Air Mauritanie was established in September 1962 (1962-09) as the national airline of the country.[2] Operations started in October the same year,[3] with Spantax leasing DC-3 equipment, and also providing technical assistance.[4] A Nord 262 was ordered in 1965. The airline was reorganised in 1967, and shareholding was divided between the government of Mauritania (60%), Air Afrique (20%) and Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) (20%). Two Ilyushin Il-18s were bought in 1969, with the Soviets providing training and technical assistance; these aircraft were flown to Dakar, Nouadhibou and Las Palmas.[5]
At March 1970 (1970-03), the airline had 120 employees and operated a domestic network plus international services to the Canary Islands and Mali using one DC-3, one DC-4, and an Il-18.[4] In February 1974 (1974-02), a five-year contract was signed with Hughes Airwest for the provision of capacity building of the pilots and mechanics.[2] The number of employees had grown to 170 by March the same year, with a fleet comprising one DC-3, two DC-4s and one Navajo. At this time, Casablanca, Dakar and Las Palmas were part of the airline's list of international destinations, as well as domestic services radiating from Nouakchott and Nouadhibou.[6] That year, the carrier acquired two 40-seater F-227As valued at US$1,100,000 (equivalent to $6,795,951 in 2023) million.[7] In July 1974 (1974-07), the company was reorganised again and renamed Société d'Economie Mixte Air Mauritanie.[8] By March 1975 (1975-03), the government of Mauritania was the major shareholder of the company (60%), with the balance evenly split between Air Afrique and UTA.[2]
Two Fokker F28-4000s entered the fleet in November 1983 (1983-11).[5] These two aircraft made up the fleet in late March 1985 (1985-03); at this time, there were 259 employees.[8] On 1 July 1994, a Fokker F28 was lost in an accident while landing at Tidjikja Airport during a sandstorm.[5] Two ATR 42s were ordered in 1996 for replacement of the Fokker F28 aircraft.[9] These two aircraft were delivered to the company in June and September 1996 (1996-09).[10] Aimed at promoting African integration, Air Mauritanie extended its Nouakchott–Bamako route to the Ivory Coast in November 1999 (1999-11).[11]
Air Mauritanie Fokker F-28 Fellowship
At April 2000 (2000-04), the staff stood at 259. The fleet comprised a single Fokker F28-4000 that served Abidjan, Aioun el Atrouss, Atar, Bamako, Banjul, Casablanca, Dakar, Kiffa, Las Palmas, Nema, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Tidjikja and Zouerate. At this time, Air Afrique had a 20% participation in the airline.[12] In mid-2000, the Pan-African carrier boosted its shareholding in the company to 32%.[13]
Citing security concerns,[14] the United Kingdom banned Air Mauritanie from flying into the country airspace in January 2004 (2004-01).[15] Among other carriers, Air Mauritanie was blacklisted because of the failure of the Mauritanian civil aviation authority to comply with ICAO standards.[16] The economic situation of the carrier entered a steep decline in mid-2005, when the crisis forced the government to replace the airline's Director.[17] It was reported in August 2006 (2006-08) that Royal Air Maroc would take a majority stake (51%) in the airline and to effectively take over its management;[18] at this time, the major stockholders were the Nationale d'assurances et réassurance (40%), the Banque Mauritanienne de Commerce International, Établissements Noueigued, and Star Oil Mauritanie.[19] However, in December 2006 (2006-12), the government of Mauritania created another carrier, Mauritania Airways, with the aid of private Mauritanian investors and Tunisair, which became the major shareholder (51%) of the newly created airline.[20][21]
By 2007, Air Mauritanie was so indebted that in September two aircraft were seized for debts with the leasing company,[22] the International Lease Finance Corporation, followed by the impoundment of the presidential aircraft, a Boeing 727-200.[17] Debts for leasing these three aircraft had risen to US$2,700,000 (equivalent to $3,967,453 in 2023) million.[17] Air Mauritanie ceased operations in September 2007 (2007-09) and was liquidated.[23] Two months later, Mauritania Airways started operations.[20][24]
As of January 2014[update], Air Mauritanie experienced five accidents or incidents, according to Aviation Safety Network. The only event that lead to fatalities occurred on 1994-7-1 during a landing accident.[28] Following is the list of these events.
The aircraft was completing a domestic Nouackchott–Tidjikja scheduled passenger service as Flight 625; the undercarriage failed on landing at Tidjikja Airport, causing the airframe to skid off the runway, crashing into a rock and bursting into flames.
The aircraft was hijacked by Mohamed Abderraman on a flight from Nouakchott to Las Palmas in the Spanish Canary Islands. The hijacker was allegedly seeking political asylum in France. Spain had identified him as a Mauritanian, while Mauritania said he was a Moroccan from the Western Sahara. The aircraft had 71 passengers and 8 crew on board. While explaining to Abderraman that the plane did not have enough fuel to reach France, the captain, Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, discovered Abderraman did not speak French. When the Moroccan government denied the plane's request to land and refuel at Dakhla in the Western Sahara, the pilot decided to continue on to Las Palmas as planned. Afterwards the captain spoke to the first officer Satvinder Virk who was travelling as safety pilot in French, warning him that upon landing he was going to brake hard, to throw the hijacker off balance and give the crew a chance to overpower him. On landing, the captain did so, and the hijacker fell to the floor, dropping one of his pistols. First officer Virk and steward Thiam (entering first and immobilising the hijacker) poured boiling water from the coffee machine on him and beat him until they considered him sufficiently subdued. The hijacker was tied with life-jacket straps and handed over to the Guardia Civil. About twenty passengers were slightly injured when evacuating from the port aft escape slide.
^"Air Transport". Flight International. 105 (3396): 451. 11 April 1974. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Air Mauritanie has bought two 40-seat F-227As with spares from International Air Lease. The aircraft, which cost a total of $1.1 million, will be delivered in May and June and will be the subject of a five-year maintenance support contract with, it is reported, Hughes Air West.
^ abc"Reseau". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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