Golden Wings Aviation South Sudan , is a privately owned airline based in Juba,

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

. The carrier operates as a regional affiliate of South African carrier, Golden Wings Aviation, under a South African Air Operator's Certificate.

History

Golden Wings Aviation was founded in 2014 by Obac William Olawo, a South Sudanese businessman from Upper Nile state as a South Sudanese start-up. The company successfully launched domestic flights between the South Sudanese capital of Juba and Wau, the capital of the

Western Bahr el Ghazal Western Bahr el Ghazal is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of and is the least populous state in South Sudan, according to the controversial Sudanese census conducted in 2008. It is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. Its capital is Wau. ...

state, using a Fokker 70 wet-leased from

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

's SKA Aviation. Managing director, Obaj William Olau, said the route would operate four times weekly. At the time of opening, the new airline intended to establish additional domestic flights to Malakal, Yei, and Aweil with regional services to

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 distr ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, also planned in the future. Due to the present turmoil in the country is seen as a bonus to local airlines as travelers opt for air transport over road transport to avoid ambushes, besides many of the key trunk roads across the South Sudan still being in poor state.

Company news

On July 16, 2015, it was announced that Golden Wings would lease a Yak-42D Skyliner Aviation from Moldovan ACMI/charter specialist, ''MEGAviation'', to expand service. At that time, the airline had expanded charter and scheduled services to Palouch, Malakal, Wau, Yaida, Aweil, Yambio, and Rumbek, all in South Sudan. Services to

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 ...

in neighboring Sudan were also available. In July, Golden Wings also announced that it has been named as the official franchise holder for Million Air, an award-winning fixed base organisation in the United States. Talks are now underway that could see the firm utilize the Million Air name and brand for various projects at various airports in South Africa and across the continent as a whole. On February 15, 2016, it was announced Golden Wings was expanding their operations from originally focusing on South Sudan to exploring new opportunities in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and

amongst various other African countries. At this point, Golden Wings Aviation’s fleet has grown rapidly and now consisted of 12 aircraft./ The company possesses a

Fokker F70 The Fokker 70 is a narrow-body, twin-engined, medium-range, turbofan regional airliner designed and produced by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was developed during the early 1990s as a smaller version of the newly-developed Fokker ...

, a 75-seater regional jet liner powered by two Rolls-Royce TAY 620-15 engines, two Beechcraft 1900Ds, regional turboprop airliners powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A67Ds and two de Havilland

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

Q300s. A C-208 Caravan was later added to their fleet, and Golden Wings also manages a

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

Freighter for SKA International and was expected to add a 100-seater

VVIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples incl ...

aircraft, as of February 2017. On May 25, 2016, the company announced it was closing down operations in Bor, Panyangor, Pibor, Yei and Yambio following the rising inflation rates. Other destinations which were discontinued included Asmara,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

and

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

. In July 2016, the airline began services to Entebbe International Airport in neighboring Uganda.

Destinations

, Golden Wings Aviation serves the following destinations:

Current destinations

Future and discontinued destinations

Fleet

As of October 2017 the Golden Wings Aviation fleet consisted of the following aircraft: The GWASS – Golden Wings Aviation South Sudan fleet previously included the following aircraft (as of 9 October 2017): *1 Fokker 50 - 58 max cap. Leased from ''SKA South Africa''.

References

External links

Website if Golden Wings Aviation South Sudan
{{Airlines of South Sudan Airlines of South Sudan Airlines established in 2014 2014 establishments in South Sudan Companies based in Juba