Is established at Kinshasa to offer charter passenger and cargo services to regional destinations. Operations commence with a single Boeing 737-200C. Flights cease within a year.
AIR TRANSPORT PYRENEES, S. A.: France (1989-1995). This French commuter is established at Aeroport de Pau in late 1989; Lucien Bertrand is named managing director. A fleet is assembled comprising 1 Beech Super King Air 200 and 4 Beech King Air 100s. Scheduled passenger services are inaugurated in the spring of 1990; destinations served include Nantes, Biarritz, St. Etienne, and Toulouse.
A Beech 1900 is purchased, but is returned in 1991. At the same time, one King Air 100 is sold and replaced by a Cessna 310. Plans are made to merge the company on January 1, 1992, with Air Exel France, S. A., Airlec, S. A., and Air Vendee, S. A. to form Regional Airlines, S. A. The takeover does not occur.
Operations continue apace in 1993-1994 and the fleet is increased by the addition of one Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante. Flights continue linking Pau with Nantes, St. Etienne with Toulouse, and Castres with Rodez and Lyon. Early in 1995, the company is purchased by Proteus Air System, S. A. and merged.
AIR TRANSPORT SCHOOL: Russia (1993-1995). Essentially an advanced flight-training facility at Moscow’s Zhukovski Airport, General Director M. I. Didenko’s operation begins to offer charter services to various Russian Federation destinations during 1993.
The fleet, drawn largely from Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA), includes 2 Antonov An-32s, 2 Ilyushin Il-76s, 2 Il-86s, 2 Tupolev Tu-134s, and 2 Yakovlev Yak-40s. Services continue into 1994-1995.
AIR TRAVEL, LTD.: New Zealand (1929-1931). With a de Havilland 50 borrowed from the New Zealand government, Squadron Leader M. C. McGregor begins a daily Christchurch-Dunedin service on behalf of Air Travel, Ltd. in 1929.
Traffic is poor and the passenger service ceases on April 12, 1931. The carrier remains in service as a charter operator through the fall and on November 12, McGregor, flying a Spartan, carries the first all-New Zealand airmail from Invercargill to Auckland.
AIR TRAVEL (N. Z.), LTD.: New Zealand (1934-1945). Captain J. C. “Bert” Mercer forms New Zealand’s first sustained regular airline at the South Island town of Hokitika in the fall of 1934. With a de Havilland DH 83 Fox Moth, he inaugurates service along the west coast on December 31 to the isolated communities of Haast and Okuru. In addition to scheduled passenger and cargo frequencies, Mercer also operates charters and flies the mail. The latter is the earliest surcharge-free mail service in the nation.
This route is extended from Hokitika to Inchbonnie in early 1935. A second Fox Moth is now acquired that had previously been the personal aircraft of the Prince of Wales. Nicknamed the “Royal” Fox Moth, this DH 83 is piloted by another former World War I pilot, James Hewitt.
Flights continue over the remainder of the decade and into the 1940s, with the fleet increased by another Fox Moth, 2 DH 90 Dragonflies, 2 DH 89A Dragon Rapide, and 2 DH 84 Dragon. All are painted in a bright orange-and-white livery.
While en route from Hokitika to Wellington in December 1942, one of the two propellers of a DH 90 flies off the aircraft, causing it to crash into the sea; all five passengers are killed.
Being flown on a flight-seeing tour for four members of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, the “Royal” Fox Moth crashes high onto the Franz Josef Glacier in October 1943. Although none of the five people aboard are seriously hurt, it requires two days for a rescue. The remains of the Fox Moth, including its engines, are carried off the ice in pieces; it will be rebuilt within seven months. The aircraft remains airworthy in 1998.
While return from a flight to the west coast in June 1944, the carrier’s Dragon crashes on an isolated ridge. All five aboard, including Capt. Mercer who is travelling as a passenger, are killed.
Despite these accidents, flights continue, largely without change, until December 7, 1945 when the carrier is one of three combined to form New Zealand National Airways Corporation.
AIR TROIKA SP: 6/3 Kuznetski Most, Moscow, 103775, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 927-8303; Fax 7 (095) 924-3582; Code TK; Year Founded 1994. Air Troika is established at Moscow in 1994 to provide domestic all-cargo services. Sergi E. Andreyev is appointed general director and he commences revenue flights with a single Ilyushin Il-76D.
Flights continue in 1995-1997. During these years the fleet is increased by the addition of 5 Antonov An-26s, 7 Mil Mi-8s, and 2 Kamov Ka-32s. The helicopters are employed to operate external load and construction flights.
By 2000, Director General Andreyev oversees a 45-person workforce. His fleet has been increased by the addition of 2 Yakovlev Yak-40s and 1 Tupolev Tu-134A. UN charters, begun during the Kosovo crisis, are continued between points in Eastern Europe and Russia.
AIR TRUCK LINEAS AEREAS, S. A.: Spain (1990-1996) . Air Truck is set up at Madrid in 1990 to offer domestic all-cargo services with a fleet of three Dassault Falcon 20s. Much of the business consists of feeding such giants as UPS (United Parcel Service) and DHLAirlines.
A total of 2.28 million FTKs are flown on the year.
A fourth Falcon 20 is acquired in 1992 and freight traffic accelerates to 5.6 million FTKs. Operations continue apace as Managing Director Jose Parries’s carrier during 1993.
Late in 1994, the subsidiary associate commuter, Lineas Aereas Navarres, S. A., is formed and orders are placed for three Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-320s. These are delivered in the spring and fall of 1995 and enter regional service.
In June 1996, Air Truck is renamed Air Track, S. A.
AIR TUNGARU CORPORATION: P. O. Box 274, Bonriki International Airport, Bikenibeu, Tarawa, Kiribati; Phone 686 28 088; Fax 686 28 277; Code VK; Year Founded 1977. Formed on October 31, 1977 as the national airline for the Republic of Kiribati, Air Tungaru initially operates interisland services beginning in April 1978. The company’s two Britten-Norman BN-2A Trislanders, operating from Bonriki Airport, link the capital of Tarawa with Butaritari, Marakei, Malana, Abemama, Nonouti, Tabiteuea North, and Beru.
In 1979, Air Pacific, Ltd. (2) obtains a five-year contract to provide scheduled services to Honolulu from Kiritimati and Tarawa.
By the early 1980s, the carrier’s fleet has grown to comprise 1 CASA C-212 Aviocar, the 2 Trislanders, and 1 de Havilland DH 114 Heron. Regional services are offered, connecting Tarawa with Funafuti, Majuro, and Nadi.
The Air Pacific, Ltd. (2) contract ends in March 1984 at which time a Douglas DC-8 is leased from Hawaiian Airlines to fly a weekly nonstop Kiritimati-Honolulu frequency.
The long-haul operation is given up in 1987, along with the Heron. In 1988, Managing Director Capt. R. Cooney’s fleet and network are the same as in 1981. Maate P. Moniba is named general manager in 1989. Under a charter agreement signed in October with Aloha Airlines, the flag carrier of Kiribati begins weekly roundtrip service in December from Honolulu to Kiritimati Tarawa, and Nadi.
In 1991, a Boeing 737-214 is purchased and the Hawaii service is resumed. Airline employment is 45 in 1992, but the expensive jetliner service is discontinued. CEO Moniba’s 1993-1994 fleet includes the CASA C-212 Aviocar and two Trislanders.
Flights continue during the remainder of the decade.
World History
