Air Kufra

Air Kufra (Arabic: الكُفرة للطيران‎) (IATA: 7F, ICAO: KAV) was a small Libyian charter airline. It was mainly operated out of Kufra Airport. It had only one commercial aircraft, which was leased from Buraq Air,[1] along with a cargo aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76TD.[2] The airline had two bases: the main base was in Tripoli, Libya, and the other was located in Kufra Airport, Al Jawf. The airline was run by Giuma Nasir (CEO) and Abdurrazag Zaatut (COO).[3]

Air Kufra
الكُفرة للطيران
Ālküfråh Lìltāíärän

IATA ICAO Callsign 7F KAV AIRKUFRA
Founded	2005 (2005)
Commenced operations	2008 (2008)
Ceased operations	2010 (2010)
Operating bases	Tripoli International Airport Malta International Airport
Hubs	Kufra Airport
Subsidiaries	Air Kufra Aviation Training Center
Fleet size	2 ^a
Destinations	3 ^b
Parent company	Buraq Air
Headquarters	Tripoli, Libya
Key people	Giuma Nasir (CEO) Abdurrazag Zaatut (COO)
Website	airkufra.com.ly
Notes
a. Only active planes are the planes at the Training Center. b. As was before closing.

History

Air Kufra was a short lived airline, which reportedly had operations between 2008 and 2010.[4] The airline also offered cargo services. Also, on February 25, 2009, Air Kufra announced it will be opening a training center in Tripoli.[5]

Training center

The Air Kufra training center was founded in 2007, to encourage Libyans to get into aviation, and is still open. The training center operates Cessna 172s. The Cessna 172s were sold to Air Kufra in 2007 from Africair. It was the first US corporation to sell US manufactured goods into Libya after the sanctions were lifted.[6] Originally, the main Training center opened in Al Jawf, but later closed and after a while opened the current training center in Qasr bin Ghashir.

Fleet

These are the only known aircraft Air Kufra had:

Air Kufra Fleet

Passenger Fleet
Aircraft	In Service	Retired	Passengers	Notes	Refs
British Aerospace Jetstream 32	—	1	21	Leased from Buraq Air	[1]
Cessna 172	2	—	2	Used at the training center	[7][6]
Cargo Fleet
Ilyushin Il-76TD	—	1	Cargo		[2]
Total	2	2

History

The British Aerospace Jetstream 32, tail number 5A-DGR, Serial Number 945, was delivered to Buraq Air on August 19, 2004. The plane was used by 2 prior airlines, Dong-Ah Group and British Aerospace. It was 13 years old when it was delivered, having taken its first flight on December 2, 1991. The aircraft's current status is unknown.[8] The Ilyushin Il-76TD, tail number UN-76008 was also leased from Buraq Air. It was used by 6 prior airlines. It was delivered to Buraq Air on 26 February 2004. The plane was later passed on to the GST Aero Aircompany in March 2006.[9] It was 21 years old when it was delivered, having take its first flight on October 31, 1983.

Operations

Destinations

These are the Air Kufra destinations (Before closing):

Country	City	Airport	Airport Codes		Notes	Refs
			IATA	ICAO
Libya	Al Jawf	Kufra Airport	AKF	HLKF	Hub	[10][11]
	Tripoli	Tripoli International Airport	TIP	HLLT		[11]
Malta	Valletta	Malta International Airport	MLA	LMML		[1]

Passenger Services

Air Kufra provided many charter services. They were used for passenger and cargo charter services. For passenger charter, they could provide regular charter, helicopter services and desert dispatches. They are also equipped for both national and international services.[12]

Training center

The training center is located at 32°37′38″N 013°10′04.5″E in Qasr bin Ghashir, Libya. It operates 2 Cessna 172s, 5A-KFA and 5A-KFB.[7] In order to achieve its goal of modern aircraft, its aircraft are fitted with new efficient diesel engines. Also, they were fitted with the FNPTII from Alsim. The training center is ISO 9001/2008 certified.[13] The Training center provides training courses to become a Private Pilot and a Commercial Pilot.[14] Training flights in the Cessna 172s take place at the Zuwarah Airport, the Cessna 172s are also stored there. The training center is still open and is the only asset Air Kufra has operational.

See also

•  Libya portal
•  Aviation portal

References

1. "5A-DGR Picture". JetPhotos. Malcolm Bezzina. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
2. "Air Kufra Cargo". Air Kufra. Air Kufra. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
3. "CHAIRMAN MR. LAHEJ SAIF SAEED AL FALASI MEETING CEO OF AIRKUFRA". Academy of Technological Training. ATT Administrator. Academy of Technological Training. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2019. ...welcomed Mr. Giuma Nasir, CEO of Airkufra, and Mr. Abdurrazag Zaatut, Operations Director of Airkufra on 6th March 2013.
4. "Air Kufra history from Africa, Libya". Airline History. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
5. Nasir, Guima (25 February 2009). "Alsim - Air Kufra in Libya choose an ALX". Alsim. Alsim flight training solutions. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
6. "Africair-Diesel-Conversion-History-2014" (PDF). Africair. Africair. 2014. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 29 April 2019. In 2007, Africair was the first US corporation to sell US manufactured goods into Libya after the sanctions were lifted. We retrofitted two 172R aircraft for Air Kufra and a 172S for Gulf Pearl Aviation to augment their training fleets. The Air Kufra project included customized paint schemes as well as training, disassembly, and containerization of the aircraft for shipment to Tripoli.
7. "AirKufra - Photos / Facebook". AirKufra. Retrieved 5 March 2019 – via Facebook.
8. "5A-DGR Registration Details". Plane Logger. Plane Logger. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
9. "UN-76008 Registration Details". Plane Logger. Plane Logger. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
10. "Air Kufra - ch-aviation". ch-aviation.com. ch-aviation. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
11. "Air Kufra Contact Us". Air Kufra. Air Kufra. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
12. "Air Kufra Passenger Charter". Air Kufra. Air Kufra. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
13. "AirKufra - About". AirKufra. Retrieved 5 March 2019 – via Facebook.
14. "AirKufra Training Center". BestAviation.net. BestAviation. Retrieved 22 April 2019.

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Buraq Air Website (in English)
• Air Kufra Aviation Training Center