DAS Air Cargo was a

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 ...

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline ...

based at

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. Th ...

as Dairoo Air Services. It operated all-cargo services between

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 ...

and 20 cities throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...

was a major hub for business in east and southern Africa and also for flights from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

which stage through

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

. Its main bases were

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 ...

and

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 dist ...

, with hubs at

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport , is an international airport in Nairobi, the capital of and largest city in Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include the Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airp ...

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 ...

Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport ( ar, مطار دبي الدولي) is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic. It is also the nineteenth-busies ...

and

Murtala Mohammed International Airport Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) ( yo, Pápá Ọkọ̀ Òfurufú Káríayé Múrítàlá Mùhammẹ̀d) is an international airport located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the entire state. The ai ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. The European office was at

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of ...

, England In 2006 DAS Air Cargo was banned from conducting flights within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. On 6 March 2007, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

, the EU's executive arm, removed DAS Air Cargo from its list of banned aircraft after they made safety improvements. The company called in the administrators on 17 September 2007 and all flying stopped. Their aircraft was stored at Manston, England, which subsequently closed in 2015. It was announced on 20 November 2007 that Continental Aviation Services (Nigeria) Ltd has bought all of the business and assets (including the sole remaining DC10 aircraft), however the liabilities remain with Das Air Ltd.

History

The airline was established in 1983 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 Tog ...

and started operations in June 1983. It initially provided ad hoc charters and wet-lease flying for established operators. In 1987 it began regular cargo services between London and Lagos and Entebbe. In 1990, the DAS Air Cargo USA division was opened to operate cargo operations there for the airline. The division was based in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, and shared its offices with DAS Air Cargo's main business partner, passenger

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

First Choice Airways First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel PLC, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinat ...

-another airline which later went bankrupt. The airline was wholly owned by Joseph Roy (Chairman and Chief Executive) and Daisy Roy (Managing Director) and had 228 employees (at March 2007). DAS Air Cargo also had an EASA 145 approved maintenance facility at

Kent International Airport Manston Airport was a British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, north-eas ...

in the UK. The facility was used for maintenance on their own aircraft as well as those of

World Airways World Airways, Inc. was a United States airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. The company operated mostly non-scheduled services but did fly scheduled passenger services as well, notably with McDonnell Douglas DC- ...

Gemini Air Cargo Gemini Air Cargo was an American ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, & Insurance) cargo airline headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, United States. It operated worldwide cargo schedules and charters on a wet-lease basis. Its main bases were Miami ...

and

Avient Aviation Avient Aviation was an international cargo airline with its head office in Harare, Zimbabwe and its commercial center in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 1993 and offered scheduled and chartered flights to Africa, South Amer ...

Destinations

*Belgium - Brussels, Ostend *China- Shanghai *Finland Hensinki *France - Bâle/Basel, Chalons-Vatry *Ghana - Accra *Hungary - Budapest *Italy - Rome *Malta - Luqa *Serbia - Belgrade *South Africa - Johannesburg *United Kingdom - London-Gatwick, Manchester *United Arab Emirates - Dubai, Sharajah

Fleet

As of October 2007 DAS Air Cargo had no fleet of aircraft:

Aircraft previously operated

Boeing 707-320C The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

Tony Pither, ''The Boeing 707 720 and C-135'', 1998, Air-Britain (Historian), England, , Page 153 (Seven different examples leased or owned since 1986) * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F

References

External links

DAS Air Cargo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das Air Cargo Defunct airlines of Uganda Defunct cargo airlines Airlines established in 1983 Airlines disestablished in 2007