Kam Air

Kam Air is an airline headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan. It operates scheduled domestic passenger services and regional international services. Kabul International Airport serves as its main hub.[2]

Kam Air
کام ایر
IATA ICAO Callsign
RQ KMF KAMGAR
FoundedAugust 2003
Operating basesKabul International Airport
Secondary hubsKandahar International Airport
Frequent-flyer programGo Orange
Fleet size17
Destinations15
HeadquartersKabul, Afghanistan
Key peopleZmarai Kamgar (Founder & CEO)[1]
Websitewww.kamair.com

History
Kam Air's head offices in Kabul

The airline was founded on 31 August 2003 by Zmarai Kamgar. It was the first privately-owned passenger airline in Afghanistan.[3] Its first flight took off on 8 November 2003 on a route from Kabul to Herat and Mazari Sharif, using a Boeing 727. Kam Air's first plane was provided by General Abdul Rashid Dostum as payment for supplying Dostum's private militia with fuel and food.[4]

Kam Air has its headquarters in Hamid Karzai International Airport Apron C, and "Ticketing Office Kabul Business Centre Ground Floor Charahi Haji Yaqoob Kabul, Afghanistan". At one time it was located in the Kabul Business Centre in Shahr-e-Naw, Kabul, where a ticket office has operated since 2012.[5][6] Zmarai Kamgar is the chairman and chief executive, Farid Peykar the senior vice president, Timor Shahab the vice president and head of flight operations, and Parwiz Kamgar the finance manager.

Kam Air had announced the launch of Europe operations commencing in August 2010, with Vienna to receive service, followed by London (Gatwick).[7] However, according to Reuters, both routes were supposedly cancelled by British and Austrian authorities due to aircraft safety issues. Effective 24 November 2010, all Afghan carriers were banned from flying to the European Union because of the country's poor civilian aviation safety record.[8]

In 2017, the company leased a 737 airliner from Slovakia with a 30 member crew, but the contract was terminated after the leasing company raised issues about safety in Afghanistan.[9] As of January 2018, Kam Air operated 90 percent of domestic flights in Afghanistan, and was one of the biggest taxpayers in the country.[9] As of April 2017, the airline had planned to expand its route network to include Toronto, Vienna, Madrid, Munich, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Mumbai, Cape Town, Hangzhou, Hat Yai, Kuala Lumpur, Washington DC, Jeddah, Jakarta, Kyiv, San Francisco, Moscow and Frankfurt,[10] However as of 17 August 2017 details of this planned expansion have been removed from their website.

Destinations
Main article: List of Kam Air destinations

As of September 2019, Kam Air flies to a total of 15 destinations including 7 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations in 8 countries[11]

Codeshare agreements

Kam Air has codeshares with the following airlines:[12]

Fleet
A Kam Air Airbus A340-300 at Beijing Capital International Airport
As of April 2018, Kam Air is the last known operator of the Boeing 767-200
A Kam Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 at Dubai International Airport

Current fleet

As of August 2019, Kam Air has the following aircraft:[13]

Kam Air fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A340-300 4 1 — 346 346 One for delivery in 2020
ATR 42-500 2 — — 48 48
Boeing 737-300 3 — — 149 149
Boeing 737-400 1 — — 156 156
Boeing 737-500 1 2 — 126 126
Boeing 767-300ER 2 1 18 183 199 Two in storage
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 1 1 — 141 141 One in storage, one for delivery in 2020
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 1 — — 165 165 One in storage
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 2 — — 125 125
Total 17 5

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft:

  • 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82[14]

Accidents and incidents
  • On 3 February 2005, Kam Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-200 operated by Phoenix Aviation, flying from Herat International Airport in western Afghanistan, vanished from radar screens on approach to Kabul International Airport in poor weather. The disappearance sparked a massive ANA search operation for the 96 passengers and 8 crew. The wreckage of the plane was found on 5 February 2005 in the mountains east of Kabul. All 104 people aboard were killed.[15]
  • On 9 August 2009, a Kam Air plane bound for the Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport, China was refused permission to land and diverted to Kandahar International Airport, in southern Afghanistan after an earlier alleged bomb threat.[16][17]
  • On 11 August 2010, Douglas DC-8-63F YA-VIC suffered a tailstrike on take-off from Manston Airport, United Kingdom, destroying an approach light.[18] The aircraft was operating an international cargo flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, via the Cape Verde Islands. The incident was caused by the aircraft being 25,700 pounds (11,700 kg) overweight due to excess fuel load and misestimating of cargo mass. After being informed of the mishap, the crew continued to Cape Verde. An inspection there confirmed the tailstrike, though analysis of the strike indicator showed the plane was still safe. The incident was investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which made various safety recommendations. Kam Air was subsequently banned from operating within the European Union. The three crew involved were also dismissed, and Kam Air announced that it would withdraw its two DC-8s from service.[19]
  • In January 2018, Kam Air reported that nine staff members were killed in a Taliban attack on a hotel in Kabul – seven Ukrainian employees and two Kam air employees from Venezuela.[20] Kam Air had rented 50 rooms for their foreign staff at the hotel, described as one of Kabul's "most heavily guarded."[9] Five were pilots, and four were crew members.[21] Afterwards, over 50 of the airline's foreign workers left the country, and by 26 January, five of its nine aircraft sat idle due to lack of staffing.[9] A large number of daily flights were also being canceled for that reason.[22]
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References
  1. "Kam Air – 404 error". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 99.
  3. China diverts 'bomb threat' plane. Al Jazeera. 9 August 2009.
  4. Portfolio at NYU | Best Of: Lord of the Skies – In war-torn Afghanistan, Zamarai Kamgar has built the only private airline. Archived 26 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Contact Us." Kam Air. Retrieved on 30 January 2012. "Kam Air Head Office Ministry of Foreign Affairs Road Opposit [sic] Chinese Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan" and "Ticketing Office Kabul Business Centre Ground Floor Charahi Haji Yaqoob Kabul, Afghanistan"
  6. ""Contact Us."". Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) Kam Air. Retrieved on 23 September 2009. "Kamair Headquarters Address: 1st Floor, Kabul Business Centre Char Rahi Haji Yaqub, Shah-e-Naw Kabul Afghanistan Afghanistan"
  7. "Kam Air of Afghanistan to start Vienna flights". Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  8. "Europe bans all Afghan airlines from its airspace". Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  9. "Grounded and Gutted, Main Afghan Airline Struggles After Taliban Attack". The New York Times. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  10. "Kam air routes". Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  11. "Kam Air flight schedule". Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  12. "Kam Air profile". CAPA. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  13. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World: 4. October 2019.
  14. "Afghanistan's Kam Air adds first turboprops, ATR42s". ch-aviation.com. 19 November 2018.
  15. Harro Ranter (3 February 2005). "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737–242 EX-037 Kabul". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  16. Afghan plane to Urumqi lands in Kandahar city. Xinhua. 9 August 2009.
  17. China turns back Xinjiang plane. BBC News. 9 August 2009.
  18. Hradecky, Simon (12 May 2011). "Report: Kam Air DC86 at Manston on Aug 11th 2010, tail strike on takeoff". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  19. "YA-VIC" (PDF). Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  20. "Afghan airline struggles after foreign staff killed in hotel raid". Reuters. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  21. "Kam Air Left Reeling by Deadly Kabul Hotel Attack". Gulf Times. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  22. "Afghanistan's Kam Air struggles to stay afloat after deadly Kabul attack". Arab News. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.

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