Equipped with a Douglas DC-3 acquired for it in the U. K. by subsidiary Meredith Air Transport, Ltd., this charter operator is reformed by Tom Meredith, Jock Hamilton, and five colleagues from Tropic Airways (Pty.), Ltd. in May 1953. Revenue flights are inaugurated to Amsterdam from Johannesburg on December 21.
In August 1954, charter services similar to those flown earlier by TA are initiated to such northern European communities as Dusseldorf and London via Entebbe, Cairo, Malta, Zurich, or Vienna from East Africa and from Leopoldville, Kano, and Palma de Majorca from the West Africa. Two Vickers 498 Viking 1s are purchased from Airwork, Ltd. in October and November, one of which is named Louis Trichardt.
A third Viking 1, the Piet Retief, is acquired in late 1955, and the three continue to make the five monthly roundtrips that each are permitted by the National Transportation Commission to fly to Europe.
Two Douglas DC-4s are purchased in December 1957 from Northwest Airlines. They enter service in April 1958, at which point the Vikings are removed from scheduled flights and assigned to operate charters. The domestic South African charter subsidiary Protea Airways (Pty.) Ltd. is created later the same year.
Low fare passenger service is introduced in 1959 by General Manager
P. C. E. Gratz’s carrier, bringing considerable success. Routes are extended twice weekly from Johannesburg to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, and Athens via Entebbe, Wadi Halfa, and Malta.
A DC-4 with 6 crew and 61 passengers makes a forced landing near El Badary, Egypt, on September 3, 1960; although the aircraft is a total loss, there are no fatalities.
Two Lockheed L-749As, including one named the Andries Pretorius, are leased from South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. in December 1961, while the remaining DC-4 is sold to Luxair, S. A. In order to avoid being shut out from a Continental destination when its traffic rights to Dus-seldorf expire in May 1962, Trek inaugurates roundtrips to Luxembourg in February. The company will remain the designated South African carrier on that route for its entire history.
When the nations of Black Africa begin to ban South African aircraft from their airspace during the summer of 1963, Trek returns its two Constellations to SAA in August. Beginning in October and continuing for the remainder of the year, DC-6Bs are leased from UAT (Union Aeromaritime de France, S. A.).
Two L-1049A Starliners, formerly operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., are acquired in February and March 1964. These long-legged piston airliners allow Trek to continue service to Europe via the West African coast in a manner similar to the Springbok services provided by
South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Technical stops are available at Windhoek, Luanda, and Ilha do Sal.
A cooperative agreement is signed with Luxair, S. A. and under its terms, joint operations of the new Lockheeds commence in April, with the European line providing connecting service from Luxembourg onward to London. One of the Starliners is transferred to Luxair, which, not having been banned from the routes, can fly in any African airspace.
Shareholding is revised in early 1965 to include Rentmeester Beleg-gings (Pty.), Ltd. (40%), South African Marine Corporation (Pty.), Ltd. (Safmarine) (25%), and private interests (35%). Airline employment is now 130. On May 7, on behalf of South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd., the company begins roundtrip Wallaby route flights once every two weeks from Johannesburg to Perth via Mauritius and the Cocos Islands.
With the flag carrier also providing a service every two weeks, South Africa is able to match the trans-Indian Ocean Wallaby frequencies of Qantas Empire Airways (Pty.), Ltd. These flights continue until September, when SAA is able to place additional Douglas DC-7Bs on the run. Enplanements for the year are 10,094.
Starliner flights commence on February 15, 1966, from Johannesburg to Rio de Janeiro via Luanda. This is the first nonstop commercial service across the South Atlantic by a South African airline.
A third L-1649A Starliner and an L-1049E Super Constellation are purchased from Air France in April. It is employed, beginning on July 5, to operate a weekly roundtrip from Johannesburg to Tokyo, via Mauritius, Colombo, and Hong Kong.
Authority for 10 additional European roundtrips is granted by the South African government in 1967. An order is sent to Boeing for a B-707-320B Stratoliner.
After the tragic loss of a SAA B-707-344C, with 123 killed, at Windhoek on April 20, 1968, Trek volunteers to give its place on the Boeing assembly line to South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd. The state carrier promises to turn over one of its older Boeings as soon as the new plane arrives from Washington State.
A Bristol Britannia is leased in June to undertake the Luxembourg service; however, one Starliner is retained in front line service to operate the connecting service for Luxair, S. A. to London through September 30. At this point, all three of the Starliners are converted into freighters.
A B-707-348, wearing its own livery and Luxair, S. A. stickers, is leased from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. and enters service from Johannesburg on October 22.
South African Airways (Pty.), Ltd., in accordance with its pledge the previous April, turns over a B-707-344B on May 30, 1969.
A former Qantas Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Boeing 707-138B is purchased during the early 1970s and a second B-707-138B is acquired in 1974. The company ceases operations in the spring of 1976 and the Boeings and Starliners are passed to Luxair, S. A., to which many employees migrate as well. After Trek Airways shuts down, the subsidiary Protea Airways (Pty.), Ltd. soldiers on alone until rising expenses (led by fuel costs) force the company out of business in 1980.
When the South African domestic independent Flitestar, Ltd. is created in 1991, the shareholders, Rentmeester Investments and Muelkin & Safmarine, will name their holding company in honor of this charter pioneer.
TRI AIR: United States (1987-1989). Taking a leaf from the book of Jetstream International Airlines, Tri Air, established at Hyannis, Massachusetts, in March 1987, is named in honor of its aircraft. Employing a three-motor Pilatus-Britten-Norman PBN-2A Trislander, daily roundtrips are inaugurated on April 1 linking the company’s base with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Operations continue apace until August 1989.
TRI STAR AVIATION: Box 88, Weyers Cave, Virginia, 24486, United States; Phone (540) 234-8998; Fax (540) 234-9901; Year Founded 1984. Tri Star is established by Marvin Shank in 1984 to offer on demand FAAPart 135 air taxi flights, cargo operations, and also to engage in aircraft management.
By 2000, Shank oversees the flights of 1 each Beech King Air 90, Cessna 414 Conquest, C-421, and Piper PA-23 Aztec. Revenues reach $300,000.
TRI-STATE AIRLINES: United States (1982-1984). Tri-State is established at White Lake, New York, in 1982. Employing a fleet of 3 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftains, the third-level operator undertakes scheduled passenger and cargo services, expanding, during the remainder of the year and into 1983 to Albany, Binghamton, Montgomery, Monticello, Poughkeepsie, Manchester, Harrisburg, Nantucket, New Bedford, and Newark.
Rapid growth and recession contribute to hurt income in 1984 and all routes are suspended in August except those to Nantucket, Newark, and Manchester. These and other cost-cutting measures do not help and the carrier shuts down in the fall.
TRI-STATE AVIATION: United States (1969-1978). Tri State is established by Carlton Clark as the FBO at Huntington, West Virginia. In the fall of 1969, Edward Hyman and Morris Griffiths establish a company airline division to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to Colubus and Cincinnati. Aero Commander 500B and Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander daily roundtrips commence in November, but only continue through May 1970.
TRIAX AIR, LTD.: 1 Kings Road, New Haven, Enugu, Nigeria; Phone 234 (42) 337 777; Code TIX; Year Founded 1992. Triax is established as a subsidiary of Prince Arthur Eze’s Triax Group at Enugu Airport in October 1992 to offer passenger charter flights to destinations throughout Africa and the Mideast. Revenue operations commence on November 17 with a single Boeing 727-82. In 1993, a leased B-727-264 is placed into service.
Flights continue in 1994-2000, during which years Chairman Eze and General Manager Capt. D. Okatachi acquire a B-727-22. Destinations now visited include Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Owem.
TRICON INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES: United States (19681975). Tricon is established at Dallas (DAL) in 1968 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to regional destinations. Employing a Beech 18, daily roundtrips are duly inaugurated, linking the company’s base with Shreveport, Longview, Tyler, Waco, Temple, and Austin.
Operations continue apace until 1975.
TRIGANA AIR SERVICE: Mendawai No. 40, Kebayoran, Jakarta-Selatan, Indonesia; Phone 62 (21) 772 337; Fax 62 (21) 772 337; Http://www. geocities. com/WaUStreet/5470/indo. htm; Year Founded 1992. TAS is established at Jakarta in the fall of 1992 to offer domestic scheduled and charter passenger and cargo services. Operations commence with a fleet that includes 3 Beech Super King Air 200s, 2 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, and 3 Fokker F.27-600 Friendships.
A DHC-6-100 with two crew fails its takeoff from Pogapa on December 8 and crashes; although the freighter is damaged, there are no fatalities.
Flights continue without incident in 1993, but not in 1994. Another DHC-6, a Dash-300 with two crew and two passengers, crashes into a cloud-shrouded mountain ridge at the 7,050-ft. level near Nabire, Papua New Guinea, on November 4; there are no survivors.
Flights continue in 1993-2000, during which years an F.28-4000 jetliner is also employed. There are numerous accidents.
While taxiing at Jakarta on May 14, 1996, the No. 1 propeller of the Fokker F.27-600 Jayapura chews into the right wing of a parked F.28. Both aircraft are damaged, but repairable.
Just after landing at Ilaga on September 30, a DHC-6-300 with two crew and three passengers overruns the runway and falls over an embankment; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
Just after takeoff from Bandung on a July 17, 1997, service to Jakarta, the F.27-600 Jayapura with 5 crew and 45 passengers and leased to Sempati Air, develops engine problems and begins trailing smoke. The pilot attempts to make an emergency landing at Sulaiman AFB, but instead, hits the roofs of houses in a residential area and crashes into a muddy field (29 dead).
TRILLIUM AIR, LTD.: Waterloo Regional Airport, P. O. Box. 70, Breslau, Ontario N0B 1M0, Canada; Phone (519) 648-1204; Fax (519) 648-1208; Http://www. trilliumair. com; Year Founded 2000.
Trillium is established at Waterloo Regional Airport in June 2000 as a subsidiary of Pem Air, Ltd. Daily Jetstream 31 roundtrips are initiated connecting Kitchener and Waterloo with Ottawa. At the end of October, the schedule becomes twice daily.
World History
