Capitalized at ?15,000, WAF is formed at London on June 24, 1947 as an international all-cargo operation. An ex-military Handley Page HP 61 Halifax 8 bomber, converted to civil freighter standard, is obtained on November 26 and begins operations from London (STN) by month’s end.
A second Halifax is delivered in January 1948. Company operations are moved to Bovingdon at the end of February. The two aircraft undertake a variety of long-haul charters during the spring and summer and destinations visited include Zagreb, Lydda, Geneva, Damascus, Bahrain, Rangoon, Nicosia, Basra, Karachi, Calcutta, Madrid, Villafranca.
The two aircraft fly fruit to the U. K. from Spain and Italy in July and August and on August 31 one ship is committed to the “milk airlift” from Belfast to Blackpool and Liverpool. While en route from Belfast on September 28, the Halifax Trade Wind crashes near Port St. Mary, Isle of Man (four dead).
The surviving Halifax, the North Wind, begins participation in the Berlin Airlift on October 6, flying cargo into the former German capital from Wunsdorf. After only seven sorties, the plane crash-lands near Gatow on October 8; although no one is killed, the aircraft burns out. A replacement Halifax is located in November and begins flying freight into Berlin, from Hamburg, on Christmas Eve.
A second Halifax is placed in service by World Wide in March 1949; however, the Christmas HP 61 crashes near Tegel Airport, West Berlin, on April 30 (4 dead), after having completed 255 airlift sorties.
The remaining machine successfully completes its German service and is withdrawn on August 15 after flying 264 sorties. Refurbished, the Halifax returns to commercial service from Bovingdon in October, flying textiles into the U. K. from Lille.
On January 20, 1950, the Halifax is damaged in a landing accident at Brindisi. Although it is repaired, the aircraft, with six aboard, smashes into Mount Hohgant, Switzerland, on April 16; there are no survivors. With the loss of its last aircraft, the company ceases operations.
WORLD AIR NETWORK CHARTER, LTD. (WAC): Japan (1991-1995). World Air Network is founded at Tokyo on February 8, 1991 as the first international charter airline in Japan and a subsidiary of All-Nippon Airways Company, Ltd. (ANA). President Isao Kasuga’s new entrant initially employs 87 workers and leases a single Boeing 767-381ER from its parent.
Revenue flights commence on March 2 from Fukuoka, Nagoya, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Sapporo, and Sendai. Destinations visited come to include 15 locations, including Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Cairns, Dalian, Dempasar, Guam, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Phuket, Saipan, Seoul, Shenyang, Singapore, Sydney, Tianjing, and Xi’en.
A total of 120 flights are made during the remainder of the year, transporting 11,500 travelers.
A second B-767-381ER is chartered in 1992 and passenger bookings swell to 63,000. Based at Singapore, the carrier in 1993 employs 16 Australian pilots and 40 cabin attendants from Singapore. It is announced in October that this subsidiary will begin to operate some of its parent’s scheduled routes as a way of cutting costs; the first roundtrip replacement flights begin in early December between Tokyo and Singapore.
Service continues in 1994 as two more B-767-381ERs join the fleet. Overextended, the company is shut down in August 1995. Since its startup, the company has transported only 78,000 passengers on 398 international charters; losses reach $4.8 million.
World History
