, the fleet comprises 1 each Piper PA-23 Aztec, Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, and Piper Aerostar 600.
Midway through the 1980s, the company acquires a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain. Unable to maintain economic viability, the singlesegment company is forced to cease operations in 1987.
NAYSA (NAVEGACION Y SERVICIOS AEREOS CANARIOS, S. A.): Spain (1988-1995). The air taxi NAYSA is organized at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands in 1988. In 1989, permission is sought to offer scheduled island services plus flights to Morocco and Mauretania. After a year of charter work, the company is allowed to post its schedules in early 1991. Managing Director Miguel L. Ramon’s inaugural scheduled fleet comprises 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain and 2 Beech Super King Air 200s.
Operations continue until the company, unable to maintain economic viability, goes out of business in 1995.
NEALCO AIR SERVICES, LTD.: P. O. Box 544, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Year Founded 1984. Nealco is formed at Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1984, as the corporate air wing of the Neal & Massy Group. In addition to executive air flights, the carrier also offers public, nonscheduled charter flights within Trinidad and Tobago and to destinations in northern South America and to Florida. The fleet varies, but usually comprises Beech lightplanes (King Airs, Barons, etc.) and at least one helicopter, e. g., Bell 206B JetRanger.
Services are maintained without headline or incident during the remainder of the decade, through the 1990s, and into the new millennium.
NEAR EAST AIR TRANSPORT, LTD.: Israel (1949-1950). Alaska Airlines owner James Wooten and the Israeli Joint Distribution Committee establish this charter carrier in January 1949. In association with El Al Israel Airlines, the airline, employing Alaska Airlines DC-4s and El Al C-46s, begins airlifting Yemenite Jews to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. When the mission is completed in September 1950, 50,000 Jews from Yemen and southern Arabia have been transported and the charter airline ceases operations.
NEBA (NORTH EAST BOLIVIA AIRWAYS, LTD A.): Bolivia (1982-1991). NEBA sets up shop at Cochabamba airfield in 1982 to operate domestic ad hoc all-cargo services. Freight is flown aboard 1 each Convair CV-440 and Curtiss C-46 Commando.
While attempting to make an emergency landing at its base field on May 11, 1990, the Convair crashes and is lost, together with its crew. The company soldiers on with its old Curtiss for another year.
NEBO AIR COMPANY (NEBO AVIAKOMPANIYA): Russia (1994-1996). NAC is established at Khabarovsk in 1994 to offer long-haul passenger charters. A. Isaev is appointed general manager and he launches flights with an unspecified number of Ilyushin Il-62s and Tupolev Tu-154B/Ms.
Although flights continue in 1995, the carrier is unable to achieve economic viability and shuts down in early 1996.
NECON AIR, LTD.: P. O. Box 10038, Kathmandu, Nepal; Phone 977 (1) 473 860; Fax 977 (1) 471 679; Http://www. neconair. com; Code 3Z; Year Founded 1992. NAL is established as a public limited company at Kathmandu on April 24, 1992 to provide regional services, both scheduled and nonscheduled, primarily in support to tourists. Shareholding is divided between Anoop S. J. B. Rana, D. Rajbhandari, R. Shrestma, M. B. Shrestma, B. K. Shrestma, M. Joshi, and D. R. Korala. Rana is appointed chairman/CEO of the group and a workforce eventually totalling 180 is recruited.
The initial fleet comprises a pair of British Aerospace (HS) 748-1As, known locally as Avros. Scheduled domestic passenger and charter flights commence on September 14 over a route from Kathmandu to Biratnagar.
A third Avro (HS) 748, a 2B, arrives in 1993 as frequencies on the Kathmandu-Biratnagar service are increased to thrice daily. Statistics for the first 10 months of operation show that 50,000 passengers have been carried and a profit of Rs 5 million ($90,000) is generated.
One BAe is withdrawn during 1994 in favor of a Cessna 208 Caravan I. Domestic service continues to a variety of destinations in Nepal, including a second important hub at Pakhara at the base of the Himalaya Mountains.
Customer bookings accelerate to 123,000 in 1995. Airline employment in 1996 reaches 180. Just after landing at Pokhara, Nepal, on November 6, 1997, an Avro (HS) 748-1Aruns off the runway and collides with a engine-less Nepal Airways, Ltd. HS-748 parked on the grass. No injuries are reported.
On August 3, 1998, Necon becomes the first private airline in the country to launch international services. Flights are undertaken to Dhaka in Bangladesh and Bagdogra, Calcutta, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Patna in India. Enplanements for the year exceed 100,000.
Authorized share capital of Necon at the beginning of 1999 is Rs 600 million.
Just after takeoff from Jumla, 312 mi. NW of Kathmandu for Nepal-gunj in west Nepal on January 17, the Cessna 208 with 2 pilots and 10 passengers, catches fire and crashes; 5 aboard are killed and 7 badly injured.
While en route from Pokhara to Kathmandu on September 5, Flight 128, the Avro (HS) 748-2B with 5 crew and 10 passengers collides with a Nepal Telecommunications Corporation tower 25 km. W of its destination and crashes into woods below; there are no survivors.
Airline employment exceeds 400 at the beginning of 2000. The company’s acquires by lease on March 10 an Avions de Transport Aerien ATR42-320. It is employed to inaugurate new services to Varanasi, India, at the end of the month.
On August 18, arrangements are completed with the manufacturer for the lease of an ATR42-520. The company celebrates its eighth anniversary on September 14 and introduces its Necon Premier frequent flyer program on October 2.
NEFTYUGANSK AIR ENTERPRISE: Neftyugansk Airport, Ty-men Region, 626430, Russia; Phone 7 (34612) 29756; Fax 7 (34612) 29756; Year Founded 1998. The large helicopter operation Neftyu-gansk United Air Detachment is reformed into a joint stock company in 1998. Marat Sabitov, Vatcheslav Abramov, and Viktor Temochenke are the principal owners; Viktor Pimoshenko, CEO of the previous entity, remains in charge. The previous rotary-wing work continues, while charters to points throughout the CIS and Europe are undertaken with 1 each Tupolev Tu-134 and Tu-134A.
Service is maintained into the new millennium.
NEFTYUGANSK UNITED AIR DETACHMENT: Russia (19941998). State-owned NUAD is established in 1994 to provide rotarywing support to the Russian oil and gas industry. Viktor Pimoshenko is
CEO and he begins operations with a huge helicopter fleet that includes 31 Mil Mi-8s, 20 Mi-2s, and 5 Kamov Ka-32s. In addition to energy support, the company’s helicopters also engage in charter flights, forest fire patrol and fighting, air ambulance, and search and rescue.
In 1998, the company is reorganized into the joint stock company Neftyugansk Air Enterprise.
NELSON AIRLINES: United States (1976-1978). Nelson Aviation, Inc., the FBO at Alcoa, Tennessee, elects to establish a scheduled airline division in 1976. Employing a pair of Cessna 402s, the new commuter duly inaugurates daily roundtrips linking its base with Tri-Cities Airport, Nashville, Chattanooga, and back to Knoxville. Operations continue apace until 1978.
World History
