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| Founded | April 1963 (1963-4) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | April 1964 (1964-4); August 2015 (2015-8) | ||||||
| Hubs | Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport | ||||||
| Headquarters | Djibouti | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Air Djibouti, also known asRed Sea Airlines, is theflag carrier ofDjibouti.[2] It first flew in 1963 and ceased all operations in 2002. In 2015, the airline was relaunched, first as a cargo airline and then, in 2016, with passenger services as well. It is headquartered in the capital,Djibouti.[3][4]
Air Djibouti was set up asCompagnie Territoriale de Transports Aériens de la Cote Française des Somalis in April 1963 (1963-4) by B. Astraud, who had been operating an air ambulance service inMadagascar and believed Djibouti was in condition to support an airline that would help boost the country's economy.[5][6] Operations commenced in April 1964 (1964-4) with a fleet of aBristol 170, aDe Havilland Dragon Rapide and twoBeechcraft Model 18 aircraft, initially servingDikhil,Obock andTadjoura. A brand newDouglas DC-3 helped the airline starting services betweenDire Dawa andAden,Addis Ababa andTaiz. The successfulness of this service prompted the airline to buy five more DC-3s fromAir Liban, which rapidly replaced the smaller aircraft in the fleet. The carriage of mail and personal for the government and charter andHajj flights complemented the carrier's revenues. A five-seaterAérospatiale Alouette III helicopter was purchased in 1969.[6]
Air Djibouti–Red Sea Airlines was formed in April 1971 (1971-4) as a result of Air Somalie (founded byAir France andLes Messagéries Maritimes in 1962) taking over the former Air Djibouti founded in 1963. In 1977, following theindependence of Djibouti, the government boosted its participation in the carrier to 62.5%; Air France held 32.29% and banks and private investors held the balance. At July 1980, the number of employees was 210 and the fleet consisted of twoTwin Otter aircraft. At this time, a domestic network was served along with international flights to Aden,Hodeida and Taiz;Addis Ababa,Cairo andJeddah were also served in conjunction with Air France.[7] With a fleet of twoDC-9-30s and two Twin Otters, at March 1990 Air Djibouti hadAbu Dhabi, Aden, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Dire Dawa, Hargeisa, Jeddah,Nairobi,Paris,Rome andSana'a as part of the airline's international network, and flew domestically to Obock and Tadjoura. The president was Aden Robleh Awaleh, who employed 229.[8] The airline ceased operations in 1991.[9]
The carrier was refounded in 1997 and operations started again in July 1998 (1998-7) using a leased ex-Kuwait Airways 194-seaterAirbus A310-200.[10][11] At March 2000, the A310 was deployed on scheduled routes to Addis Ababa,Asmara, Cairo,Dar-es-Salaam,Dubai, Jeddah,Johannesburg,Karachi,Khartoum,Mogadishu,Mombasa,Muscat, Nairobi, Rome and Taiz.[10] Operations ceased in 2002.[2]
Air Djibouti was set to relaunch service in late 2015 and 2016[needs update] withChairman Aboubaker Omar Hadi and CEO Mario Fulgoni. The company is also supported by South Wales-based Cardiff Aviation.[12][13]In late 2015 Air Djibouti relaunched service with aBoeing 737 freighter. The government wishes to establish the country as a regional logistics and commercial hub for trade inEast Africa, and chose to relaunch the airline as part of this plan.[13][14] The airline started regional services with the Boeing 737-400 on 16 August 2016 and planned to introduce twoBritish Aerospace 146-300 aircraft before the end of 2016.[15][needs update]
As of December 2019[update], Air Djibouti served the following destinations.
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Air Djibouti relaunched service in 2015 using awet-leasedFokker 27. In 2016, the company leased aBoeing 737-400 from Cardiff Aviation, which was the first aircraft the new airline operated. Air Djibouti later entered a wet-lease for aBAe 146-300.[17] By September 2017, all three aircraft had been returned to their lessors.[18]
In the 1960s, the airline operatedDouglas DC-3s, aBeechcraft Model 18, and aBeechcraft Musketeer.[3] In the early 1970s, the fleet also included aDouglas DC-6; the two Beechcrafts had been replaced by aBell JetRanger helicopter, and aPiper Cherokee Six.[19]
Before operations were suspended Air Djibouti operated 1Airbus A310 and 5Boeing 737-200 aircraft.
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Media related toAir Djibouti at Wikimedia Commons
