Africa Safari Airways was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. It operated charter flights and inclusive tours beginning in 1967 from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, mainly to Mombasa. Its main base was

Moi International Airport Moi International Airport is an international airport in Mombasa, the second-largest city in Kenya. In 2020 the airport was heralded as the "Best Airport in Africa" (with under 2 million passengers annually) by Airports Council International. ...

, Mombasa. It ceased operations in 2009.

History

Douglas DC-8-53 5Y-BAS African Safari FRA 08

Founded in 1967, African Safari Airways was part of the African Safari Club Group of companies. The airline operated charter flights from European hub airports including London, Frankfurt, Munich, Basel, Milan, Rome, Madrid, Vienna and Paris to Egypt and Kenya. Initial equipment was provided by

Bristol Britannia The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved sus ...

turboprop airliners from summer 1969 until disposal in 1972. One of these aircraft was leased to Air Faisal. The airline bought a Douglas DC-8-53 intercontinental airliner from

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij Naamloze vennootschap, N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with i ...

in August 1976 and operated the aircraft on its long distance routes until it was sold in November 1982. In 1999, the Group, which included a domestic airline in Kenya operating a fleet of 7 aircraft, two cruise ships, 10 hotels, 5 lodges and a vast travel agency network in Europe, faced bankruptcy and engage
Kai Wulff
(owner o
Plexus Ltd. Consultancy
to manage all its operations and lead a turn-around. The group re-entered profitability in 2001 and Wulff replaced their aged

Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

with an Airbus A310 in a 3-class configuration. After the end of the management term of Wulff in 2004, the company continued to operate as a vertically integrated group until its slow demise which started in 2008 after the post election violence in Kenya. ASA's domestic daughter company was Skytrails operating 7 planes between 1998 and 2005. African Safari Airways became Africa Safari Air in 2009. It is based in East Africa. The main hubs are Entebbe and Mombasa. It sometimes connected to Johannesburg in the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(RSA). The airline has one international connection to North America (Halifax, Canada).

Destinations

African Safari Airways operated the following services (at August 2009):

Africa

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

(

) Hub *

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

(

Entebbe International Airport Entebbe International Airport is the only international airport in Uganda. It is located about southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately by road south-west of the central business distric ...

) *

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

( Kigali International Airport)

North America

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

( JFK Airport) *

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

** Halifax (

Halifax Airport Halifax Stanfield International Airport is a Canadian airport in Goffs, Nova Scotia, a rural community of the Halifax Regional Municipality. It serves the Halifax region, mainland Nova Scotia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring Maritime pro ...

)

Europe

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(

London Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...

)

Fleet

As of March 2007 the Africa Safari Air fleet included: * 1 Airbus A310-308 (5Y-VIP)

Previously operated

From 1976 until 1982, African Safari operated a Douglas DC-8 and between 1992 and 2002, the airline operated a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (5Y-MBA) aircraft, however this was withdrawn from service.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Africa Safari AirAfrica Safari Air Fleet
{{Airlines of Kenya Defunct airlines of Kenya Airlines established in 1967 Airlines disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Kenya Kenyan companies established in 1967