Gambia Bird

Gambia Bird
IATA ICAO Callsign
3G GBQ GAMBIA BIRD
Commenced operations 22 October 2012 (2012-10-22)
Ceased operations 2014
Hubs Banjul International Airport
Fleet size 2
Destinations 9
Parent company Germania
Headquarters Kanifing, The Gambia
Key people Thomas Wazinski, CEO[1]
Website www.gambiabird.com

Gambia Bird Airlines Limited was the flag carrier airline of Gambia[2] headquartered in Kanifing[3] with its home base at Banjul International Airport. It suspended operations in December 2014.

History

Gambia Bird was founded by the German carrier Germania in October 2012.[4] The airline was launched in partnership with the Government of Gambia in order to replace the services of Air Afrique, which was liquidated in 2002.[5] Germania retained a 90% ownership share pf Gambia Bird.[4]

The carrier started operations on 22 October 2012 with an Airbus A319-100 leased from Germania that flew between Banjul and Dakar.[6] Accra, Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia were added to the route network shortly afterwards;[2] on 24 October 2012, Gambia Bird operated its first service to London Gatwick.[7] Flights to Barcelona were introduced on 28 October.[8] A second A319 joined the fleet in November 2012.[9]

In December 2014, Gambia Bird suspended operations until further notice.[10][11][12] By May 2015, there had not been any resumption of services. The former aircraft of Gambia Bird are currently back in service with its parent, Germania.[13] In March 2015, Germania's CEO already stated that a resumption of services by Gambia Bird seems unlikely due to an insufficient perspective for the future development.[14]

Destinations

Gambia Bird served the following destinations, as of June 2014:

Country City Airport Start End Refs
CameroonDoualaDouala International AirportUnknownUnknown[15]
GambiaBanjulBanjul International Airport Hub N/ADecember 2014[15]
GhanaAccraKotoka International Airport2012December 2014[15]
Guinea-BissauBissauOsvaldo Vieira International AirportUnknownDecember 2014[15]
GuineaConakryConakry International AirportUnknownUnknown[15]
LiberiaMonroviaRoberts International Airport2012December 2014[15]
NigeriaLagosMurtala Muhammed International AirportUnknownDecember 2014[15]
SenegalDakarLéopold Sédar Senghor International Airport22 October 2012December 2014[6][15]
Sierra LeoneFreetownLungi International Airport2012December 2014[15]
SpainBarcelonaBarcelona Airport28 October 2012December 2014[8][15]
United KingdomLondonGatwick Airport24 October 2012December 2014[7][15]

Fleet

Gambia Bird Airbus A319-100

As of December 2014, the Gambia Bird fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[16]

Gambia Bird Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Passengers Notes
Airbus A319-100 2 144 Leased from Germania

See also

References

  1. Paylor, Anne (16 October 2014). "Gambia Bird's Freetown-London permit revoked due to Ebola fears". Air Transport World. Archived 17 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 Ruvers, Martin (12 December 2012). "ANALYSIS: Gambia Bird pins hopes on Nigerian progress". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  3. "Contact Us." Gambia Bird. Retrieved on 7 May 2013. "Headoffice Gambia Bird House 38 Kairaba Avenue Kanifing, Municipality The Gambia"
  4. 1 2 "Germania expandiert nach Afrika" [Germania expands into Africa]. Airliners.de. 7 May 2012.
  5. "Gambia Bird, Germania subsidiary, is poised to take advantage of Western African economic growth". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 11 September 2013. Archived 13 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. 1 2 Rivers, Martin (22 October 2012). "Gambia Bird launches operations with wet-leased A319". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  7. 1 2 Rivers, Martin (25 October 2012). "Gambia Bird touches down at London Gatwick". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  8. 1 2 Blanco, Isabelle (28 October 2012). "Gambia Bird à Londres et Barcelone" [Gambia Bird to London and Barcelona]. Air Journal (in French). Archived from the original on 30 May 2013.
  9. Rivers, Martin (11 December 2012). "Gambia Bird takes delivery of second A319". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  10. Thisdell, Dan (13 February 2015). "Flights cancelled: Top 12 recent airline collapses". London: Flightglobal. Up-and-coming Africa was not without casualties in 2014. As the year closed, Gambia Bird closed, too – at least until further notice. The airline didn’t give a specific reason for the decision – or indicated when it hopes to resume flights – but the announcement coincided with indications of unrest in Banjul, the country's capital. Archived 13 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. Moores, Victoria (31 December 2014). "West Africa's Gambia Bird suspends flights". Air Transport World. Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. "Suspension of commercial flight operations" (PDF) (Press release). Gambia Bird. 30 December 2014. Archived 13 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-a319-4663.htm
  14. http://www.airliners.de/pay-to-fly-germania-quatsch-balke/35095
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Schedule (Effective 2 June–25 October 2014)" (PDF). Gambia Bird. 1 June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2014.
  16. "Fleet". Gambia Bird. Archived 13 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine.

Media related to Gambia Bird at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.