Naturelink Aviation, also known as Naturelink Charter, was an airline from

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 ...

, which offered corporate and private charter flights, as well as worldwide

aircraft lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

services. The company was based at

Wonderboom Airport Wonderboom Airport is located in Pretoria North, South Africa. History The airport was opened in 1937, being built on the farm Wonderboom approximately 15 km north of Pretoria. Originally a civilian airstrip for light aircraft, it was ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

History

Naturelink Aviation was founded in 1997 by Chris Briers. In mid-2004, 60 percent of the shares were acquired by

Safair Safair is an airline based at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, South Africa. It operates one of the world's largest fleets of civil Lockheed L-100 Hercules cargo aircraft.

, through Imperial Holdings.Information about Naturelink at the Aero Transport Data Bank
/ref> As Naturelink operated charter flights to possibly unsafe regions like

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, the company participated in the testing of ''

CAMPS Camps may refer to: People *Ramón Camps (1927–1994), Argentine general *Gabriel Camps (1927–2002), French historian *Luís Espinal Camps (1932–1980), Spanish missionary to Bolivia *Victoria Camps (b. 1941), Spanish philosopher and professor ...

'', a countermeasure against portable anti-aircraft missiles developed by

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

.''Naturelink tests Saab anti-missile system''
Flightglobal.com, Published online on 16 March 2007] In September 2008, Naturelink was purchased b
Runway Assets Management
Another change of ownership happened in 2010 through the acquisition by

National Airways Corporation National Airways Corporation is a commercial aviation company with its head office on the grounds of Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company offers a range of products and services for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter mark ...

. Subsequently, Naturelink's fleet and operations were gradually merged into the

Lanseria Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757-300 and th ...

-based company."Embraer Names National Airways Corporation New Authorized Service Center"

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...

press release issued 16 December 2010, regarding the transition of the service contract for its aircraft from Naturelink to National Airways. By mid-2011, this transition had been completed, and the Naturelink brand was shut down.

Fleet

The fleet of eight

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series ...

that formed the backbone of the Naturelink fleet were transferred to National Airways upon takeover. Over the years, Naturelink also operated the larger aircraft types

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 ...

737-200 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 un ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

and

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

, as well as smaller airplanes like

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

,2004 incident description at the Aviation Safety Network
/ref>

Cessna 208 The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

, PAC 750XL or

Socata TBM The SOCATA TBM (now Daher TBM) is a family of high-performance single-engine turboprop business and utility light aircraft manufactured by Daher. It was originally collaboratively developed between the American Mooney Airplane Company and F ...

Accidents

* On 1 October 2004, a Naturelink

( registered ZS-OWO) crashed when, during take-off from

Douala International Airport MD-Douala International Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport international MD-Douala) is an international airport located in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. With its 4 terminals and an averag ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, control was lost following an engine failure. The airplane was destroyed, but the four occupants survived the accident.

References

External links

2008 Naturelink Aviation marketing video
hosted by

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. {{Airlines of South Africa Companies based in the City of Tshwane Defunct airlines of South Africa Organisations based in Pretoria Airlines established in 1997 Airlines disestablished in 2011 1997 establishments in South Africa 2011 disestablishments in South Africa