Nation’s Piper Aircraft distributor, UAS is established at Entebbe in late 1965 under the direction of D. J. Hogg. Employing small Pipers, the company, in the spring of 1966, launches a program of inclusive-tour passenger charters to Arua, Gulu, Lira, Moroto, and Soroti, towns that ring three national parks. These services continue until the company is taken over by Uganda Airways Corporation in 1977.
UKHTA ENTERPRISE (UKHTINSKOE GUSUDARSTVENNOE PREDPRIATIE): Russia (1993-1996). Established at Ukhta in 1993, this new regional provides ad hoc passenger and cargo flights to domestic locations and also operates ambulance, agricultural, and energy-industry support services. The mixed fleet of fixed - and rotary-wing aircraft includes Antonov An-2s, Yakovlev Yak-40s, and Mil Mi-2, Mi-6, Mi-8, Mi-10, and Mi-26s.
General Director Ye Yu Starkov’s carrier continues its operations without substantial change in 1994. Flights cease in 1996.
UKRAINE AIR ALLIANCE: P. O. Box 136, Kiev, 270054, Ukraine; Phone 7 (34522) 242 349; Fax 7 (34522) 242 288; Code UKL; Year Founded 1992. This joint stock company is established at Kiev on February 28, 1992 and is one of the first private enterprises established in the Ukraine following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Plans are made for the initiation of domestic, regional, and international passenger and freight charters.
Valen Marinitchemko is director general and he begins revenue services in early 1993 with four Antonov An-32s.
Service is maintained without incident or headline during the remainder of the decade. During these years, the fleet is increased to include 2 An-12s, 1 An-24V, 2 An-26s, 2 An-32s, and 1 An-74-2000.
UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES: Propekt Peremogy 14, Kiev, 252135, Ukraine; Phone 380 (044) 221-8135; Fax 380 (044) 2167994; Http://www. uia. ukrpack. net/1252; Code PS; Year Founded 1992. Ukraine International is founded at Kiev in October 1992 as a joint venture between Air Ukraine and GPA, later GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), with the former owning 88% of the shareholding. The western lessor provides Manager Vitali Potyomski’s new international carrier with two chartered Boeing 737-400s in early 1993.
At the same time, a code-sharing agreement is signed with Austrian Airlines, A. G. covering routes from Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, and Odessa to Vienna. The Vienna-based flag carrier also acquires equity.
The new jetliners also inaugurate and continue flights to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Manchester, Munich, Berlin, Milan, and Brussels. Orders are placed for B-767-300ERs with which to launch transatlantic flights in 1995. Also in 1993, GPA seconds Richard Creigh to the carrier to act as vice president. He is also named to the company board and thus becomes the first non-Soviet director of any of the new CIS airlines. By the end of the decade, he will be the only non-CIS director with any real executive authority.
The financial break-even point is reached in 1994, at which point the Ukrainians seek 25% in expanded equity from private Western interests. Enplanements approach 250,000.
In August 1995, UIA launches dual-designator flights from Kiev to Madrid in partnership with Iberia Spanish Airlines (2) (Lineas Aereas de Espana, S. A.). Additional destinations added in 1996 include Barcelona and Zurich. The company now also visits Kiev, Larnaca, Riga, Rome, Athens, Budapest, and Vienna. In July, the Ukraine government elects to partially privatize the concern. Foreign airlines seek shareholding.
The Zurich-based flag carrier Swissair, A. G. takes an equity interest in November; together, Swissair A. G. and Austrian Airlines, A. G. own a combined 18.4%. The GPA Group stake is now 13.3%, while the State Property Fund for Ukraine holds the majority (68.5%) interest.
Airline employment in 1997 grows to 470.
During the spring, the company contracts with Transavia Airlines, N. V. of the Netherlands to operate on its behalf numerous scheduled flights out of Kiev.
On May 1, the carrier joins with AMADEUS, S. A. and the Ukraine Civil Aviation Computer Centre to form a new company to market the Amadeus reservations system in Ukraine. Travel agencies and others employing Amadeus will be able to gain information on UIA flights and book seats.
Code-sharing is now inaugurated with Swissair, A. G. between Kiev and Zurich.
On a flight to Greece on December 17, a Yak-42 with 75 aboard goes down near Mount Olympus; there are no survivors.
Enplanements during the 12 months total 143,420.
With the beginning of the summer season at the end of March 1998, new frequencies are extended to Belgrade. Four-times-a-week Yak-40 roundtrips are inaugurated on June 22 between Kiev and the Crimean capital city of Simferopol.
Passenger boardings jump 29% to 202,000, while freight traffic increases 75% to 3.94 million FTKs.
In anticipation of air strikes by NATO countries against Serbian military targets in a campaign to compel Belgrade to accept a peace agreement with the ethnic Albanians fighting for an independent Kosovo, UKI, on March 24, 1999, halts all scheduled service into Belgrade. A spokesman, in making the announcement, indicates that the situation will be evaluated further toward evening; however, that evening, Operation Allied Force, the bombing attack on targets in Serbia and Kosovo begins.
Service to Belgrade remains halted on March 25 and for the duration of the NATO bombing campaign. Flights throughout south-central and southeastern Europe experience delays of 30-60 min. due to airspace closure.
On April 13, an An-24 is detained at Kishinev, Moldavia. Customs officials, inspecting the aircraft, en route from Hungary to Yemen with a declared cargo of oil production equipment, have found 5,000 undocumented pistols. It will be some time before the matter can be straightened out and the aircraft, minus its confiscated cargo, released.
Yugoslavia bends to NATO will on June 11.
Flights to Belgrade are resumed in the fall.
Customer bookings total 193,000 during the year and 4.94 million FTKs are operated. Revenues total $55 million.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 total 702, a 49.4% increase over the previous 12 months. The fleet now includes 5 Boeing 737s, 2 Dash-35Bs, and 1 each Dash-247A, Dash-2T4A and Dash-32Q.
It is announced on May 25 that the carrier will soon inaugurate regularly scheduled services from Kiev to Copenhagen.
The carrier enters into several new code-sharing agreements to promote service to Western Europe. Effective September 12, a dual designator flight operated with KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.) is added from Kiev to Amsterdam. Three days later, in cooperation with Blue Panorama Airlines, S. p.A., twice-weekly B-737-4K5 roundtrips are inaugurated from Kiev to Milan. UIA launches its own thrice-weekly return flights on October 4 between Kiev and Copenhagen.
UKRAINIAN CARGO AIRWAYS: 19/21 Frunze Str., Kiev, 254080, Ukraine; Phone 38 (044) 463 7004; Fax 38 (044) 463 7002; Http://www. avia-uca. com. us; Code UKS; Year Founded 1997. The
State Property Fund of the Ukraine establishes this charter carrier at Kiev in July 1997 to make use of surplus transport aircraft available from the downsizing Ukrainian Air Force. Nikolas M. Mayak is elected president and he takes the 6 months to refurbish a fleet of 18 Ilyushin Il-76s, 1 Il-62M, 6 Antonov An-24s, 5 An-12s, and 3 Tupolev Tu-154s.
Revenue passenger and cargo charters are inaugurated in January 1998 to domestic and international destinations.
While on approach to Asmara after a July 17 service from Burgas, an Il-76 with nine crew and a passenger crashes into a hillside seven km. short of the runway; there are no survivors.
Flights continue in 1999. Business in southeast Europe is impacted by the April and June Kosovo crisis.
Service continues apace for the remainder of the year, with UCA winning contracts from the UN to provide humanitarian flights into the Sudan, Kosovo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Early in 2000, a Tupolev Tu-154B-2 is added and employed to launch medium-haul passenger charters. At the same time, a homepage is opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web.
UKRVOZDUKHPUT (UKRAINSKOE AKTSIONERNOE OB-SHCHESTVO VOZDUSHNYKH SHOOBSHCHENII): Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1923-1930). Meeting at Kharkov on March 26, 1923, representatives from a variety of Ukrainian organizations agree to create the Ukrainian Air Service Joint-Stock Company (Ukrain-skoe Obshchestvo Vozdushnykh Shoobshchenii). “Ukrairways,” to give it an English translation, is also known as Ukrvozdukhput (UVP) from its initials. V. N. Ksandrov, chairman of the Supreme Ukrainian Council for National Economy (Ukrsovnarkhoz) is elected managing director and initial share capitalization is 550,000 gold rubles.
The Ukrainian Council of the People’s Commissars ratifies the company’s statutes on June 1. Orders are placed for six Dornier Komet IIs and planes are made to open services in August. Airports are created at Kharkov (combined with a racetrack), Kiev, Odessa, Elisabetgrad, and Poltava, together with several emergency landing fields. While Soviet pilots are trained, three German flyers are recruited to fill the gap: Walter Neun, Egon Fath, and one Zinmeier.
After tests and modifications, the first two Dorniers arrive on September 5 and, like those that follow, are given a blue and yellow livery. The first two Komet IIs are officially presented on September 30 and are christened Donets-Zheleznodorozhnik and Ukraina. The final four are acquired on November 18: Kharkovskii Metallist, Krasnyi Khimik, Kharkovskii Proletarii, and Ukrvenshtorg. By the time the last aircraft are available, it is too late in the year to begin services.
Two routes are proven by the company’s German pilots during the first quarter-and-a-half of 1924: Kharkov to Odessa via Elisabetgrad and Kharkov to Kiev via Poltava. A 46-ruble, 80- kopeck one-way fee will be charged for each of the 3 hr. 35 min. flights. Scheduled services are launched with ceremonies on May 25 and, after a month, 90 passengers and 350 kg. of cargo has been flown. When the flying season ends on October 1, records reveal that 347 persons have been flown on 118 scheduled flights; another 413 passengers have been accommodated on charters. Late in the year, orders are placed for seven Dornier Komet IIIs and the first of nine Soviet pilots is employed.
The routes and services of Junkers Luftverkehr Russland, A. G. are
Acquired early in 1925 and the year’s Kiev services resume on April 15. The first three Komet IIIs arrive in June and are employed in mid-month to reopen flights to Odessa and to begin service to Moscow. The remaining four Komet IIIs arrive during July and August and enter service before the company is closed down for winter on September 23.
With five additional Komet IIIs on hand, Ukrvozdukhput opens its 1926 season in early April. While attempting to land at Kharkov on May 19, a Komet III, with four aboard and engine failure, attempts to avoid a horse race in progress, but hits a tree and crashes into an unoccupied viewing stand; there are no survivors from the company’s first fatal accident. The aircraft; however, will be rebuilt as a Merkur and returned to service.
Flying another Komet III, pilot I. P. Shurygin undertakes a proving flight, beginning on May 17, from Kharkov to Baku and Tbilisi. A month later, on June 20, scheduled flights are inaugurated by V. M. Melnikov over a route from Moscow to Tbilisi via Orel, Kharkov, Arte-movsk, Rostov-on-Don, Mineralnye Vody, Groznyi, Baku, and Evlakh. At Moscow, connections are established with Dobrolet and at Tbilisi with Junkers-Luftvehrkehr’s Persian service. The 114-hr. train trip from Moscow is cut to 38 hrs. by air.
A Komet III is lost in a July 28 crash. During the fall, the company receives two more aircraft. One is an old Red Air Force de Havilland DH 34 and the other is a brand new Dornier Merkur, received in October after its September sales trip from Germany to Moscow and points south.
The Komet II Ukraina is lost in a fire on May 8, 1927. In need of additional capacity, two Fokker F-IIIs are chartered from Deruluft later in the month. On June 2, a new Aerial Photography Department, under I.
K. Kirillov, is created to officially take over the agricultural reconnaissance work performed over the past two years. The Dornier IIs Donets-Zheleznodorozhnik, Kharkovskii Metallist, and Krasnyi Khimik are converted into camera ships and are assigned to the unit.
A Komet III must be written off following a July 28 crash, but the leased Fokkers are purchased from Deruluft in August. Following some negotiation, a pact is signed in October with the Persian branch of Junkers-Luftverkehr for a joint Ukraine-Persia service. Following successful completion of a December 1 proving flight to Pakhlevi, the agreement is endorsed by the Soviet and Persian governments. En-planements for the year total 2,320.
Employing a Ukrainian Komet III, Moscow to Pakhlevi scheduled services are inaugurated in February 1928, but the aircraft is lost in a crash at Pakhlevi on April 7. A third Deruluft Fokker is purchased in April and in early June a new Junkers F-13 is acquired. Placed on the Persian service, it makes its initial flight to Tehran on June 28. Two Kalinin K-4s, the first successful Soviet-designed airliner, are received, one each in July and August.
The Fokker acquired in April is withdrawn following a crash on October 11. On December 11, the Council of Civil Aviation determines to alter the Moscow to Baku route. The service is sent south (instead of north) of the Caucasus and along the Black Sea coast via Sochi, Sukhum, Kutais, Tbilisi, and Gandzhe. It actually stretches over the route network of the small Caucasus airline Zakavia, which is acquired and merged. Enplanements for the year total 3,050.
The fleet at the beginning of 1929 includes 4 Komet IIs, 5 Komet IIIs, 2 Merkurs, 1 DH-34, 2 F-IIIs, and 8 K-4s. Eighteen of the latter type will join the fleet during the year. The Komet II Krasnyi Khimik is lost in a crash on May 15 and the Kharkovskii Proletarii is retired on May 30. While en route from Sochi to Tbilisi on June 25, a K-4, piloted by M. Pavlov with five passengers aboard, develops engine trouble and crashes into the Black Sea (two dead).
One of the last two F-IIIs is withdrawn on July 10. The Sochi-Tbilisi route is now the company’s most dangerous. Just after takeoff from the former point on August 24, an overloaded K-4 crashes into the Black Sea (one dead). The last F-III is retired on August 29 and two K-4s are transferred to the Red Air Force at month’s end. Control problems force
I. S. Zakharov to crash another K-4 at Sukhum on September 12; no injuries are reported. Six days later, the Council of Civil Aviation suspends the Sochi-Tbilisi service, which a commission of inquiry will find too difficult for single-engine aircraft. Ukrvozdukhput is required to return to its previous Baku routing, north of Caucasus via the Caspian Sea.
The DH-34 is withdrawn from service on September 23 and the flying season ends on October 1. Enplanements for the last year of flying total 4,040, with 20,550 kg. of mail also transported.
As a result of the Soviet government’s 1928 Five-Year Plan, the central decision is taken in Moscow on December 12 to end the joint-stock status of the carrier and its Russian neighbor Dobrolet and to merge both into a single state-owned national airline.
The last Ukrvozdukhput stockholders meeting is held at Kharkov on January 15, 1930. Three days later, a final fatal accident occurs at Baku when a K-4 smashes into a mast at the airport (three dead). The company ceases to exist on January 20, being merged into the new Do-broflot.
UKUNDA AIR, LTD.: Kenya (1990-1992). Ukunda is established at Nairobi in 1990 to offer scheduled and charter passenger flights to various domestic destinations, including the big game parks. Revenue operations commence with a single Dornier 228-202. The Dornier is upgraded to a Dash-212 in 1991. Operations continue another year.
ULAN UDE AVIATION ENTERPRISE (ULAN UDENSKOE AVIA PREDPRIATIE): Russia (1994-1996). Ulan Ude is formed at the airport of that community in 1994 to undertake trunk and regional scheduled passenger and cargo services. A. P. Abasheev becomes general director and he undertakes revenue flights with a fleet of 1 Tupolev Tu-154B/M, 2 Let 410s, 24 Antonov An-2s, 10 Antonov An-24s, and three Antonov An-26s.
Enplanements total 186,597.
The carrier’s 70 aircraft transport a total of 162,400 passengers in 1995, a 15.9% decline. Freight traffic also falls, dropping 23.9% to 4.67 million FTKs.
In 1996, the company is reformed and renamed Buryat Airlines.
ULSTER AIR TRANSPORT, LTD.: United Kingdom (1967-1970).
On December 1, 1967, UAT is formed at Aldergrove Airport, Ulster, to acquire the assets of bankrupt Emerald Airways, Ltd. The trading name Air Ulster, Ltd. is adopted, J. W. Rigby is named managing director and the ex-Emerald Airways, Ltd. Douglas DC-3 is obtained, refurbished, and delivered on January 25, 1968. A second DC-3 is leased from British United Airways (BUA), Ltd. for a quarter. Revenue charter operations commence in February. A second DC-3 is placed into service in March and on April 8 scheduled Belfast-Glasgow service is introduced. Later, a Belfast-Prestwick schedule begins. A variety of ad hoc charters are flown during the summer, including replacement service for BUA on routes from the Isle of Man to Blackpool and Belfast.
Early in 1969, the company enters into an association with newly formed Phoenix Airlines, Ltd. and later undertakes a variety of charters for the Liverpool-based carrier. A DC-3 is leased from Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd. to replace a Douglas withdrawn in July. Also in this month, a Vickers Viscount 803 is leased for five months from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. and is assigned to the Belfast-Prestwick service.
With losses on all services growing steadily more oppressive, the carrier ends the year in the red and on January 5, 1970 ceases all flight operations.
ULSTER AVIATION, LTD. See NORTHWEST AIRLINES (ISLE OF MAN), LTD.
ULTIMATE JET: 3153 Donald Douglas Loop South, Santa Monica, California 90405, United States; Phone (310) 915-7557; Fax (310) 915-7565; Year Founded 1993. Ultimate Jet is established at Santa Monica Municipal Airport in 1993 to provide executive and small group passenger charters throughout the Western Hemisphere. Revenue flights begin with 2 each IAI 1124 Westwinds and 1 Mitsubishi Mu-2.
ULTRAIR: United States (1992-1994) . The new passenger charter operator Airline of the Americas is established by Houston entrepreneur Barney Kogen and his associate Gordon Cain, chairman of the Sterling Group banking firm, at Smyrna, Tennessee, in the spring of 1992 to offer nonscheduled flights to destinations throughout the eastern U. S., the Caribbean, and to Mexico.
Employing a pair of chartered re-engined ex-Trans World Airlines (TWA) Boeing 727-231s, the company of President Charles P. Caudle, formerly an executive with Pan American World Airways (1), inaugurates revenue services in June. A total of 27,000 passengers are flown by December 31.
In January 1993, President Caudle oversees a workforce of 100. Ko-gen and Cain invest $10 million in the spring to create Ultrair and employing the Airline of the Americas certificate, transfer it to Houston, where it will begin to provide luxury scheduled service to a variety of domestic destinations. From Houston (IAH), roundtrips are begun twice daily in March to Newark and thrice daily to Los Angeles, with a leased fleet of 3 Boeing 727-225As, 1 B-727-214A, and 2 B-727-231s.
When success is not immediate, President Caudle is replaced by Ronald Ridgeway, former head of Braniff, Inc. Operations commence between Houston (IAH) and New York (LGA) in April and weekday roundtrips to Washington, D. C. (DCA) begin in May. This marketing approach is a failure and is abandoned. On July 25, Kogen’s interest is sold and the company ceases its luxury, scheduled services. In August, blaming Continental Airlines for illegal, anticompetitive, and predatory behavior, the new entrant sues the major in Galveston federal court, seeking injunctive relief and monetary damages.
The reborn airline, under the direction of new CEO J. Patrick Milli-nor Jr., reconstitutes itself as a low-fare, no-frills carrier on the model of Southwest Airlines (2). In November, Ultrair relaunches frequencies (20 daily nonstop and single-class) from New York (JFK) to Florida destinations. The fleet is cut by the withdrawal from service of two B-727-225As.
In both service modes, Ultrair transports a total of 114,000 passengers on the year and earns revenues of $6.4 million. Expenses are higher and there are, to no one’s surprise, big losses: $25.56 million (operating) and $27.78 million (net).
Airline employment in 1994 stands at 200. On February 3, service is initiated from Houston and New York (JFK) to Orlando. These services are followed by the introduction of twice-daily roundtrips to Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama. Meanwhile, during the year’s first six months, the carrier is only able to slide deeper into debt as the result of stiff competition from American Airlines, USAir, and the CALite division of Continental Airlines.
After transporting 205,000 passengers in six months, operations cease after the last flight on July 13. They are later briefly resumed, but cannot be sustained. Revenues received for the year increase by 31% to $21.32 million. Expenses decline by 30.5%, but still read $29.07 million and the loss lines improve to minus $7.74 million (operating) and $7.48 million (net).
At the beginning of 1995, the company’s assets are purchased by NavCom Aviation of Manassas, Virginia. The new owners will reform the carrier into Paradise Airways and fly one of the B-727-231s in a new paint scheme.
ULYANOVSK CIVIL AVIATION FLIGHT TRAINING SCHOOL (ULYANOVSK VAU-GA): Russia (1994-1995). One of several Russian flight training operations that is given permission in 1994 to operate charter passenger and cargo services as a way of earning additional revenues. V. M. Rihevski is general director and he undertakes revenue flights with 9 Tupolev Tu-154B-2s, as well as an unspecified number of Ilyushin Il-62s and Il-76s.
In 1995, the concern is renamed Simbirsk Aero Air Company.
UMCA (URABA, MEDELLIN AND CENTRAL AIRWAYS, S. A.): Colombia (1931-1961). With a vision for a transcontinental South American air service, Gonzalo Mejia, who had helped to form SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) in
1919, is given a 15-year Colombian government route concession on January 14, 1931. The permit requires a connection with a service offered by a North American airline.
Following a meeting with Pan American Airways (PAA) President Juan Trippe, Mejia sees UMCA incorporated (under the laws of the state of Delaware) on August 24, taking its name from its route award, Medellin to the Gulf of Uraba.
The PAA holding company, the Aviation Corporation of the Americas, assumes 54% majority shareholding on April 13, 1932. One of Juan Trippe’s Sikorsky S-38s, the Marichu, is now sent down to Medellin and inaugurates UMCA’s twice-weekly, passenger-only services on July 12. On June 20, 1933, the government grants a mail subsidy.
Pan American Airways (PAA) retains its grip on this Colombian connection for the next 28 years, first as a method of keeping German-influenced SCADTA (La Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transports Aereos, S. A.) away from the Panama Canal and then as a fully owned subsidiary. UMACA never receives a livery, owns an airplane, hires a workforce or publishes a schedule; all of these are provided by the American parent.
Despite the loss of the government mail contract on September 1, 1940, the masquerade is continued until July 28, 1959 when the U. S. CAB withdraws the company’s certificate. UMCA still is not finally dissolved until June 15, 1961.
UNALAKLEET AIR TAXI SERVICE: United States (1950-1979).
Wilfred Ryan Sr. establishes an FBO at Unalakleet, Alaska, in 1950. Over the next couple of years, Ryan flies occasional lightplane charters between Unalakleet and Kaltag. This popular service requires Ryan to upgrade it into a regular operation in 1953. At this point, the founder operates two aircraft, with much of his business coming under a contract with the U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. An airmail contract is also obtained.
Over the next decade, Ryan, finally with the help of another hired pilot, operates all flights over the next decade, visiting St. Michael, Steb-bins, and other communities along the lower Yukon River.
Unalakleet Air Taxi Service is officially formed in 1963 as the air transport division of Capt. Ryan’s FBO. Nonscheduled passenger and cargo charters continue to be undertaken to surrounding local communities and bush destinations with a fleet that includes de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers, Beech 18s, and Cessna lightplanes.
In order to inaugurate scheduled commuter flights, Ryan changes his company’s name to Ryan Air Service in late 1979.
UNI-AIR. See UNI AIRWAYS CORPORATION, LTD.
UNI-AIR INTERNATIONAL, S. A.: France (1969-1994). With Hemet Aviation as majority shareholder (90%), Uni-Air is established at Toulouse-Blagnac in 1969 to offer passenger and cargo charters to various destinations in Europe and the Mediterranean. Henri Clerc is appointed president and services are inaugurated with a single Douglas DC-3.
Frequencies and fleet equipment multiplies during the next decade and in 1978 the 34-employee carrier lists a total of 5 DC-3s, 1Cessna 421,1 Cessna 402, 3 Beech B-58 Barons, 1 Piper PA-34 Seneca, 1 Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, 1 Kamov Ka-26, and 1 Bell Model 47 helicopters.
During the 1980s, the company begins to provide services out of Paris (Orly) and in 1985 airline employment is 50 and the fleet comprises 4 Fokker F.27s, 3 Gates Learjet 24s, and 1 Beech King Air 90. In
1986-1987, General Manager J. Papillault and Managing Director J. P. Sauval delete one Learjet 24 and replace it with two Learjet 35As and four Aerospatiale 601 Corvettes.
In 1988-1989, the fleet is altered again as the company is taken over by the holding company Helipart. The number of Corvettes is increased to seven, the two Learjet 24s are withdrawn along with an F.27, and a Dassault Falcon 50 and two Falcon 20s are added.
Operations continue apace in 1990-1992, during which years J. Bastien and J. Thomas become joint managing directors. Airline employment in 1993 totals 96. Flights cease in 1994.
UNI AIRWAYS CORPORATION, LTD.: No. 2-6 Chung-Shan 4tR Road, Kao-hsiung 801, Taiwan; Phone 886 (7) 791-7611; Fax 886 (7) 791-7511; Http://www. uniair. com. tw; Code B7; Year Founded 1996. The former Makung International Airlines, Ltd. is renamed in May 1996. With 51% majority shareholding held by EVA Air, Ltd., the reformed carrier of Chairman Frank Hsu and President Joseph Lin employs a workforce of 960.
With a fleet of 3 McDonnell Douglas MD-80s, 5 British Aerospace BAe 146-300s, and 2 BAe (HS) 748-B2s, the company, under the marketing name Uni Air, continues to offer scheduled passenger services that link its Taipei and Kao-hsiung bases with Hualien, Kinmen, Makung, Taitung, and Tsuxiang. The airline also offers charter services to the Philippine market of Laoag.
In August, the carrier receives permission to begin international operations. Orders are placed for five MD-90-30s, the first of which is delivered in the company’s new livery at Long Beach on November 6. The BAe (HS) 748-B2s are now retired.
Airline employment is increased by 15.8% in 1997 to 1,100. The company now begins operates 131 weekly roundtrips between Taipei and Kao-hsiung plus Kota Kinabalu. Twenty-one more weekly flights are made over 11 other domestic routes. The fleet grows to include 7 MD-90-30s and 5 BAe 146-300s.
Passenger boardings increase 25.7% to 2,226,358 while freight skyrockets 51.1% to 436,000 FTKs. It is reported that a small profit is generated on the year.
In mid-April 1998, EVA Air, Ltd. makes a dramatic move that will also improve its balance sheet. Triggered by the crash of a China Airlines, Ltd. (CAL) A300B4-622R on February 16 (202 dead) and a Formosa Airlines, Ltd. SAAB 340A on March 18 (13 dead), EVA employs the national debate over air safety to announce that effective July 1, it will no longer offer any domestic services. Instead, its regional subsidiaries Taiwan Airlines Company, Ltd., Great China Airlines, Ltd., and Uni Airways will be merged into an enlarged Uni Air, Ltd. that will provide domestic services. Safety will, however, continue to be an issue.
During July, the enlarged Uni’s Dornier 228 fleet experiences 14 mechanical problems, primarily with braking systems. Just after landing at Matsu on August 9, a Dornier 228 runs off the runway. No injuries are reported. The next day, the CAA orders the company’s Dorniers grounded for safety inspections.
Four additional MD-90-30s are received, one per month beginning on October 12. The new aircraft join the others in the company’s fleet and are used on domestic routes, as well as on an expanding regional route system.
Passenger boardings this year increase by 49% to 3.32 million, while cargo traffic jumps 35% to 590.8 million FTKs. Revenues surge 35.2% to $136.06 million, but expenses hit $140.41 million. Losses are $4.34 million (operating) and $19.86 million (net).
During the first quarter of 1999, the five BAe 146-300s are sold to Global Air Australia (Pty.), Ltd. The sale is occasioned by a plan between British Airways, Ltd. (2) and National Jet Systems (Pty.), Ltd. to purchase a major stake in the struggling Irish scheduled carrier CityJet, Ltd. and equip it with the BAe jets leased from Global. The arrangement will be thwarted by EU regulations concerning nonEuropean ownership of EU-based airlines.
On April 16, Uni purchases a DHC-8Q-200 from Bombardier Aerospace for use on the route between Taiwan and neighboring Matsu Island.
While landing at Hualien, 108 mi. SE of Taipei on August 24, an MD-90-30 with 96 passengers, suddenly bursts into flame, with eyewitnesses reporting a fireball after the aircraft touches down. A total of 28 people are injured and it requires 30 min. to extinguish the flames.
Customer bookings skyrocket 109.6% to 2,286,000, while freight traffic increases 167.1% to 413,000 FTKs.
The workforce at the beginning of 2000 totals 1,947. While en route from Taipei to Chiayhi on April 17, the pilot of a DHC-8-300 with 56 passengers is forced to make an emergency landing at Taichung after developing engine problems. No injuries are reported.
A Bombardier DHC-8-Q400 arrives in the spring and is employed for route proving and pilot training. Due to market conditions, the carrier asks the manufacturer to postpone delivery of the six it had ordered and the one visiting Taiwan is returned to Canada, refurbished, and provided to another carrier. On July 25, a 13th DHC-8-300 is ordered.
After the failure of U-Land Airlines, Ltd., the Vietnamese carrier Pacific Airlines, S. A. is forced to return the MD-82 it had chartered from it. At this point, Pacific is able to lease one of Uni’s seven MD-90-30s.
Service is increased on November 1 between Taipei and Kinmen Island.
UNIAO TAXI AEREO, S. A. See UTA (UNIAO TAXI AEREO, S. A.)
UNIFLY, S. p.A. See UNIFLY EXPRESS, S. p.A.
UNIFLY EXPRESS, S. p.A.: Italy (1980-1990). Unifly is established at Rome’s Ciampino Airport in 1980 to offer executive passenger and small group charters with Cessna 402Cs and Citation Is. These non-scheduled services continue for the next 4 years, during which time the fleet is increased with a Dassault Falcon 20 employed to transport overnight package express.
The initiation of public charter service is planned during late 1983 and arrangements are made to acquire a former Braathens S. A.F. E., A. S. Fokker F.28-1000. Following the arrival of the Fokker during the first quarter of 1984, flights are started with the beginning of the European summer schedule on April 1.
Early in 1985, agreement is reached with Alitalia, S. p.A. under which the charter company will fly a number of scheduled replacement services on its behalf.
In October 1986, the company acquires a second Braathens Fokker F.28-1000 jetliner, which significantly increases capacity for the company’s charters and replacement flights. During the year and in 1987, holiday flights continue to be operated from various Italian communities to destinations in northern Europe, Greece and the Mediterranean, and North Africa.
In 1988, the Fokkers are leased out to Alinord, S. p.A. and are replaced with two Douglas DC-9-15RC convertible freighters, as well as three McDonnell Douglas MD-83s and an MD-82 leased from GPA Group, Ltd.
The DC-9s undertake all-cargo replacement services from Rome to Frankfurt, flying mail and newspapers four times per week on behalf of Alitalia, S. p.A. The MD-80s are contracted for inclusive-tour flights.
Unifly, S. p.A. is reformed in 1989 and renamed Unifly Express, S. p.A. At this point, it takes over Alinord, S. p.A. and regains control of the Fokkers chartered to that carrier the year before. A number of the scheduled routes operated by the new Alinord subsidiary also pass to Unifly Express.
In 1990, Unifly Express encounters severe financial difficulty and in an effort to cut costs, the MD-80s are grounded. Plans to wet-lease them out to other European airlines are disapproved by the company’s creditors and the aircraft are, consequently, returned to their lessors. Without capacity to operate its charter obligations, the carrier is forced to rely on its few Fokker services and the DC-9-15RC cargo flights for its income. Knowing that this will be insufficient for the maintenance of economic viability, company executives attempt to reorganize and find fresh capital. Unable to accomplish the latter goal, Unifly declares bankruptcy and goes out of business in May. Within a few months, the Alinord, S. p.A. subsidiary fails as well.
UNION AEROMARITIME DE TRANSPORT, S. A. (UAT): France (1949-1963). Following the French government’s 1949 decision to allow the creation of independent carriers, UAT is formed by Compagnie Maritimes des Chargueurs Reunis, the shipping line, as successor to its prewar Aeromaritime, S. A., which is now absorbed as a division. Francis Fabre is named president. Destinations visited in Africa include Rhodesia, French Equatorial Africa, Mozambique, and South Africa, while several points in the Mideast also are serviced by UAT DC-4s.
In competition with Compagnie de Transports Aeriens Interconti-nentaux, S. A. (TAI), Douglas DC-4 services are begun in 1950 over routes from France to Saigon, Dakar, and Pointe Noire. On December 9, a DC-4 carrying 37 Senegalese soldiers crashes at Bangul, French Equatorial Africa; there are no survivors.
The Dakar route is extended to Abidjan in 1951 and the West African network is consolidated. Orders are placed for de Havilland DH-106 Comet I jetliners, with the first received in late fall 1952. A DC-4 with five aboard crashes near Lake Chad on November 11; there are no survivors. On December 27, the first operational DH-106 completes a Paris to Dakar proving flight in 6 hrs. 25 min. or one hour under the conventional propeller time.
En route to Paris from French West Africa on February 7, 1953, a DC-4 with 21 aboard crashes near Bordeaux (six dead). Comet Is enter service on the Dakar route on February 19 and by November, are flying as far south as Johannesburg.
The Comet I fleet is grounded on January 11, 1954 following a crash by an aircraft on British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) inventory. UAT becomes the first civil customer for the Nord 2501 Norat-las, acquiring seven for its fleet during the summer, partially in replacement for the British jetliners now grounded.
The first Noratlas enters service on September 10 and all will be employed to haul passengers and cargo in French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons. The jetliner ban is later lifted; however, the French civil aviation ministry, on December 5, orders all UAT Comet Is permanently grounded following a second British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) crash off Sicily.
Orders are placed for DC-6Bs, which join the fleet as Comet I replacements in 1955. Societe Aigle Azur, S. A., together with its African and Indochina routes, its subsidiary Aigle Azur Extreme Orient Airlines, S. A. (AAEO), and fleet of aging Boeing 307s, is acquired and merged. AAEO is, however, allowed to continue its operations from the base at Saigon.
On April 18, a de Havilland DH 114 Heron 1B with 4 crew and 10 passengers, crashes into Kupe Mountain while on a flight between Yaounde and Doula, Cameroon; there are no survivors.
A C-54A freighter with three crew is destroyed in a bad landing at Fort Lamy, Cameroon, on June 3; there are no fatalities.
On January 1, 1956, France reorganizes its overseas air network. Air France retires from Africa, which routes UAT now receives in exchange for its abandonment of the Pacific to Compagnie de Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux, S. A. (TAI).
On March 7, 1958, the seventh and last Nord 2501 Noratlas is received and, as the earlier deliveries, is placed in freighter service in French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons. Also during the year, UAT sponsors creation of the Libyan carrier Libiavia in July, and leases several DC-6Bs to it.
A DC-6B with 7 crew and 63 passengers fails its takeoff from Salisbury, Rhodesia, on December 26 for a service to Brazzaville (three dead).
The business of AAEO is wound up in 1959 and its three Stratoliners are sold to another French independent airline, Airnautic, S. A. On March 13, a Noratlas, with nine aboard, is lost in a crash near Banga, Chad; there are no survivors.
Orders placed the previous year for Douglas DC-8-33s, which are received in the summer of 1960. Beginning on September 10, the new Douglas jetliners are placed into service on the African routes; frequencies include Paris to Brazzaville via Marseilles and Douala, Paris to Brazzaville via Douala, and Paris to Johannesburg via Brazzaville and Salisbury. During the year, all seven Nord 2501s are sold to the Portuguese Air Force.
In association with Air France and in cooperation with 11 newly independent French colonies, UAT in 1961 forms the multinational carrier Air Afrique, S. A. (2) on March 28, modeling its consortium arrangement on the highly successful constitution of the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System). On September 14, UAT and Compagnie de Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux, S. A. (TAI) agree, in principle, to a future merger.
The fleets and schedules of the two carriers are integrated in 1962 and a DC-8-32 is purchased from Northwest Airlines on October 3. The amalgamation of the two airlines is completed a year later on October 1, 1963, resulting in the creation of the new UTA French Airlines, S. A./Union de Transports Aeriens, S. A.
World History
