Solenta Aviation
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| Founded | 2002 | ||||||
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| Operating bases |
OR Tambo International Airport Libreville International Airport Oued Irara–Krim Belkacem Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 35 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||||||
| Website | solenta.co.za | ||||||
Solenta Aviation is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with its maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport. The company was founded in 2002[1] and operates cargo flights on regional routes throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa on behalf of DHL Aviation. Solenta Aviation also operates extensively for the oil and gas industry ("OGP"), offering passenger charter, cargo and aircraft lease services.
Operations
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Solenta Aviation has adopted a de-centralized business model, thus being able to offer flexible short-haul cargo flights. From its home and maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport, it operates a number of DHL flights on regional routes to Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe using a fleet of ATR 42 and Cessna 208 Caravan cargo aircraft.[2]
There are several subsidiaries under separate airline licenses:
- In 2006, Solenta Aviation Gabon was set up, which is headquartered at Libreville and operating out of Libreville International Airport, using one ATR 42 and one Beechcraft 1900
- Solenta Aviation Côte d'Ivoire is based in Abidjan and operates two ATR 42 aircraft for DHL Worldwide Express.[3]
- Solenta Aviation Kenya Ltd. operates two cargo configured Cessna 208 Caravan out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi for DHL flights and aircraft lease services.[4]
- Solenta Aviation Zimbabwe operates three Cessna 208 Caravan out of Harare International Airport linking Harare, Kariba, Bumi Hills, Hwange and Victoria Falls.
- Solenta Aviation Mozambique operates an ATR 42-500 (as of August 2016).[5]
Further aircraft of Solenta Aviation are based and operated out of several other airports:
- Three Beechcraft 1900 are stationed at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana for passenger flights for the oil and tourism industries as well as on-demand charters.
- In Erbil, Iraq, one Beechcraft 1900 is based at Erbil International Airport mostly for humanitarian aid missions.
- In Conakry, Guinea, one Beechcraft 1900 is based at Conakry International Airport operated on behalf of a mining company.
- One Beechcraft 1900 is operated for the International Committee of the Red Cross mission in Kabul, Afghanistan.
- Another seven Beechcraft 1900 are operated on behalf of Air Express Algeria out of Oued Irara – Krim Belkacem Airport in Hassi Messaoud.[6]
- One Beechcraft 1900 is operated for the International Committee of the Red Cross mission in Peshawar, Pakistan.[7]
- Two Beechcraft 1900 are operating a network of DHL routes in Zambia and Zimbabwe out of Johannesburg International Airport.[8]
- One ATR 42 is based at Lomé-Tokoin Airport in Lomé, Togo for DHL cargo flights throughout West Africa.[9]
- Two ERJ 145's are operated for 2 oil companies out of Johannesburg International Airport.
Fleet
The Solenta Aviation mainline fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2016):[10]
| Aircraft | In Service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft 1900D | 20[11] | — | ||
| ATR 42-300 | 1 | — | ||
| ATR 42-300F | 3 | — | ||
| ATR 42-500 | 2 | — | ||
| ATR 72-200 | 2 | — | ||
| Embraer ERJ 135LR | 1 | — | ||
| Embraer ERJ 145LR | 4 | — | ||
| Embraer ERJ 135LU | 2 | — | ||
| Total | 35 | |||
The Solenta Aviation mainline fleet previously included the following aircraft (as of October 2011):
Accidents and incidents
On 6 June 2011 at 10:25 local time, an Antonov An-26 (registered TR-LII) ditched into the Gulf of Guinea 2.3 kilometres off Libreville, Gabon. The aircraft was operated by Scorpion Air, a Bulgarian company, under Solenta Aviation Gabon's AOC. It had been on Flight 122A for DHL Aviation from Port Gentil to Libreville.[12][13] The three crew members and one passenger on board received only minor injuries.[12] Prior to the ditching, they had reported hydraulic problems; eyewitness reports suggest that an engine failure may have occurred.[13][14] As a consequence, the Gabonese government declared a temporary ban on aircraft of the types Antonov An-12, An-24 and An-26 in the country, pending the outcome of the investigation into the cause for the crash.[15]
References
- ↑ Solenta Aviation entry at airlineupdate.com
- ↑ Solenta in South Africa
- ↑ Solenta Aviation in Côte d'Ivoire
- ↑ Solenta in Nairobi
- ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2016): 21.
- ↑ Solenta in Algeria
- ↑ Solenta Aviation in Pakistan
- ↑ Solenta in Zimbabwe
- ↑ Solenta in Togo
- ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)". Airliner World (November 2016): 32.
- ↑ "Solenta Aviation fleet details". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- 1 2 "DHL cargo plane crashes in Gabon, no fatalities". BNO News. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- 1 2 Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Solenta AN26 near Libreville on Jun 6th 2011, ditched in the sea". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ↑ Flight 122A at the Aviation Safety Network
- ↑ gaboneco.com: French news article on Flight 122A]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solenta Aviation. |
 Airlines of South Africa | |
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| Major carriers | |
| Regionals | |
| Low Cost Carriers | |
| Air Shuttles | |
| Cargo | |
| Charter |
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| Defunct | |