Is formed in April 1977 as an associated of East Midland-based Alidair, Ltd. offering charter and air taxi services. In November 1978 the company becomes a subsidiary of Alidair, Ltd.
A chartered Vickers Viscount 735 with 4 crew and 47 passengers is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Kirkwall on October 25, 1979; there are no fatalities.
Scheduled passenger service is initiated over a Guernsey-Cambridge and Manchester route on April 1, 1980. During the summer season, the network is expanded to link Guernsey with Jersey and Jersey with Cambridge, Gloucester, Newcastle, and Prestwick. Chairman R. J. Dadd and Managing Director T. G. Jones employ 40 workers and fly both a Vickers Viscount 700 and a Shorts 330.
Guernsey-London flights begin on April 1, 1983. The London-based development company Jadepoint, Ltd., which had purchased British Air Ferries, Ltd. on March 1, acquires the carrier in August. Robin Pesskin is named chairman of both airline companies with Alan Weiner as managing director.
Overall passenger boardings for the two carriers, which are allowed to continue operations under their previous identities, total 99,658 on the year.
BAF/GA enplanements skyrocket to 300,000 in 1984. Airline employment for the two reaches 1,200 in 1985 as their bookings soar to 750,000.
In 1986, the GAL fleet includes 1 Vickers Viscount 802, 1 Viscount 806, and 2 Shorts 330s; scheduled services are maintained from Guernsey to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Humberside, Gloucester, Cambridge, Southend, London (LGW), and Manston.
Having undergone an ownership change in October 1987, the third-level carrier has no traffic or financial statistics to release for the year.
The workforce is increased by 2% in 1988 to 51 and the old fleet is replaced by 2 Shorts 360s. Enplanements for the year total 126,000 and revenues are $9.6 million. The latter generate an operating profit of $2 million and net gain of $350,000.
In April 1989, the company is sold to International Leisure Group, Ltd., parent of Air Europe, Ltd., for ?3.9 million in cash. In July, it is merged with Connectair, Ltd. to form Air Europe Express, Ltd.
GUERNSEYAIRWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (1934-1945). GAis formed on November 24, 1934 by Jersey Airways, Ltd. owner W. L. Thurgood with support from Whitehall Securities. On June 9, 1935, thrice-daily (except Wednesday) services are initiated Guernsey-Jersey with the Saunders-Roe Windhover, christened Windhover. The operation ends for the winter on November 19, after a half-year that sees 387 passengers carried.
Another amphibian, a Saunders Roe Cloud, christened Cloud of Iona, is obtained in late spring 1936 and is also placed on the Jersey route, with a stop at Alderney. The Cloud of Iona is lost off Jersey on July 31 (10 dead) and the service is suspended. The year’s bookings are at 1,877 before the tragedy. Summer services resume in 1938.
On May 5, 1939, a new airport is opened on Guernsey. Simultaneously, both Jersey Airways, Ltd. and Guernsey Airways, Ltd. begin new services from the island to Alderney, Southampton, London, and Jersey.
The DH 86 The Belcroute Bay initiates mail flights from Southampton-Guernsey on May 8. The company starts flying mail Jersey-Guernsey on May 22. On May 27, both Jersey and Guernsey Airways open DH 86 services from Guernsey to Exeter and Brighton.
Mail flights Guernsey-Jersey commence on July 10. On July 31, Thur-good sells his interest to Whitehall Securities’ nonflying holding company
Channel Island Airways, Ltd., which now becomes half owner along with Great Western Railway (25%) and Southern Railway (25%).
On September 3, war is declared on Germany and all civil flying ceases. Bookings for the year have totaled 11,088. Working closely with Jersey Airways, Ltd. as the result of the railroad investment, limited interisland services are resumed on October 24 as well as flights from Shoreham to Jersey and Guernsey.
When a number of independent carriers band together on May 5, 1940 to form the state-sponsored Associated Airways Joint Committee for the wartime governance of domestic air operations, Guernsey, as Jersey Airways, Ltd., is allowed to remain functional outside the organization. The war situation becomes so serious that, on June 15, Channel Islands services are suspended and all company aircraft are transferred to Exeter. In cooperation with Jersey Airways, Ltd., Guernsey DH 86s assist in the evacuation of 319 people from the islands between June 19-21.
The war in Europe ends on May 8, 1945 and, on May 26, officials from the Guernsey and Jersey companies fly to the Channel Islands in a DH 89A (leased from Railway Air Services, Ltd.) to plan coordinated service resumption.
On July 7 and 12, two DH 89As are delivered for use by both carriers. On July 16, the two begin daily early morning cargo and newspaper flights to the islands from London (Croydon); on July 18, weekday frequencies are again offered between Jersey and Guernsey.
On September 1 the railroad owners consolidate the two carriers into one, giving it the Channel Islands Airways, Ltd. designation.
GUINEA AIRWAYS (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (1926-1960). To exploit the air transport possibilities of the gold mining region of New Guinea’s Bulolo River, local administrator Cecil J. Levin, together with several investors, forms the New Guinea Gold No-Liability Company at Aldelaide in May 1926. On December 30, a government-surplus de Havilland DH 37 is purchased from the small syndicate that owned it.
During the first week of January 1927 New Guinea Gold No-Liability Company is renamed Guinea Gold Air Service (Pty.), Ltd. New
Guinea’s first bush pilot, Andrew E. “Pard” Mustar and his mechanic, A.
W. D. “Mull” Mullins, are engaged to oversee shipment of the company’s airplane by sea to Rabaul, New Britain. Reassembled, the DH 37, christened Old Faithful, is flown to the coastal strip at Lae on March 30, from whence it will operate to the goldfields in the Edie Creek area of the Mandated Territory. Following a proving flight, regular A?25 per person Lae-Wau air service begins on May 18.
Prices drop somewhat following the June 23 launch of competing service by a DH 4 of Bulolo Goldfields Aeroplane Service (Pty.), Ltd., started by another soon-to-be-legendary flyer, Raymond “Battlin’” Parer. Additional pilots and mechanics join the rival operators during the year.
To comply with an ordinance against no-liability companies, New Guinea Gold in December is reformed into Guinea Airways (Pty.), Ltd., with share capital of A?20,000.
On Muster’s advice, Levin purchases a Swedish-built Junkers W-34 in 1928, placing it in service on the gold field run in April. Four additional W-34s are acquired in 1929 while rival Parer adds a DH 9C.
Levin places orders for two Junkers G-31s in 1930. Equipped with Pratt & Whitney Hornet engines, the stretched German aircraft have specially enlarged cargo holds (24’ x 6.5’ x 5.9’). A W-34 crash-lands at Wau in March.
In 1931, with their two G-31s and with another pair owned by Bulolo Gold Dreding, Ltd., Guinea Airways pilots, under Muster’s direction, undertake the world’s largest air freight operation to date, the delivery of three huge complete dredgers to the goldfields. The airlift began on March 31, continues throughout the year, along with regular charter flights by the W-34s.
Meanwhile, on May 22, the first fatality in New Guinea air transport occurs when Les Trist, flying one of the W-34s, crashes into a mountain in the Wampit Gap.
The dredge-carrying airlift ends early in 1932 and the first of the big, reassembled machines begins operation on March 21; since the project began, Guinea Airways aircraft have ferried 3,947 tons of associated freight. In contrast, during a similar period, all of the airlines in France together carry only 1,508 tons; the U. K., 649 tons; and the U. S., 513 tons of goods.
The carrier continues to chalk up stupendous freight records during 1933-1936 while adding additional planes and other such noteworthy pilots as William Wiltshire and Ian Grabowsky, the latter succeeding Mustar as 6M in 1934. Several smaller independents are acquired, including another carrier started by “Battlin’” Parer, Pacific Aerial Transport (Pty.), Ltd. In 1933, Guinea Airways starts an unsubsidized Lae-Port Moresby service, providing connections to ships bound to and from Australia.
On February 22, 1937, 10-stop Adelaide-Darwin service is begun.
A new Lockheed Model 10A Electra arrives from the United States on June 23 and enters operations.
On August 16, weekday-only Adelaide-Sydney Electra flights are started via Mildura, Hay, and Cootamundra. Passenger and mail traffic on the Australian routes increases in 1938 and a new Lockheed Model 14H Super Electra enters service on March 6.
In August, the carrier receives its first government subsidy for the maintenance of its services. A total of 1,857 supply flights are completed in the year.
On January 13, 1939, the Super Electra crashes near Katherine River in Northern Australia. The aircraft is transporting mail from Great Britain posted between January 5-7 addressed to destinations in Northern Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania. Although most of the recovered letters and postcards are wet, they are forwarded.
DH 84s now join the fleet and the network from Adelaide is widened by the acquisition of several services formerly provided by McRobertson-Miller Airlines (Pty.), Ltd.
The Electra and all aboard are lost on December 18 when it crashes 20 miles south of Darwin. A total of 8,804 tons of freight is carried on the year.
The RAAF commandeers the carrier’s two DH 84s in 1940. These are replaced by two Lockheed L-14Hs purchased from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines and flown to Australia from Ireland in only 65 hours.
Following the Pearl Harbor attack and associated December 1941 raids, Guinea Airways aircraft evacuate hundreds of women and children from interior New Guinea towns, villages, mines, and missions to Port Moresby for evacuations to Australia by ship.
A Japanese raid on Lae on January 21, 1942 destroys three of the company’s four G-31s (the fourth is impressed into the Royal Australian Air Force) and brings its New Guinea operations to a halt; several single-engine de Havillands and Junkers escape across the Torres Strait.
On February 14, an L-14H is destroyed in a crash at Cairns, Queensland. The other is lost in a Northern Territory crash on February 21. In a report released in June, the company reveals that between February 1929 and February 1942 a total of 105,314 passengers and 73,480 tons of freight have been carried.
In November and December, employing two replacement Lockheed L-14H Super Electras and two L-18 Lodestars received from the Allied Directorate of Air Transport, the carrier participates in the air drop of supplies (“Bully Beef Bombers”) to Allied troops during the Buna-Sanananda-Gona campaign. Following Buna’s recapture, two company L-10A Electras reestablish service to that point from Port Moresby.
Service in New Guinea during 1943-1945 is sporadic; that in Australia continues, primarily in support of the Allied war effort. The first Douglas DC-3 is acquired in January 1945.
After lengthy negotiations and the payment of A?20,000, the new state carrier Trans-Australian Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. acquires the carrier’s Adelaide-Darwin route on January 11, 1947. Meanwhile, Guinea Airways itself comes under the control of ANA (Australian National Airlines, Ltd.); aircrews are administered by the larger line and all administrative, engineering, maintenance, and reservation work is performed under contract.
On January 22, an L-14H is lost in a crash at Schofield, New South Wales.
During the decade 1948-1958, a small regional DC-3-oriented network centered on Adelaide is continued, along with assorted diversified activities under a new parent, Guinea Holdings, Ltd. Little is heard of the carrier and its glory days are only a remembrance.
Guinea Holdings is purchased by Ansett Transport Industries in July 1959 and on January 17, 1960, the pioneer airline is renamed Airlines of Southern Australia (Pty.), Ltd.
GUINEE AIR SERVICE, S. A.: BP 1515, Conakry, Guinea; Phone 224 441 747; Fax 224 442 761; Code GI; Year Founded 1992. Buoh Jijohn Kah establishes GAS at Conakry in 1992 to offer charter domestic passenger and cargo services. Operations begin with a single Antonov An-24V wet-leased from Kazair (Kazakhstan Airlines) and two Piper PA-23 Aztecs.
Flights continue in 1993-1994.
While taking off from Sambailo on January 26, 1995, the chartered Kazair An-26V with five crew and two passengers overruns the runway, fails its lift off, and collides with a line of trees; although the aircraft is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities. Replacement aircraft are ordered.
Flights continue without further incident during the year and into 2000. During these years, Ibrahima Kouyate is appointed president and he continues revenue services with 2 each An-26Vs and Aztecs.
GUIZHOU AIRWAYS COMPANY, LTD.: 20 Shengfu Road, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550001, China; Phone 86 (851) 584-7641; Fax 86 (851) 584-7672; Code G4; Year Founded 1991. Founded by the Guizhou Government at Guiyang in 1991, this local service airline begins revenue flights within its namesake province late in the year with 2 Xian Y-7-100s (Chinese made Antonov An-26s).
A Harbin Yu-12 II is acquired in 1992. Athird Y-7-100 is delivered in 1993 as President Ma Yongxing continues operations in this year and the next.
Enplanements total 174,750 in 1995.
Airline employment stands at 300 in 1996 and the fleet now includes 1 Yu-12 and 4 Y-7-100s. Customer bookings fall 16.5% to 150,000. Flights continue in 1997.
One Y-7-100 is removed from the fleet list. During the first quarter of 1998, the regulatory body CAAC (The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China) significantly increases pressure for the amalgamation of the country’s regional airlines into three large groups centered around major carriers. It is hoped that Guizhou will be taken over by China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd. by 2001.
The acquisition proceeds more quickly than envisioned. As early as April, a 60% stake is acquired by China Southern Airlines Company, Ltd.
Enplanements in 1999 total 234,000 while 419,000 FTKs are operated.
The company continues to fly scheduled domestic passenger and cargo in southern China. Operations are enhanced by the acquisition of a Boeing 737-31B leased from its parent.
GUJARAT AIRWAYS, LTD.: India (1994-1999). This new regional is established at Ahmedabad on February 2, 1994. Owned by Gujarat State Fertiliser Company, the Torrent Group, Indamer, and Bombay’s Concept advertising agency, the company faces an initial delay in undertaking services. Nevertheless, Chairman G. N. Patel and Managing Director R. C. Shama recruit a workforce of 130 and place orders for 4 Beech 1900Ds.
Following delivery of the first two turboprops, scheduled services are inaugurated on July 25, 1995, linking the airline’s base with the Gujarat state destinations of Bombay, Bhavnegar, Bhuj, Diu, Jaipur, Keshod, Porbandar, Pune, and Vadodara.
Services continue in 1996-1997. The country’s largest regional airline now also flies to Maharashtra, Madhya, Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karataka, and Tamil Nadu. On July 17, 1998, new return frequencies are inaugurated between Bombay and Hubli.
The second pair of Beech 1900Ds arrives in June 1999 and allows the company to launch flights from Bombay to Jamnagar and Kandla and from Pune to Hyderabad. Due to what are termed “unavoidable circumstances,” all flights originating from Bombay, Hubli, Bangalore, and Coimbatore are withdrawn on October 8 as the carrier seeks $10 million in additional financing.
The funds are not forthcoming and the company joins a long list of Indian private airlines that have failed during the decade.
GULF AIR: United States (1986-1989). The one-time Music City Airways is transferred from Tennessee to New Iberia, Louisiana, early in its career to support the oil industry with contract charters employing Convair CV-240s and, two years later, a Lockheed L-188C Electra.
The reborn Gulf Air Transport shortens its name to Gulf Air and moves to a new hub at Philadelphia in 1986. Its fleet expanded with four more B-727-100s, the carrier now undertakes contract flights for tour operators as well as federal government agencies.
During 1987, permission is received from the DOT for the inauguration of transatlantic tour flights. A number of Boeing 727-200s are leased, one of which is employed to operate subcharters during the summer on behalf of Air Malta, Ltd.
In this first full year of operations under the new name, Gulf Air transports a total of 377,000 passengers. Revenues reach $38.2 million and expenses are kept low enough to allow profits of $927,000 (operating) and $65,000 (net).
Airline employment is increased by 19.1% in 1988 to 417 and the fleet now includes 3 B-727-100s and 4 B-727-200s, the latter overwater equipped.
In May, two B-727-200s are wet-leased to Air Malta, Ltd. for its seven-month summer tour season. In June, the remaining two B-727-200s start weekly charter flights from Boston to the Azores. Construction is started on a new operations base approximately one mile away from the old one.
Passenger boardings increase 51.3% to 644,735 and revenues shoot up 65.3% to $63.2 million. Expenses, however, skyrocket 76% and create an operating loss of $2.5 million. The net loss is half a million dollars less.
The airline plans to begin overseas tours in early 1989, but finds that it must change its name, which is the same as that operated by the Gulf States consortium carrier. When GAT announces its desire to be known as Sun International Airlines, this decision is challenged by Sun Country Airlines as being too close to its own.
Finally, on May 1, executives elect to honor the memory of Orvis Nelson’s pioneer Pacific supplemental. Gulf Air becomes Transocean Airways and signs an agreement with the ILFC for the charter of two DC-8-71s.
World History
