Air Somalia

Air Somalia was a privately owned airline based in Somalia. It was the first private airline owned entirely by Somalis.

Air Somalia
An Air Somalia Tupolev Tu-154, registration UR-85546, sitting idle on the taxiway at Sharjah International Airport. The livery is a blue stripe that spans the entire length of the plane, the line's location is just along the passenger windows. The tail fin is fully blue. Above the blue line is the text "Air Somalia", with a star next to it.
Air Somalia Tupolev Tu-154 at Sharjah International Airport
IATA ICAO Callsign
— RSM AIR SOMALIA
Founded2001 (2001)
Commenced operationsFebruary 14, 2001 (2001-02-14)
Ceased operations2002 (2002)
HubsAden Adde International Airport
Fleet size1
HeadquartersMogadishu, Somalia
Key people
  • Ali Farah Abdulleh (CEO)
Websiteairsomalia.com a
Notes
a. Archived from Wayback Machine.

Overview

The carrier was established in 2001.[1] It provided internal passenger and international services to destinations in Africa and the Middle East.[2] Air Somalia is now out of service, and in 2002 its one Tupolev Tu-154 they had was stored and later scrapped.[3] In 2002, Air Somalia reported it ceased all operations and has liquidated all of its assets.[4]

History

Air Somalia was banned from flying to Somaliland in June 2001. It was suspected that the airline was practicing unsafe flights. Somali media accused the ban of being unfair, claiming that the reason for the ban was that the airline name included the word "Somalia" and possessed a Somali star. However, Somaliland Minister of Civil Aviation and Air Transport for Somaliland Abdillahi Duale disputed this.[5]

Fleet

History

Air Somalia had only one aircraft, a Tupolev Tu-154, which had gone through three registration changes while it was owned by Air Somalia. The aircraft was manufactured sometime in the 1990s. It was owned by five previous airlines, Aeroflot, Latavio-Baltic International, Latavio, Tavria and Tavria Mak. It was finally given to Air Somalia on 21 December 2000. It was stored on 17 January 2002. The PlaneLogger website claims that the plane is being scrapped, and has not taken a flight since 2001.[3] However, the aircraft was seen at Dubai International Airport on 31 October 2002,[6] and again at Sharjah International Airport on 28 January 2003.[7]

Registration changes

During its time with Air Somalia, the Tupolev Tu-154 has had its tail number changed four times. When the plane was delivered to Air Somalia, its registration number was UR-85546. On 21 September 2001, its registration was changed to ER-TAI, to later be changed back to UR-85546 on 3 November 2001. Its registration number was changed for the final time to ER-TAI on 30 December 2001.[3]

Table
Fleet
Aircraft Count Passengers Notes Refs
C Y Total
Tupolev Tu-1541Tail number fluctuated between
UR-85546 and ER-TAI.		[3][6][7][4]
Total 1

See also

References
  1. "Airlines in Somalia". AirlineUpdate. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  2. Europa Publications (2004). Murison, Katharine (ed.). Africa South of the Sahara 2004 (33rd ed.). Europa Publications. p. 1014. ISBN 1-85743-183-9. Retrieved 14 April 2019. Mogadishu; f. 2001; operates internal passenger services and international services to destinations in Africa and the Middle East
  3. "UR-85546 Air Somalia Registration History". PlaneLogger. PlaneLogger. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  4. "Air Somalia has ceased operations, all shares have been returned or liquidated". AirlineSim. AirlineSim. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  5. "Horn of Africa: IRIN Update, 8 May". Horn of Africa. IRIN. Relifweb. 8 May 2001 [First published 1971]. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  6. "ER-TAI Air Somalia Sighting at Dubai". JetPhotos. Richard Potts. 31 October 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  7. "ER-TAI Air Somalia Sighting at Sharjah". JetPhotos. Carsten Jørgensen. 28 October 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2019.

Media related to Air Somalia at Wikimedia Commons

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