Pretty cabin attendant in Korean Air
The Airlines: Kenya Airways
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. The carrier's head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The airline was wholly owned by the Government of Kenya until April 1995, and it was privatised in 1996, becoming the first African flag carrier in successfully doing so. Kenya Airways is currently a public-private partnership. The largest shareholder is KLM (26%), followed by the Government of Kenya, which has a 23% stake in the company. The rest of the shares are held by private owners; shares are traded in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange, and the Ugandan Securities Exchange. The cargo handling company African Cargo Handling Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenya Airways; partly owned companies are Kenya Airfreight Handling Limited, dedicated to the cargo handling of perishable goods and 51%-owned, and Tanzanian carrier Precision Air (49%-owned).
Kenya Airways is widely considered as one of the leading Sub-Saharan operators. The carrier became a full member of SkyTeam in June 2010, and is also a member of the African Airlines Association since 1977
The Airline: Zambezi Airlines
Monday, March 19, 2012
The airline is on the List of air carriers banned in the European Union.
Zambezi Airlines began operations in July 2008. The airline first operated an Embraer 120. In May 2009, Air Zambezi acquired two Boeing 737-500. In June 2009, operations to Johannesburg, South Africa and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania commenced.
On 30 June 2009 the airline was authorized by the Zambia Competition Commission to form an alliance with Proflight Commuter Services.
On February 23 2012 ZAMBEZI Airlines’ aircraft have been repossessed by the owners, General Electric Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) for failing to pay arrears amounting to over US$2 million. The three planes were hired from GECAS, an American company, when the airline started its operations and were repossessed on February 10, 2012. Two Zambezi Airlines planes were flown out from Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and are now parked at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The third aircraft was already in South Africa where it was taken last year for repairs.
The Airline: Air Koryo
Friday, March 16, 2012
Air Koryo (Korean: 고려항공, Koryo Hanggong; formerly Chosŏn Minhang (조선민항)) is the state-owned national flag carrier airline of North Korea, headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang. Based at Sunan International Airport (IATA: FNJ), it operates international scheduled and charter services to points in Asia and Europe.
Air Koryo has offices in Beijing, Shenyang, Macau, Bangkok, Toronto, Berlin, Moscow, as well as sales agencies in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Tokyo, Taipei, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.
Air Koryo was established first under the name Sokao, which was founded in 1950 as a joint Soviet-North Korean concern to connect North Korea with Moscow. Services were suspended during the Korean War, to resume in 1953. The current airline was established in 1954, started operations on 21 September 1955, and was placed under the control of the Civil Aviation Administration of Korea. CAAK began operations with Lisunov Li-2, Antonov An-2 and Ilyushin Il-12 aircraft. Ilyushin Il-14 and Ilyushin Il-18 turboprops were added to the fleet in the 1960s.
Jet operation commenced in 1975, when the first Tupolev Tu-154 was delivered for services from Pyongyang to Prague, East Berlin and Moscow. However, because the Tu-154 did not have the sufficient range, the plane had to land not only at Irkutsk, but also at Novosibirsk. Along with the Tu-154, Tu-134s and An-24s were delivered to start domestic services.
The Tu-154 fleet was increased at the start of the 1980s, and the first Ilyushin Il-62 was delivered in 1982 (two of these aircraft were used in VIP configuration), allowing CAAK to offer a direct non-stop service to Moscow for the first time. During this period, Sofia and Belgrade were also destinations. However, under current European Aviation Regulations, because of maintenance concerns, Air Koryo is forbidden from landing at any European airport under Convention rules specified in the article.
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Europe saw a vast reduction in the number of international services offered. CAAK became Air Koryo in 1993. Also in 1993, Air Koryo ordered 3 Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft to carry extra cargo to its destinations in China and Russia. Air Koryo recently purchased two new Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft to replace the aging international fleet. Air Koryo has also started modernizing its fleet interiors. With the new Tu-204, Air Koryo would be able to fly to Europe.
The Airline: PBair (PeeBee Air)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
PBair was an airline with its head office in the UBC II Building in Vadhana, Bangkok, Thailand. It operated scheduled domestic and international services. Its main base was Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The airline was founded in 1990 by Piya Bhirom Bhakdi, the president of the Boonrawd Brewery, the biggest brewery of Thailand. It was originally used for flights for the brewery staff only. In 1995, it received the license to offer charter flights and started operations in 1997. In February 1999, it started scheduled flights, in alliance with Thai Airways International and Air Andaman. In November 2009 all flights were suspended until further notice. In December 2009 the owner announced that the airline was to be closed for good, and would not restart operations because of huge losses. The closure was registered with the authorities on December 21, 2009.
The Airline: EasyJet
Friday, March 09, 2012
EasyJet Airline Company Limited (styled as easyJet) is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It is the largest airline of the United Kingdom, measured by number of passengers carried, operating domestic and international scheduled services on over 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports. The parent company, EasyJet plc, is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: EZJ) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. As of 30 September 2009, it employed 8,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK.
EasyJet has seen rapid expansion since its establishment in 1995, having grown through a combination of acquisitions and base openings fuelled by consumer demand for low-cost air travel. The airline, along with subsidiary airline EasyJet Switzerland, now operates over 200 aircraft, mostly Airbus A319. It has 19 bases across Europe, the most important one being Gatwick. In 2010, EasyJet carried 42.4 million passengers and is the second-largest low-cost carrier in Europe, behind Ryanair.
EasyJet was featured in the television series Airline broadcast on ITV which followed the airline's operations at London Luton and later at other bases. EasyJet's founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, was featured heavily in the series.
Vintage photo of Oversea National Airways
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Standing from left to right:
Helga Wolf, Argentina
Anita Stibeck Envall, Gothenburg, Sweden
Ragna Mellander, "
Lena Haegg, "
Marie-Louise Werklund, "
Sitting from left to right:
Eva Keiller, Gothenburg, Sweden
Hannelore Jone, Germany and
Edelgard Bastian, also from Germany
The Airline: Aserca Airlines
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Aserca Airlines C.A. (Aero Servicios Carabobo) is an airline based in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela. It operates domestic and regional scheduled services to destinations in the Caribbean, Central America and the USA. Its main base is Arturo Michelena International Airport, Valencia, with a hub at Simón Bolívar International Airport, Caracas
The airline was established in 1968 and started operations in 1991 with small aircraft for private transport. In 1992 it entered the domestic scheduled market with a leased Douglas DC-9-30. Aserca's operations were centred around Valencia, but it managed to develop Caracas as a hub after 1994 which made it experience a significant growth in its market share, expanding its network to Bogotá, Lima and Miami (no longer in service) via Aruba. Between 1998 and 2000 Aserca had a controlling interest in Air Aruba. In 2008, Aserca took a majority stake in fellow Venezuelan carrier SBA Airlines (Santa Barbara Airlines). A proposed merger is in discussion.
The Airline: Aero California
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Aero California was a low-cost airline with its headquarters in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, operating a network of domestic passenger flights with its hub at the city's Manuel Márquez de León International Airport.
The airline was founded in La Paz, Mexico in 1960 as an air taxi operator using a fleet of Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes, initially known as Servicios Aéreos. By the early 1980s the demand for domestic charter flights had grown to an extent, that allowed for the larger Douglas DC-3 to be added to the fleet. Scheduled services were launched on June 1982, the first flight being between La Paz, Tijuana and Hermosillo using Convair 340 aircraft. In 1989, international scheduled flights were commenced, with Los Angeles being the first destination. By 1995 the fleet had been upgraded to feature only jet aircraft of various Douglas DC-9 subtypes.
On 3 April 2006 all operations of Aero California were suspended by the Mexican federal Secretariat of Communications and Transport, after the civil aviation authorities had found that the airline was not complying with its safety standards. It was given 90 days to correct the problems and was able to resume services on 11 August of that year 2006. On 23 July 2008 (at a time when the route network consisted 17 domestic destinations), the airline was again suspended, this time due to an alleged debt with the Mexican Air Traffic Control (SENEAM), which prompted a a labor strike of the employees on 5 August, which technically continues to present day. Aero California never operated any flights again, even though its license remains valid.
The Airline: WestJet
Thursday, March 01, 2012
WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX: WJA) is a Canadian low-cost carrier that provides scheduled and charter air service to 75 destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Founded in 1996, it is currently the second-largest Canadian air carrier, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 425 flights and carrying over 45,000 passengers per day. In 2010, WestJet carried over 15 million passengers, making it the tenth-largest airline in North America by passengers carried.
WestJet is a public company with over 8,000 employees, and is a rarity in the airline industry as it is non-unionized. It operates variants of a single aircraft type, all from the Boeing 737 Next Generation family. The airline has its headquarters and main hub at Calgary International Airport, with another large hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
WestJet had passenger revenues of $2.2 billion (CAD) in 2009.