 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2024) |
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| Founded | 1947; 78 years ago (1947) | ||||||
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| Hubs | Ivato International Airport[2] | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Namako | ||||||
| Alliance | Vanilla Alliance | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | |||||||
| Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
| Destinations | 14[3] | ||||||
| Headquarters | Antananarivo,Madagascar | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | madagascarairlines | ||||||
Madagascar Airlines is an airline based inAntananarivo, Madagascar.[4][5][6] It is theflag carrier ofMadagascar;[7] it operates services toEurope,Asia and neighbouring African andIndian Ocean island destinations, from its main base,Ivato International Airport inAntananarivo.[8] It also operates an extensive domestic network.
The airline was formed in 1947 to feed into flights byTransports Aériens Intercontinentaux andAir France, and upon the independence of Madagascar, it became the national airline. Initially operating services on domestic routes, the airline saw expansion in the late 1960s and 1970s, when it began international flights to destinations such as France and South Africa.
In recent years the airline has been a subject of failed privatisation measures. These are now on hold and the loss making airline is majority owned by the Malagasy government.
Air Madagascar was formed in March 1947 byTransports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI) in order to feed into flights by TAI andAir France. The airline began operations with two Air FranceDouglas DC-3s and sixde Havilland D.H.89 Dragon Rapides. In 1957 TAI andMessageries Maritimes acquired shares in the airline, and in 1958 a third DC-3 was added to the fleet. In 1961 theMalagasy government, Air France and TAI reorganised the airline. In April 1961 the airline was renamed Madair and became theflag carrier for the newly independent republic.[9] On 23 August 1961, the status of Société Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens, MADAIR was approved by decree.[10] On 20 October 1961 a service fromAntananarivo-Paris, viaDjibouti, with aDouglas DC-7 leased from TAI was inaugurated.[9][11] Société Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens, MADAIR was created on 13 November 1961, with a working capital of 400 millionCFA Francs, 447 employees, and a fleet comprising twoDouglas DC-4s, seven DC-3s and four Dragon Rapides.[10][12] The government held 20%, Air France 44% and TAI 36% shareholdings, and the government held an option to increase its shareholding to some 65%.[12]
On 1 January 1962, Madair took over service to some 58 points in Madagascar, and on 14 October the name of the airline was changed to Air Madagascar, because of a negative image of the name Madair.[9] In 1962 Air Madagascar carried 103,000 passengers, 7,500 tons of freight and 375 tons of mail and flew a distance of 2,400,000 kilometres (1,500,000 mi).[12] On 31 December 1962, the company was renamed toSociété Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens — Air Madagascar.[13] A DC-3 of the airline crashed atFarafangana on 15 July 1963, killing five people. Flights to theComoro Islands with DC-4s began in 1963.[9] On 14 May 1963, the Malagasy government increased itsshare capital to 460 million CFA francs, and its shareholding from 20 to 30.44%.[14]
In October 1963 the airline signed an agreement with Air France, which saw Air Madagascar beginning a service to Paris, via Djibouti, in July 1964 with aBoeing 707, which was painted in Air Madagascar livery, and operated by Air France crews. In 1965 the Dragon Rapides began to be replaced by light aircraft, mainlyPipers, and aNord 262 was ordered in 1966.[9] On 19 July 1967, an Air Madagascar DC-4, on a scheduled flight from Antananarivo toTamatave andDiego Suarez, crashed after take-off fromIvato International Airport, killing 42 people, includingAlbert Sylla, theMalagasy Foreign Minister.[9][15][16] The airline began scheduled flights toRome in 1968, and the airline acquired its firstBoeing 737-200 in September 1969.[9][17] The aircraft was maintained bySouth African Airways, and on 15 October, Air Madagascar began flights toJohannesburg, and in December began flights toDar es Salaam andNairobi viaMajunga. On 14 February 1970, flights to Johannesburg operated viaLourenço Marques, and on 1 November, the 737 replaced the DC-4 on flights to the Comoros.[9]
In 1971 fourde Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters were acquired, allowing the airline to retire some DC-3s which were transferred to theMalagasy military.[9] By 1972, the airline was operating 737s on domestic flights toTamatave,Nosy Be,Diego Suarez andSambava, allowing for the retirement of two DC-4s. A second 737 was delivered in December 1972, seeing the expansion of routes and frequencies on the airline's network. In April 1974, service with the 737s was extended toMananjary,Tuléar andFort Dauphin.[9]In the late 1970s, services to Johannesburg were suspended as a result ofapartheid in South Africa. In 1979 the airline acquired its first wide-body aircraft when aBoeing 747-200B Combi was delivered, with maintenance being handled by Air France. In early 1986 the airline joined theInternational Air Transport Association, and in the same year placed an order forATR 42 to replace theHS-748s, which had been delivered to the airline in January 1980.[9][18] Services to Johannesburg were resumed in 1990.[19] In 1994, the airline leased aBoeing 737-300 fromILFC, which was delivered on 12 September, and was introduced on routes from Antananarivo to Johannesburg, Comoros, Mauritius, Nairobi,Réunion and Seychelles.[9] Air Madagascar lost its monopoly on domestic flights in 1995, when the government liberalised the market, although few competitors have yet emerged.[20] Flights toMunich andRome began in 1996.[9]
In September 1997, the airline ordered an additional three ATR 42 for delivery in October.[21] Services toSingapore began in October 1998, and were suspended in 2002.[22]
As part of reorganisation plans to get the airline ready for privatisation, in January 1998, the airline announced that it would replace the Boeing 747-200 Combi with aBoeing 767-300ER. The airline purchased a new 767-300ER fromBoeing with an April 1999 delivery date, and leased another aircraft fromGE Capital Aviation Services from March 1998.[23][24] Government plans for privatisation of the airline in 1999 to a consortium which include Air France was suspended when theCentral Bank of Madagascar defaulted on payments toExim Bank for the airline's Boeing 747.[25]
In 2002,Lufthansa Consulting was awarded a management contract with Air Madagascar, with a view to improving the airlines' efficiency and making it an attractive enterprise for privatisation.[26] The airline's creditors in November 2002 agreed to forgive half of the company's debts and rescheduled the rest over a three-year period. Because of the political crisis, the first half of 2001 saw a 66% drop in passenger traffic and a 71% drop in freight, which damaged the airline's revenues.[27] The airline resumed flights to Paris from Antananarivo on 27 April 2003, taking over fromBlue Panorama Airlines which had been operating on its behalf since the crisis began.[28]
The firstATR 72 was delivered to the airline on 14 November 2005; the second was delivered to the airline at theDubai Air Show a few weeks later.[29]
On 17 June 2009, the airline introduced non-stop flights betweenNosy Be and Paris.[30]
In 2011 Air Madagascar was put on thelist of air carriers banned in the European Union for safety concerns with their ageing fleet ofBoeing 767-300 thus prompting the airline tocharter aEuro Atlantic AirwaysBoeing 777-200 for their flights to France.[31]
In 2012 an agreement was reached withAir France for long-termwet lease (ACMI or Aircraft Crew Maintenance and Insurance) of 2 surplusAirbus A340-300. The first aircraft (F-GLZL) was delivered in April 2012 and was originally crewed by Air France (it is now crewed byAir Atlanta Icelandic) and on the Iceland registry as TF-EAB, and the second aircraft (F-GLZT) arrived in July 2012, re-registered 5R-EAA, and is damp-leased with a domestic cabin crew. Despite being 14 and 12 years old respectively and having questionable fuel efficiency, these aircraft permit Air Madagascar to resume flights to Europe under its own colors and with better service.[32]
In April 2023, the operations of Air Madagascar and it subsidiary Tsaradia were taken over byMadagascar Airlines, whose AOC was obtained to serve as a transitional process in the restructuring plans of both former airlines that were in a bankruptcy process.[7][33] International operations were suspended in November 2023 to focus on domestic flights.[34][35]
As of 2019[update], the airline is majority-owned by the Malagasy state (89.56%), with other shareholders being ARO (an insurance company)(5.53%), SONAPAR (orSociété Nationale de Participations, the government's national shareholding company) (2.53%),Air France (1.65%), NY Havana (0.32%) and staff (0.39%).[36]
As of November 2023[update], the chairman position was held by Mamy Rakotondraibe.[34][35] In October 2025, the airline's CEO Thierry de Bailleul resigned. This came just two months after his mandate had been extended.[37]
Air Madagascar has been reported as making heavy losses, requiring government support to keep trading.[38]
Full formal accounts do not seem to be regularly published; recent available figures (largely fromAFRAA reports, although these have inconsistencies) are shown below (for years ending 31 December):
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover (MGAm) | |||
| Net profit (MGAm) | loss | loss | loss |
| Number of employees (at year end) | 1,017 | 928 | 812 |
| Number of passengers (000s) | 437 | 488 | 479 |
| Passenger load factor (%) | 63.9 | 66.3 | 61 |
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 7 | 6 | 10 |
| Notes/sources | [39] | [40] | [36] |
Madagascar Airlines serves destinations in Africa, and formerly Asia and Europe.
Madagascar Airlines hascodeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of June 2018):[41]
As of August 2025[update], Madagascar Airlines operates the following aircraft:[43]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers[44] | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | |||||
| ATR 72-500 | 5 | — | 8 | 56 | 64 | ||
| 8 | 62 | 70 | |||||
| 8 | 64 | 72 | |||||
| ATR 72-600 | 1 | — | 10 | 62 | 72 | ||
| De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | 3 | — | All three are grounded, to be sold.[45] | ||||
| Total | 9 | — | |||||
During the mid-2000s, Air Madagascar was looking to renew their fleet. The two ageingBoeing 737-200 (delivered new to the airline in 1970), which had an average age of 36.7 years, were scrapped in 2006[46] and replaced by more modernBoeing 737-300. The airline then replaced its fourBoeing 767-300ER and oneBoeing 767-200ER with aBoeing 777-200ER.[47] The middle-age 777, though, was replaced with twoAirbus A340-300 wet-leased fromAir France from March 2012 till 2018 when a replacement aircraft is required (the wet leases have since been converted to one damp lease and one sublease of an operating lease).[48]
Madagascar Airlines has previously operated the following aircraft:
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