ASSOCIATED AIRWAYS JOINT COMMITTEE: United Kingdom (1940-1947). To coordinate and utilize the services of domestic companies owned by British railroads and Capt. Gordon Olley in the event of war, National Air Communications is formed as the carriers receive subsidy. When World War I begins on September 3, 1939, British Airways, Ltd. (1) and Railroad Air Services, Ltd. aircraft are directed to Exeter to operate on behalf of the government and all other civil flights are prohibited.
On May 5, 1940, this organization is formalized in a meeting with the Secretary of State for Air. Members of the new Associated Airways Joint Committee (AAJC) are Air Commerce, Ltd., Great Western and Southern Air Lines, Ltd., Isle of Man Air Services, Ltd., Olley Air Service, Ltd., Railway Air Services, Ltd., Scottish Airways, Ltd., and West Coast Air Services, Ltd. Although certain limited services by individual companies are allowed to resume in more remote areas of the British Isles, these are cancelled on May 22. All available AAJC aircraft are ordered to specific RAF stations on May 22 to begin participation in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk.
Finding the operation too dangerous for civil aircraft, officials halt AAJC flights, allowing members to resume certain civil flights on June 3. As the situation deteriorates, all civil operations are again suspended on June 15 and available aircraft are sent to France via Exeter for evacuation flights. Four de Havilland DH 86s must be abandoned at Bordeaux on June 18. The rescue flights end on June 24 and AAJC members are allowed to resume their limited schedules, as described in their individual entries.
On September 22, 1942, officials of the membership meet with government representatives at Carlisle to prepare arrangements in the event of a German invasion. When such a catastrophe does not occur, the civil aircraft find themselves sharing British airspace with a vast and growing armada of Allied warplanes assembled through 1943 for the Combined Bomber Offensive and the upcoming invasion of Normandy in June 1944. In October of the latter year, AAJC officials offer the government an extensive plan for a new postwar network of air services both within Britain and Europe.
V-E Day occurs on May 8, 1945 and member companies thereafter reintroduce domestic flights. The work of the committee is concluded on January 1, 1946 when wartime restrictions on civil aviation are revoked. On August 1, the new British European Airways Corporation (BEA) is established; internal operations are maintained for the new state carrier by AAJC member airlines. The services, aircraft, and staff of all AAJC carriers are acquired by BEA on February 1, 1947, formally ending the organization.
ASTANAIR AIR AVIAKOMPANIA: Astan, Kazakhstan; Code A7; Year Founded 1998. Astanair is established at Almaty in late spring 1998. Having obtained a British Aerospace BAC 1-11-528FL, the new entrant launches regularly scheduled flights on July 21 to Almaty, as well as to Kyzylords, Aktubinsk, and Uralsk. No information is thereafter available.
ASTEC AIR EAST: United States (1980-1982). AAE is established by Arthur E. Volk at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, in the fall of 1980. Equipped with a fleet of 7 Piper PA-31-310 Navajos and 6 PA-34 Senecas, it inaugurates scheduled services on November 10 linking its base with Albany, plus the Connecticut communities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Hartford.
Operations continue apace in 1981 and the fleet is increased by the addition of a Piper T-1020. ATC restrictions, occasioned by the summer PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike, bring terminal fiscal difficulties and Astec Air East is forced to shut its doors in June 1982.
ASTOR AIR: United States (1984-1985). A division of Ludlow Aviation, Astor Air is set up at Hadlock, Washington, in late 1984 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo commuter flights to Portland, Oregon. Cessna 402 revenue flights commence in early 1985, but only continue for a few months.
ASTRA AIR SERVICES, LTD.: New Zealand (1991-1992). Richmond Harding forms Astra Air Services, Ltd. at Auckland in 1991 to provide scheduled commuter services between the North and South Islands. Two Dornier 228-212s inaugurate service in midyear but President Harding’s operation cannot establish viability and closes in 1992.
ASTRAKHAN AIRLINES (ASTRAKHAN AVIALINSKI): Nari-manovo Airport, Astrakhan, 414023, Russia; Phone 7 (8512) 249 396; Code ASZ; Year Founded 1992. Following the breakup of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines in 1992, Astrakhan is reformed, but retains its mission to provide local passenger and cargo services. Shareholding is divided between company employees (51%), the Russian state (25%), and private investors (24%).
V. M. Stepanovich is general director and he conducts operations with a fleet containing an unspecified number of Tupolev Tu-134s, Antonov An-24s and An-2s, Yakovlev Yak-42Ds, plus Kaman Ka-26 helicopters.
Services continue in 1993-1994. Enplanements in the latter year reach 123,581.
The fleet comprises 44 aircraft in 1995, all former Soviet types. Passenger boardings fall 13.9% to 108,500, but freight climbs 8.1% to 2.68 million FTKs.
Flights continue in 1996-1999 and, during these years, the fleet includes 13 An-2s, 9 An-24s, 5 Tu-134s, 2 Yak-42Ds, and 15 Ka-26s.
Falling traffic and rising fuel bills cause the airline to struggle as it enters the new millennium. Flight attendants, on April 24, 2000 claim that the airline is using threats and blackmail against them to prevent a strike.
A new service is initiated on July 14 between Strakhan and Iran. Still, it is reported that the carrier continues to struggle in its ability to attract full passenger loads.
World History
