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Birth of
an Airline |
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As early as May 1947 there was a
proposal to form Aden Airways
using two Bristol 170 Wayfarers, but nothing came of it. In January 1948 BOAC
established its No. 5 Line with a maintenance base at
Asmara, Eritrea, but with operations centred on Aden, to
provide feeder services to its main routes at Nairobi
and Cairo, and establish links with centres around the
Red Sea.
On 7th March 1949 Aden Airways
Ltd. was formed to take over the BOAC operation and its
6 Douglas DC3 Dakotas. On 1st October 1949 Aden
Airways commenced
operations as a wholly owned subsidiary of BOAC, with
the Dakotas acquiring Aden registrations on 1st February 1950.
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On 31st March 1950
issued share
capital was Rs.800,580 (£60,043) all owned by BOAC. As
early as its first full year of operations, 11% of the
company's revenue mileage consisted of pilgrimage
traffic to Jeddah, the airport for Mecca. It was for
this reason that company Dakotas were supplemented by Yorks leased from Skyways for periods in 1954 and 1955,
repainted in BOAC style with white fuselage top and blue
cheat line.
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In 1955 the 100%
BOAC shareholding passed to Associated British Airlines
(Middle East) Ltd and to B.O.A.C. Associated Companies
Ltd. in 1957. The Dakotas
carried the bulk of the traffic until 28th February
1960, when the first former BOAC Canadair C4
Argonauts commenced operations, followed by V760
Vickers Viscounts in September 1963. Three Avro 748 Series 2 were ordered in
May 1960 but cancelled in May 1962.
1st January 1962 saw agreement
with EAAC to pool services between Nairobi & Aden.
Air services continued under increasing difficulties due to
political unrest, until operations ceased on 30th June
1967
prior to the British withdrawal from the Federation and
Protectorate of South Arabia, as the Colony was then
styled.
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