Air West is an

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

based in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is

Khartoum International Airport Khartoum International Airport (Arabic:مطار الخرطوم الدولي) is the principal airport in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The current airport will be replaced by the New Khartoum International Airport in Omdourman 40 kilome ...

, with a hub at

Sharjah International Airport Sharjah International Airport ( ar, مطار الشارقة, Maṭār aš-Šāriqa) () is an international airport located east-southeast of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It is spread over an area of . It has one runway, making it the only air ...

. This airline has no connection to

Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the wes ...

which previously operated in the U.S. as Air West. The airline is on the List of air carriers banned in the European Union.

History

The airline was established in April 1992 and started operations in October 1992.Indian Ocean Newsletter
25 June 2005

Incidents and accidents

On January 24, 2007,

Air West Flight 612 Air West Flight 612 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Air West between Khartoum, Sudan and Al-Fashir. On January 24, 2007, with 103 people on board, the flight, operated by a Boeing 737, was hijacked shortly after takeoff by ...

, a

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two ...

with 95 passengers and 8 crew on board, was hijacked and diverted to the Chadian capital of N'Djamena. The plane, destined for the town of El Fasher, took off from Khartoum at 8:30 AM. Air traffic control had evidence of only one hijacker aboard the plane. The 24-year-old hijacker, Mahamat Abdelatif Mahamat, was armed with a pistol and several knives. He demanded that the airplane be flown to Britain. When he realized that there was not enough fuel to go to Britain he asked to be flown to Bangui or N'Djamena. The aircraft landed safely in N'Djamena and all passengers were released. The hijacker requested guarantees for his safety from the French embassy and requested political asylum in the United Kingdom. The hijacker's demands were not heeded; he was arrested following twenty minutes of negotiations on the ground.

Destinations

Air West does public services to Sudan,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

Fleet

The Air West fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 4 April 2018):http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=AWU&al_op=1 *1

Airbus A300-600 The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. West G ...

(265) *2

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 ( Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, I ...

(44) *1 Antonov An-28 (18) *1 Boeing 737-300QC (148) *2

Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch airc ...

(50) Total:7

References

External links

Air West Fleet
{{Airlines of Sudan Airlines of Sudan Airlines established in 1992 1992 establishments in Sudan Companies based in Khartoum