South African-based cargo airline African International Airways, which operates two McDonnell Douglas DC-8 freighters, has been put up for sale.
African International shareholder Alan Stocks tells flightglobal.com's affiliate ATI: “Myself and business partner, Bernard Keay, are contemplating retirement and this is the main reason for the sale.”
Stocks adds that some expressions of interest have been shown in the carrier but declines to comment further.
African International started operations in 1985 in Swaziland and went on to provide supplementary capacity on behalf of scheduled airlines, including more than a decade of flying for Alitalia and several years in the service of British Airways World Cargo.
It was reorganised in 1988 after Intavia took a stake in the company with a refocus on worldwide cargo charter flights. Shipments transported have included security paper, fresh produce, flowers, auto parts, humanitarian relief cargo for governments and the UN.
Today, AIA’s core business is in the niche market for the carriage of bloodstock. “A recent flight carried a shipment of cattle from Johannesburg to Nigeria and other flights carry horses and polo ponies into South Africa from South America and Australia,” Stocks says. "The two DC-8s are each clocking up around 1,250 flying hours a year.”
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
