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| Founded | 1 September 1967 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1980 | ||||||
| Hubs | Salisbury | ||||||
| Focus cities | Bulawayo,Kariba | ||||||
| Fleet size | 13 | ||||||
| Destinations | Domestic, South Africa,Malawi,Mozambique | ||||||
| Headquarters | Salisbury Airport Salisbury,Rhodesia | ||||||
| Key people | Mervin Eyatt, Ken Greager | ||||||
Air Rhodesia was thenational airline ofRhodesia. Its head office was located on the property ofSalisbury Airport inSalisbury.[1]
The airline was formed as a subsidiary ofCentral African Airways (CAA) in June 1964, but became an independent corporation on 1 September 1967. It flew internal routes to Buffalo Range,Bulawayo,Fort Victoria,Kariba, andVictoria Falls. During the 1970s, it operated international flights toJohannesburg andDurban in South Africa;Beira,Vilanculos andLourenço Marques inMozambique; andBlantyre inMalawi.
Air Rhodesia's mainstay aircraft wereVickers Viscount 700D turboprops andBoeing 720 jetliners, three of which were successfully purchased in April 1973 despite sanctions against the Rhodesian government. After the country was renamed, the airline became known as Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, before reforming asAir Zimbabwe in 1980.
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Central African Airways (CAA) was formed on 1 June 1946 as the joint airline ofSouthern Rhodesia (laterRhodesia; nowZimbabwe),[2]Northern Rhodesia (nowZambia) andNyasaland (nowMalawi), the governments of the three countries owning 50%, 35% and 15% of the airline's share capital respectively.[3] CAA began operating with a mixture of formerRhodesian Air Services (RAS) aircraft, but soon took delivery of fiveDe Havilland Doves and threeVickers VC.1 Vikings. Services were steadily expanded to cover a route network that extended as far north asNairobi inKenya, and as far south asJohannesburg in South Africa, also serving destinations such asBlantyre inMalawi to the east, andMaun inBechuanaland (nowBotswana) to the west. In August 1948, CAA inaugurated Africa's first air freight service.[4]
By 1954, CAA had expanded to cover routes as far afield asLondon in the UK. Thefederation that joined the three shareholders of CAA was dissolved in 1963, and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland prepared to attain their independence the following year, to become Zambia and Malawi respectively. The two new countries expressed a wish to operate their own airlines but this was not straightforward because CAA's core operations were mostly based in Southern Rhodesia, including the engineering base, stores and most of the infrastructure and personnel that were needed to support the airline; only minor repairs to the aircraft could be attempted away from the Salisbury base. A settlement was agreed in December 1963, which provided at least a temporary solution to the problem: CAA would remain in existence but it would be responsible to a higher authority consisting of transport ministers from the three separate governments. Independent subsidiaries of CAA were formed to operate in the three countries:Air Malawi Ltd, based in Blantyre;Zambia Airways Ltd, based inLusaka; and Air Rhodesia (Pvt) Ltd, based in Salisbury. The administrative arrangements that operated between the three companies proved to be successful and profitable for all three. On 11 November 1965, the Rhodesian Government formalised theUnilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain, and sanctions were imposed on Rhodesia shortly afterwards by Britain and independent African states, including Malawi and Zambia; this closed down almost all international flights operating through Rhodesia, with the exception of Portugal'sTAP Air andSouth African Airways. Relations between the three sister companies became strained and a split was agreed in 1967.
Air Rhodesia Corporation came into being on 1 September 1967 while Rhodesia was under international isolation. Unlike Zambia, Malawi maintained "cool" relations with Air Rhodesia Corporation, and as a result, flights between Salisbury and Blantyre were maintained and soon increased; Air Rhodesia posted a profit in its first year of operation. The aircraft were then repainted in a livery consisting of a white top side, with dark blue and light blue "cheatlines" on the fuselage sides; sloping dark blue and light blue stripes also appeared on the vertical fin. The controversial "twiggi bird", a highly stylised representation of theZimbabwe Bird, the national emblem of Zimbabwe (then-named Rhodesia), was superimposed on the two fin stripes. This was criticised in some circles as being scarcely recognisable as a Zimbabwe Bird, and it was even likened to an Arabdhow under sail.
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Air Rhodesia's profits increased between 1969 and 1970, and the airline continued to perform well despite the challenges brought about by sanctions and the deteriorating political environment within Rhodesia. Passenger services were introduced toKariba; theDakota services toWankie were upgraded to use the Viscount; and additional revenue was earned by lending surplus aircrew to other airlines. However, Air Rhodesia's performance was affected when its competitors began to use new jet airliners, and it became obvious that jet aircraft were essential for international services. The airline covertly acquired its first jets, threeBoeing 720-025 jetliners, which arrived under a shroud of secrecy on the evening of 14 April 1973 during the Easter holiday; they had initially been purchased new by the originalEastern Air Lines, a U.S. air carrier based in Miami, and had then been acquired byCalair, a German charter airline that folded in 1972. Air Rhodesia's new jet planes were ready to be put into service in November 1973, just as fuel prices increased by 35 percent because of theYom Kippur War in the Middle East. Soon afterwards, theBush War began to escalate sharply, and staff shortages due to military call-ups were adding to the airline's difficulties. Mozambique was granted its independence in 1975, and Air Rhodesia services to Blantyre and Beira were banned in March 1976 when Rhodesian aircraft were prohibited from overflying Mozambican territory. Until 1979, the airline's only external services would be to Johannesburg and Durban.
On 3 September 1978,Air Rhodesia Flight 825, a Vickers Viscount with registration VP-WAS, was shot down nearKariba by nationalist terrorists. Only eight people survived the crash and the ensuing massacre by the guerilla fighters. Just five months later, on 12 February 1979,Air Rhodesia Flight 827, another Viscount, registered VP-YND, was shot down in the same area, killing everyone on board. As a protective measure, all of the surviving Air Rhodesia Viscounts were quickly painted in a special yellowish-green matte paint, and all shiny metal surfaces on the aircraft, including propeller blades and spinners, were painted over. In order to prevent heat-seeking missiles from locking on to the hot jet pipes, specially designed engine guards were fitted to the enginenacelles, which had the effect of significantly increasing the aircraft's fuel consumption. Meanwhile, due to the ongoing war, passenger numbers continued to plummet as fuel prices soared.
When Rhodesia achieved democracy asZimbabwe Rhodesia, Air Rhodesia became "Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia". In anticipation of the new political truce bringing about stability and new opportunities, Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia ordered construction of a large new hangar in 1979. Thoughts immediately turned to reopening routes to destinations long closed to the airline as a result of sanctions.
After independence in Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia was renamed "Air Zimbabwe", which went bankrupt in 2012 before being resurrected in 2013.
Head Office: Salisbury Airport, Salisbury, Rhodesia.
