Gambia Bird

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 (2014-12).

Gambia Bird
IATA ICAO Callsign
3G GBQ GAMBIA BIRD
Commenced operations22 October 2012 (2012-10-22)
Ceased operations2014
HubsBanjul International Airport
Fleet size2
Destinations9
Parent companyGermania
HeadquartersKanifing, The Gambia
Key peopleThomas Wazinski, CEO[1]
Websitewww.gambiabird.com

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 of Gambia Bird.[4]

The carrier started operations on 22 October 2012 (2012-10-22) 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 (2012-10-24), 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 (2012-11).[9]

In December 2014 (2014-12), 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 were taken back into service with its parent, Germania.[13] In March 2015, Germania's CEO stated that a resumption of services by Gambia Bird was unlikely, due to an insufficient perspective for 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—December 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 from the original on 17 October 2014. 
  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 Archived 3 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Gambia Bird. Retrieved on 7 May 2013. "Headoffice Gambia Bird House 38 Kairaba Avenue Kanifing, Municipality The Gambia"
  4. "Germania expandiert nach Afrika" [Germania expands into Africa]. Airliners.de. 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 8 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 from the original on 13 July 2016. 
  6. Rivers, Martin (22 October 2012). "Gambia Bird launches operations with wet-leased A319". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  7. Rivers, Martin (25 October 2012). "Gambia Bird touches down at London Gatwick". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014.
  8. 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. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. 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. 
  11. Moores, Victoria (31 December 2014). "West Africa's Gambia Bird suspends flights". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. 
  12. "Suspension of commercial flight operations" (PDF) (Press release). Gambia Bird. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2015. 
  13. "Germania D-ASTA (Airbus A319 - MSN 4663) | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  14. ""Pay to fly" bei der Germania? "Das ist Quatsch"". airliners.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  15. "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 from the original on 13 February 2015. 

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