Air Mali (1960–89)

Société Nationale Air Mali, or Air Mali as it was most commonly known, was the former national airline of the Republic of Mali. It had its head office in Bamako.[1]

Air Mali
IATA ICAO Callsign
MY AIM AIR MALI
Founded27 October 1960 (1960-10-27)
Commenced operations1961 (1961)
Ceased operations1988 (1988)
HeadquartersBamako, Mali

History
An Air Mali Sud Aviation Caravelle at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. (1981)
An Air Mali Boeing 737-200 Advanced at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. (1983)
An Air Mali Boeing 727-100C at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. (1984)

In June 1960, the Federal Assembly of the newly independent Mali Federation voted to set up a new national airline to be known as Air Mali.[2] Société Nationale Air Mali was founded by the Malian government on 27 October 1960 with the intent of becoming the newly independent country's national airline. When the airline was founded, the legislation under which the airline was set up gave the airline exclusive rights on domestic flights, and international flights from the country to the outside world. The company which was founded with startup capital of CFA 50 million, was given the right to sell up to 45% of its shares to private investors; however, very few were sold.[3]

Technical assistance was provided to the airline by the Soviet airline Aeroflot, which also provided equipment for the airline to begin operations. The British government donated three ex-British European Airways Douglas DC-3s, which the British purchased for GBP 70,000.[3][4] The airline began flight operations in 1961, but initially only operated executive services for government officials from Bamako to various administratives centres on the country, and joined the International Air Transport Association in July 1961. The first domestic route which was taken over from Air France was one which linked Bamako to Gao on the River Niger, the once capital of the Songhai Empire. Prior to taking over the flight, Air France operated a weekly service with Douglas DC-4 equipment, and once flights were inaugurated by Air Mali, service was increased to twice-weekly with Douglas DC-3 equipment.[3]

On 20 March 1961, a contract was signed in Moscow for the supply of a number of Ilyushin Il-18, Ilyushin Il-14, Antonov An-2 and Mil Mi-2 helicopters.[5] The two Il-18s were delivered in August 1961, and with them Air Mali began and expanded its international network to include Paris, Casablanca and Marseille. The aircraft were initially flown with Soviet crews whilst African crews were trained in their operations. The airline began flights to Ghana in December 1961, and regional destinations, some inherited from Union Aéromaritime de Transport, included Monrovia, Abidjan, Accra, Douala, Brazzaville, Dakar and Conakry, utilising the Il-14s and DC-3s.[3]

Air Mali was the first airline to provide service to many Malian cities which had previously not received air services. The airline's domestic network was for the most part unprofitable, however, this was subsidised by profits the airline made on its regional and international networks. The Bamako-Accra route which was suspended at the time of the 1966 coup in Ghana was restarted in 1967,[3] and on 14 September of the same year Aviaexport announced the signing of a deal with Air Mali for the supply of two Antonov An-24,[6] which when delivered were operated on domestic and regional routes, such as Bamako-Mopti-Goundam-Timbouctou-Gao-Niamey. The airline was forced to seek a replacement for the Il-18s by the end of the 1960s, as the turboprops had become too expensive to operate and maintain.[3]

The airline's first jet aircraft, a Boeing 727-100C was acquired in 1971 to enable the airline to service longer-range international routes to Paris, Marseille and Casablanca. The 727 was joined not long after by a Boeing 737-100 for use on medium-range regional routes in Africa.[3] By March 1980 (1980-03), Air Mali had 577 employees; at this time, the fleet included one Antonov An-24B, one Boeing 707-320C, one Boeing 727-100C, one Ilyushin Il-18 and two Twin Otters that flew international routes to Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Brazzaville, Casablanca, Conakry, Douala, Freetown, Lagos, Libreville, Lome, Monrovia, Niamey and Paris, and domestic services to Gao, Goundam, Kayes, Kenieba, Mopti, Nara, Nioro, Timbuctou and Yelimane.[7]

On 22 February 1985, the An-24 experienced an engine explosion upon take-off from Timbuktu Airport, eventually crashing before reaching the airport of departure.[8] Following this accident, and also because of large debts the airline had incurred, the government forced the airline to close down in 1988[9] with its operations being taken over by Malitas in 1989.[10]

Destinations

The airline served the following destinations throughout its history.

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
City Airport code Airport name Refs
IATA ICAO
 Algeria
AlgiersALGDAAGHouari Boumediene Airport[11]
 Burkina Faso
OuagadougouOUADFFDOuagadougou Airport[11]
 Ivory Coast
AbidjanABJDIAPPort Bouet Airport[11]
BouakéBYKDIBKBouaké Airport[11]
 France
ParisCDGLFPGCharles de Gaulle Airport[11]
ParisLBGLFBGLe Bourget Airport[12]
 Guinea
ConakryCKYGUCYConakry International Airport[13]
 Liberia
MonroviaROBGLRBRoberts International Airport[11]
 Mali
BamakoBKOGABSSenou International Airport[14]
GaoGAQGAGOGao International Airport[14]
GoundamGUDGAGMGoundam Airport[14]
KayesKYSGAKYKayes Airport[14]
KeniebaKNZGAKAKenieba Airport[14]
MoptiMZIGAMBMopti Airport[14]
NaraNIXGANRKeibane Airport[14]
NioroNIXGANRNioro Airport[14]
TomboctouTOMGATBTimbuktu Airport[14]
YélimanéEYLGAYEYélimané Airport[13]
 Mauritania
Aioun el AtroussAEOGQNAAioun el Atrouss Airport[13]
 Morocco
CasablancaCMNGMMNMohammed V International Airport[11]
 Niger
NiameyNIMDRRNDiori Hamani International Airport[14]
 Nigeria
LagosBZVFCBBMurtala Muhammed International Airport[11]
 Republic of the Congo
BrazzavilleLOSDNMMMaya-Maya Airport[11]
 Senegal
DakarDKRGOOYLéopold Sédar Senghor International Airport[11]
 Sierra Leone
FreetownFNAGFLLLungi International Airport[11]
 Togo
LoméLFWDXXXLomé-Tokoin Airport[11]

Fleet
An Air Mali Ilyushin Il-18V at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1979

The airline operated the following equipment all through its history:[15]

Accidents and incidents

According to Aviation Safety Network, Air Mali experienced five hull-loss events throughout its history. Following is a list of these events; four of them were deadly, totalling 111 fatalities.[16]

Date Location Aircraft Tail number Fate Fatalities Description Refs
5 November 1966 Cayolle Pass Il-14M TZ-ABH W/O 7/7 Crashed in the French Alps. The aircraft was flying the second leg of a Minsk–Zagreb–Marseille–Bamako route. [17][18]
11 August 1974 Linoghin Il-18V TZ-ABE W/O 47/60 The airplane was due to operate a non-scheduled international Bamako–Niamey–Kano–Mecca passenger service. On its first leg, it was diverted to Ouagadougou because of bad weather at Niamey. A forced landing was made after the aircraft ran out of fuel flying over the wrong city, apparently due to a navigational error. [19]
21 June 1983 Bamako Twin Otter 300 TZ-ACH W/O 7/7 Crashed under unspecified circumstances. [20]
22 February 1985 Timbuktu An-24B TZ-ACT W/O 50/51 Experienced an engine failure just after takeoff from Timbuktu Airport bound for Bamako. The aircraft crashed before returning to the airport of departure. [8][21]
May 1985 Unknown BN-2A-9 TZ-ACS W/O Unknown Unknown [22]
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See also

References
  2. "Mali Plans Own Airline". The New York Times. Dakar, Mali Federation. 24 June 1960. Retrieved 10 January 2010.(subscription required)
  3. Guttery, Ben R. (1998). Encyclopedia of African airlines. New York City: Ben R. Guttery. pp. 120–121. ISBN 0-7864-0495-7.
  4. "Mali: Rubles for Timbuctoo". Time. 31 March 1961. Retrieved 10 January 2010.(subscription required)
  5. Ginsburgs, George; Slusser, Robert M. (1981). A calendar of Soviet treaties, 1958–1973. BRILL. p. 137. ISBN 90-286-0609-2.
  6. Ginsburgs, George; Slusser, Robert M. (1981). A calendar of Soviet treaties, 1958–1973. BRILL. p. 408. ISBN 90-286-0609-2.
  7. "World airline directory – Air Mali (Société Nationale Air Mali)". Flight International. 118 (3716): 277. 26 July 1980. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013.
  8. "Mali Airliner Crash Kills 50 Near Timbuktu". The New York Times. 23 February 1985. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014.
  9. JP airline-fleets international, Edition 89/90
  10. Stamm, Andrea L.; Bastian, Dawn Elaine; Myers, Robert A. (1998). Myers, Robert A. (ed.). Mali. Clio Press. ISBN 1-85109-166-1.
  11. "Air Mali – Horaires été (Valables du 1 juin au 31 octobre 1982)—Mali – France – Inter-Afrique" [Air Mali – Summer timetable (Effective 1 June 1982 – 1982-10-31)—Mali – France – Inter-Africa]. Airline timetable images (in French). Archived from the original on 20 August 2013.
  12. "Air France vol MY – Horaires 1969)—Mali – France – Afrique de l'Ouest" [Air France Flight code MY  – Timetable 1969)—Mali – France – West Africa] (in French).
  13. "World Airline Survey – Air Mali (Société Nationale Air Mali)" (PDF). Flight International: 438. 22 March 1973. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  14. "Air Mali – Horaires été (Valables du 1 juin au 31 octobre 1982)" [Air Mali – Summer timetable (Effective 1 June 1982 – 1982-10-31]. Airline timetable images (in French). Archived from the original on 20 August 2013.
  15. "SubFleets for: Air Mali". AeroTransport Data Bank. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  16. "Accident record for Air Mali". Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  17. Accident description for TZ-ABH at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 31 December 2011.
  18. "Rapport final concernant l'accident survenu le 5 novembre 1966 près d'Esteng (Alpes-Maritimes) à Ilyouchine 14 TZ-ABH" [Final report for the accident of the Ilyushin 14 TZ-ABH occurred on 5 November 1966 at d'Esteng (Maritime Alps)] (PDF) (in French). Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses. 14 May 1970. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  19. Accident description for TZ-ABE at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 31 December 2011.
  20. Accident description for TZ-ACH at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 31 December 2011.
  21. Accident description for TZ-ACT at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 31 December 2011.
  22. Accident description for TZ-ACS at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 31 December 2011.

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