Gambia Bird Airlines
Limited was the
flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
Hist ...
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 ...
of
Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
headquartered in
Kanifing
Kanifing (also Kanifeng) is a town in the Gambia, and lies immediately west of the capital city of Banjul.
The Kanifing Local Government Area has the largest population of any of the administrative districts in Gambia. It includes Serrekunda, th ...
with its home base at
Banjul International Airport
Banjul International Airport, also known as Yundum International , is the international airport of Banjul, capital of the Gambia, built during World War II.
History
The only airport in Gambia is at Yundum. After World War II, Yundum airport ...
. It suspended operations in .
History
Gambia Bird was founded by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
carrier
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
in October 2012.
The airline was launched in partnership with the
Government of Gambia
Politics of The Gambia takes place within the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of The Gambia is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. ...
in order to replace the services of
Air Afrique
Air Afrique was a Pan-Africanism, Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnationalism, transnational Air carrier, carrier for francophone West Af ...
, which was liquidated in 2002.
Germania retained a 90% ownership share of Gambia Bird.
[
The carrier started operations on with an ]Airbus A319-100
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final asse ...
leased from Germania that flew between Banjul and Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
. Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
, Conakry
Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...
, Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...
and Monrovia
Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...
were added to the route network shortly afterwards; on , Gambia Bird operated its first service to London Gatwick
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 ...
. Flights to Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
were introduced on 28 October. A second A319 joined the fleet in .
In , Gambia Bird suspended operations until further notice. By May 2015, there had not been any resumption of services. The former aircraft of Gambia Bird were taken back into service with its parent, Germania. In March 2015, Germania's CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
stated that a resumption of services by Gambia Bird was unlikely, due to an insufficient perspective for future development.
Destinations
Gambia Bird served the following destinations, :
Fleet
As of December 2014, the Gambia Bird fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[ ]
See also
* List of defunct airlines of the Gambia
This is a list of now defunct airlines from Gambia.
See also
* List of airlines of Gambia
* List of airports in the Gambia
References
{{List of defunct airlines
Defunct airlines of the Gambia, *
Lists of defunct airlines, Gambia
Gambi ...
* Transport in the Gambia
The system of transportation in the Gambia mixes both public and private operations and consists of a system of roads (both paved and unpaved), water and air transportation. The Trans-Gambia Highway runs along both sides of the river Gambia, which ...
References
External links
*
Defunct airlines of the Gambia
Airlines established in 2012
Airlines disestablished in 2014
2012 establishments in the Gambia
2014 disestablishments in Africa
Greater Banjul Area
{{Gambia-stub