AIR CHANGAN. See CHANGAN AIRLINES

AIR CHAPARRAL: United States (1980-1983). Organized at Reno in 1980, AC begins scheduled commuter services on August 4 to Las Vegas, Winnemucca, Elko, Ely, and Tonopah with a fleet of 5 Fairchild Swearingen Metro IIs and 20 Cessna 402s. In October, the company purchases California-based Inland Empire Airlines and its four Metro IIs, operating them henceforth as a subsidiary.

On March 31, 1981, during the amalgamation process with lEA, AC drops its Nevada passenger services, preferring to work its subsidiary’s California routes to Burbank, Fresno, Los Angeles, Ontario, Sacramento, San Francisco, Visalia, and Merced while offering all-cargo flights to the Nevada towns of Reno, Winnemucca, Hawthorne,

Tonopah, and Las Vegas. Passenger boardings for the year total 53,320 and orders are placed for two SAAB-Fairchild SF340s.

Even though the SF340s are not delivered, operations continue apace in 1982, although cash flow and traffic difficulties bring substantial financial reversal. Early in 1983, the company files for Chapter XI bankruptcy; the Inland Empire Airlines subsidiary maintains California flights until mid-year.

AIR CHARTER (SOCIETE AERIENNE FRANCAISE D’AFFRETEMENT, S. A.): France (1966-1998). Organized at Paris on February 7, 1966 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France, SAFA (IATA Code SF) is commissioned to provide charter - and inclusive-tour services. Operations to European and Mediterranean holiday destinations are started in July with Sud-Est SE-210 Car-avelles chartered from the parent. In 1970, the carrier is renamed Air Charter International, S. A. and two years later, in 1972, the first B-727-100 is acquired. Eight years later, in 1978, President Pierre Labadje’s fleet comprises 2 Boeing 727-200s and 6 Caravelle XBs. Air Inter, S. A. is now allowed to take 20% shareholding.

During the remainder of the decade and into the 1980s, traffic for the 33-employee company increases steadily. A total of 700,300 are flown in 1981, 860,000 in 1982, and 963,000 in 1983. During the latter year, the airline, already flying to points throughout Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Canary Islands, begins transatlantic group charter flights from Paris to New York City using Boeing 747s leased from Air France.

ACI’s fleet in 1984 comprises 4 Boeing 727-200s. Five Caravelle XBs are leased along with three Boeing 737-200s. A total of 1.8 million passengers are transported during the year. The company name is now changed to Air Charter, S. A. During the next decade, the number of French departure points increases to 35 and the main destinations become Canada, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, and the U. S.

Another B-737-200 leased jetliner is acquired in 1985; however, bookings remain level. Enplanements for the 41-employee carrier total 1,777,600. Significant holiday competition in Aegean and Mediterranean markets causes customer bookings to drop 11.1% in 1986 to 1.6 million.

The fleet in 1987 comprises 5 B-727-200s and 1 B-737-200; during the year, 2 more B-727-200s are purchased from Air France. Passenger boardings recover to rise 12.5% to 1.8 million and pretax profits climb by 50% to $10.4 million.

Airline employment grows by 6.8% in 1988 to 47 and the fleet is increased by the addition of another A300B4 and, during the spring, by two more B-737-200s. Camille Allaz is named president and director general in May.

While on a low pass along the runway at Basel-Mulhouse Airport on June 26, Flight 296C, an Air France A320-111 with 6 crew and 130 passengers, as a demonstration on behalf of the Mulhouse Flying Club, fails its initial climb. Upon reaching an altitude of 100 feet, the brand new Airbus descends into trees at the end of the runway, continues into a forest, and catches fire (3 dead).

Customer bookings pass the two-million mark in annual boardings (2,030,000) and revenues advance 13.6% to $250 million. In addition to its own operations, the company continues to fly a B-747 Jumbojet and three A300B4s on behalf of its Air France/Air Inter owners.

Operations continue apace in 1989-1990 and, in 1991, Chairman Rodolphe Frantz and President Philippe Hache have 53 employees and operate a mixed fleet of owned and leased aircraft. These include 2 A300B4s, 1 each B-727-214 and B-727-228, 2 each leased B-727-228As and B-727-2X3s, 3 B-737-2A1s leased from Euralair, 1 B-737-2K5, 1 B-737-2L9A, and B-737-2Q8, all chartered from Europe Aero Service, S. A., and 1 each B-737-2S3A, B-737-228A, B-737-2A9C, B-737-210C, B-737-4B3 leased from Air France, and B-737-53A chartered from Europe Aero Service.

Holiday flights continue in 1992 and in 1993 Chairman Jean-Jacques Ravey oversees a workforce of 53. Principal destinations visited from some 35 French airports continue to be Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and the U. S. The fleet in 1994 includes 3 each A320-211s chartered from Air France, in addition to 2 each leased A300B4-203s, B-727-2X3As and B-737-2K5As, plus 1 each B-737-2Q8A, B-737-228A, and B-737-53A.

The older “Baby Boeings” are replaced in 1995-1997 with three A320-212s (including one leased from Air France). Otherwise, charter flights to the Mediterranean, Europe, and North Africa continue as before.

Early in 1998, an A320-212 is leased to Land Rover, Ltd.; painted in a basic white livery with a blue title and given titles noting the company’s new Freelander vehicle, the plane undertakes a European promotional tour.

With this subsidiary unable to generate profit in the face of low-cost competition, parent Air France announces in February that Air Charter will be closed down within two months. Two of the competing airlines, AOM French Airlines, S. A. and STAR Europe, S. A., begin to make arrangements to take over the bulk of it’s business.

AIR CHARTER, LTD./CHANNEL AIR SERVICE, LTD.: United Kingdom (1947-1963). Freddie Laker forms this new airline at Croy-den in January 1947. Employing a de Havilland DH 84 and a DH 89A, he launches passenger and cargo charters in March. Simultaneously, the Bovingdon-based maintenance organization, Aviation Traders, Ltd., is started. The Air Charter fleet is increased by 1 additional DH 89A and 2 Miles M.65 Geminis by year’s end.

In 1948-1949, Aviation Traders acquires, refurbishes, and resells a variety of war surplus aircraft, including the BOAC fleet of 12 Handley Page Haltons. The latter are leased to Bond Air Services, Ltd. for operations during the Berlin Airlift. Following the airlift, Aviation Traders is moved to Southend. Meanwhile, a general depression in charter circles forces Air Charter, Ltd. to cease flying in 1950; the Dragon Rapides and Geminis are withdrawn and sold.

Early in 1951, Aviation Traders acquires Surrey Flying Services, Ltd. and its Avro 685 York; the new subsidiary restarts passenger/freight charters in May. During the year, the fleet is increased by two Yorks, christened New Era and New Venture, and an Avro 688 Tudor. In November, a second carrier, Blackbushe-based Fairflight, Ltd., is purchased, together with its two Tudors and one Avro Lincoln. Fairflight’s Berlin-Hamburg cargo route is assumed.

An Avro 685 York I with three crew and seven passengers is lost near Hamburg on March 11, 1952; although the plane must be written off, there are no fatalities.

In July, Surrey Flying Services, Ltd. and Fairflight, Ltd. are merged under the Air Charter banner, with the restarted former operation based at Stansted. By September, the carrier’s internal German services have multiplied and it is flying four daily roundtrip flights England-West Berlin. The Avro 685 York New Era is destroyed in a Hamburg crash on March 3; on November 27, the York New Venture is lost in a crash at Lyneham.

A Bristol 170 Mk. 31 is placed in service in February 1953. A significant number of Tudors are acquired throughout the year and converted by Aviation Traders to Superfreighter status.

On February 4, 1954, a second Bristol 170 Mk. 31 joins the fleet, followed ten days later by the first Avro Superfreighter, which begins service Stansted-Hamburg. As additional Avros become available, they are employed to launch overseas contract flights on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, plus “Colonial Coach” commercial service to Idris/ Lagos. Irregular Southend-Calais Bristol 170 car ferry flights begin on September 1.

The first Douglas DC-4, actually an ex-military C-54, christened Atlanta, arrives at Southend in February 1955. The first Bristol 170 Mk. 32 joins the fleet in March; christened Valiant, it will be joined by another, the Vigilant, in early April, at which time a ferry division is organized. On April 14, regularly scheduled Southend-Calais Bristol 170 vehicle and passenger services commence; the route is extended to Os-tend on October 17. Another ex-military C-54 is acquired in December and named Jason.

Cross-channel, German, worldwide contract and Colonial Coach services are maintained in 1956. In August, DC-4s commence a troopcarrying contract Southend-Cyprus. The car ferry route is extended to Rotterdam on October 1, as a coach air service; passengers take a bus from London to Soundend, fly Southend-Ostend, and take a bus from Ostend into Brussels. During the year, a total of 8,500 cars are flown Southend-Calais. Two more Bristol 170 Mk. 32 freighters, the Venture and Valour, join the fleet in December.

On June 6, 1957, the carrier enters into a joint Southend-Ostend car ferry service with Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A., employing Air Charter’s Bristol Freighters, including the new Mk. 32s Viceroy and Versatile. Frequencies on the route are boosted from 6 per day in June to 12 per day in July. Cargo services to West Berlin end; however, Ministry of Defence Tudor flights to Australia and the Far East continue.

A newly received Bristol Britannia 307 departs Stansted on February 5, 1958 on the first leg of a 26,180-mile, multistop charter flight around the world via Australia; the aircraft joins a second Britannia 307 in beginning troop-carrying flights from Stansted on a regular basis on September 12. Meanwhile, the Bristol Mk. 31 Vanguard is converted to Mk. 32 status in March and assigned to the ferry service. A total of 13,000 vehicles and 63,727 passengers are flown over the Southend-Calais/ Ostend routes during the year. Towards Christmas, merger talks begin with rival Airwork, Ltd.

Air Charter becomes an Airwork, Ltd. subsidiary on January 1, 1959 as Laker joins the latter’s board of directors while retaining his Air Charter managing directorship. Although the new partner is allowed to operate under its previous name, its crews and ground staff are rationalized. On January 27, the Avro 688 Super Trader El Alamein with six crew fails its takeoff from Brindisi on January 27 and crashes (two dead). The disaster leads to plans for the retirement of the entire Tudor fleet.

Also in January, Laker meets with A. C. Leftley, chief designer at Aviation Traders, Ltd., and asks him to create a new car ferry freighter with which to replace the Bristols.

In February, the Air Charter vehicle ferry division at Southend is reorganized into a new subsidiary airline, Channel Air Bridge, Ltd., to which the Bristol 170 Mk. 31s and Mk. 32s are all transferred. A DC-4 and a Mk. 32 Bristol commence new no-passport vehicle/passenger flights Southend-Calais on March 10. DC-4s begin to replace Tudors on the Australian service on April 16.

The Zephyr, another Super Trader with 12 crew, flies into Mt. Suphan, Turkey, on April 23; there are no survivors.

Meanwhile, a second Britannia 307 is received in late March and is placed in service to Lisbon on May 27.

Simultaneously, Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. applies to the ATLB to begin operating vehicle-ferry flights from Southend to Bremen, Dijon, Dusseldorf, Lyon, Strasbourg, Tours, and Paris (LBG). On June 16, a Tudor 4B arrives at Stansted from Lisbon on the world’s last commercial flight by this aircraft type, which is thereafter retired. At year’s end, the fleet includes 2 Bristol Britannia 307s, 3 DC-4s, 2 Bristol 170 Mk. 31s and 8 Mk. 32s.

A final ex-military C-54 is added to the fleet in March 1960. On July 1, Air Charter, Ltd. becomes part of British United Airways, Ltd. (BUA); Laker becomes managing director of the new carrier. Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. is allowed to continue operations under its own identity. In October, an old C-54 is turned over to Aviation Traders, Ltd. for conversion into the first of ten extended vehicle ferries.

The first Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair (“car-via-air”), a heavily-modified DC-4 with a long, bulbous forward fuselage and side-swinging nose that can accommodate 22 passengers aft and 5 automobiles forward, is rolled out at Southend Airport on June 17, 1961 and makes its maiden flight later in the day. An extensive 156-hr. test schedule is now undertaken.

The first ATL-98 Carvair is turned over to Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. on February 16 and, in ceremonies, is christened Golden Gate Bridge by the wife of the Swiss ambassador to the U. K. Employing this first of 21 units, Channel Air Bridge inaugurates its first charter, free for

VIPs, later that day on a route from Southend to Ostend. Revenue flights commence next day when a cargo of new automobiles is flown to Malaga, Spain. Scheduled Carvair services are launched on March 1 over a route to Rotterdam.

In 1963, BUA sells its Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. subsidiary and its fleet and its new owners merge it with Silver City Airways, Ltd. to form British United Air Ferries. Ltd.

AIR CHARTER (CHRISTCHURCH), LTD.: New Zealand (19921993). Peter Maguire establishes this small charter operation at Christchurch in 1992. Passenger and cargo revenue flights, both fixed-and rotary-wing, commence with a fleet that includes 1 Cessna 172, 1 Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, 1 Robinson R.22, 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-500, and 1 Bell 206.

No information is available after 1993.

AIR CHARTER (SCOTLAND), LTD.: United Kingdom (19651985). Air Charter (Scotland), Ltd. is founded at Glasgow in October 1965 by former Assistair, Ltd. managing director and chief pilot, Geoffrey Rosenbloom. A Piper PA-23 Aztec is acquired and employed to launch on-demand charter flights in support of the oil industry to such Scottish towns as Aberdeen, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Sumburgh as well as several Scandinavian destinations.

The fixed-wing fleet (mostly Piper Aztecs) of competing Burnthills Aviation, Ltd. is acquired in April 1983, by which time Rosenbloom’s operation has become heavily involved in such ancillary FBO activities as sales, ground handling/support, and engineering.

The fleet grows to include 4 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains and 3 Aztecs and destinations for charters move beyond the U. K. to Europe and the Middle East. Operations cease in 1985.

AIR CHARTER BOTSWANA (PTY.), LTD.: Box 41276, Gaborone, Botswana; Phone 351804; Fax 312015; Year Founded 1984.

Also known as Kalahari Air Services & Charters (Pty.), Ltd., ACB is set up as an FBO at Gaborone in 1984. In addition to maintenance and flight training activities, J. T. Morrison’s concern also provides executive and small group passenger charters employing a Cessna 206 and two Beech 58 Barons. Service continues apace in 1985-1986.

In February 1987, Air Botswana (Pty.), Ltd. ends its contract for Fokker maintenance in South Africa, transferring its maintenance to KAS&C. at Gabarone.

Pleased with its KAS&C relationship, Air Botswana (Pty.), Ltd. turns over its Dornier 228-100 to the small operator in 1989, which crews and maintains it on behalf of the flag carrier and flies it almost exclusively for an organization that is building a soda-ash factory in the northeastern part of the country.

The Dornier is operated on behalf of Air Botswana (Pty.), Ltd. until 1993, when it is returned. Thereafter, KAS&C concentrates on its core maintenance and charter business, the latter under the marketing name Air Charter Botswana (Pty.), Ltd. The fleet is increased over the next five years to include 4 Barons, 1 Cessna 210,2 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains, and 1 Beech Super King Air 200.

N. M. Fitzgerald is managing director in 1997 and a turnover of P 6 million is reported. It is understood that flights continue without change during the remainder of the decade; exact information is, however, not available.

AIR CHARTER ONE: 3980 Airport Road, P. O. Box 11, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, United States; Phone (561) 750-6200; Fax (561) 750-6111; Year Founded 1995. This independent charter operator is set up at Boca Raton, Florida, in 1995 to operate passenger flights to destinations in the Caribbean, Florida and the Southern U. S., and Mexico.

Operations continue during the remainder of the decade with 1 each Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain and a PA-34 Seneca.

AIR CHARTER SERVICE, S. A.: Zaire (1980-1996). Kinshasa-based Air Charter Service, S. A. is established in 1980 to provide domestic and international charter services. The initial fleet comprises 2 British-made Trident 3Bs purchased from British Airways, Ltd. (2); 2 more are acquired from the same source in 1985. In 1986, 3 Vickers Viscount 808Cs are acquired from Scibe Airlift. Flights are expanded throughout the continent during the decade and early 1990s.

In 1992, Managing Director Tshimbombo Makuna’s 250-employee carrier operates one Boeing 707-420, three B-720Fs, two Viscount 808Cs, and a Viscount 757C. One B-720B is removed in 1993-1994 and the fleet is increased by the addition of 1 B-707-320F, 1 B-727-41, 1 B-727-46, and 3 Lockheed L-188ACs. An office is opened in London under Syed Nagvi.

The fleet in 1995 includes 2 Electras, 2 Viscount 808Cs, and 1 each Viscount 757, B-707-123B, B-707-321F (now out of service), B-707-366C, B-720-22, B-727-41, B-727-46 (out of service), and B-727-214, which is leased out to Puntavia at Djibouti.

Civil war embroils the country in 1996. During the year, the active fleet is reduced to include the 2 Electras, 3 Viscounts, 1 B-707-123B, 1 B-720-22, 1 B-727-30 (which replaces the earlier Dash-41 and Dash-46), and the B-727-214. Towards year’s end, the concern becomes New ACS, S. A.

AIR CHARTER SERVICES: United States (1968-1969). ACS is set

Up at Riverside, California, during the summer of 1968 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights to small local destinations. Beech Bonanza revenue flights commence on September 23, but do not last a year.

AIR CHARTER SYSTEMS, LTD.: 780 Magenta Blvd., Farnham, Quebec J2N 1B8, Canada; Phone (514) 293-3656; Fax (514) 2935169; Code EF; Year Founded 1986. ACS of Canada is established at Quebec’s Mirabel Airport in June 1986 to offer worldwide cargo charter flights. Operating under the name World Wide Air Charter Transport System, the company’s three executives, Edward C. C. Peagram, Richard Mullarkey, and William Shufflebotham, obtain a Douglas DC-8-55F with which to inaugurate revenue services in late November.

A second DC-8-55F is received in January 1987. Together, the two operate a variety of ad hoc nonscheduled freight services from Canada to points all over the globe. Especially sought are contracts for transport of goods from seasonal markets and livestock shipments. In addition, many shipments are flown as subcontract work; for example, in December 1988, a cargo flight is operated from Montreal to Saudi Arabia via Malta, on behalf of Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines).

A third DC-8-55F is delivered to the carrier in September 1989. The first Douglas freighter is sold to Connie Kalitta’s American International Airways in late 1992 with the second delivered to the same company early in 1993.

Operations continue with the remaining aircraft and 60 workers are employed in 1994. The last owned Douglas freighter is sold to MK Air Cargo, Ltd. of the U. K. in 1995 as President Peagram’s company elects to continue its ad hoc all-cargo business in 1996-2000 with leased aircraft.

During these years, Peagram becomes chairman, with Paul Gobeil as president. Airline employment grows to 181 and among the destinations most commonly served are Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh City.

AIR CHARTERS: 150 Fred Wehran Dr., Teterboro, New Jersey 07608, United States; Phone (201) 288-9000; Fax (201) 288-2749; Year Founded 1981. This independent charter operation is established at Teterboro Airport in 1981 to operate on-demand passenger flights from Canada to Central America. By 2000, the company employs 12 full-time and six part-time pilots and operates one each Learjet 35A, Learjet 25, Beech King Air 100, King Air 90, and Beech 58 Baron.

AIR CHATHAMS, LTD.: P. O. Box 52, Chatham Islands, 8030, New Zealand; Phone 64 (3) 306-0209; Fax 64 (3) 305-0208; Code CV; Year Founded 1986. Air Chathams is set up by Craig P. Emery at Karewa Airport in the Chatham Islands, 400 miles off the east coast of New Guinea, in 1986, with the closest additional inhabited locale being Pitt Island 12 miles further inland. CEO Emery, who is also chief pilot, undertakes services with a Cessna 206 Stationair linking Pitt and Chatham.

The company grows over the next decade until, by 1995, its fleet includes 1 Beech B-80 Queen Air, 1 Beech 99, and 1 Fairchild Metro III. With the Queen Air committed to the Pitt Island run, the larger aircraft fly twice-weekly roundtrips to Christchurch and three times per week to Wellington, the latter route being increased to five times per week during the summer. In December, a Convair CV-580 is purchased in Canada.

The new Convair arrives in New Zealand in May 1996 after refurbishment at Kelowana Flightcraft, Ltd. in British Columbia.

Following workup and pilot training, the CV-580 enters service on September 1 flying the Chatham to Wellington service. Operations continue apace.

In early 1997, the carrier begins accepting charter and tour bookings for December 31, 1999.

Service is maintained without change into the new millennium.

AIR CHICO: United States (1980-1982). Dennis Heckerson founds AC at Chico, California, in the late spring of 1980 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo services with one each Beech 95 Travelair and Cessna 441. Revenue flights commence on June 2 linking the company’s base with Redding, San Francisco, and San Jose.

Operations continue apace until the effects of the 1981 PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike forces the company into fiscal problems that lead to its termination in early 1982.