INTERIOR AIRWAYS: United States (1947-1972). lA is formed at Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1947 to offer lightplane charters to various bush destinations, as well as Anchorage. Operations continue with little change for most of the next 20 years. In 1959, the company acquires the first of five Curtiss C-46 Commandos to be received over the next decade; it is placed into all-cargo service and is the largest aircraft in the fleet.
On April 12, 1965, a subsidiary, Interior Air Taxi, begins to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights to local destinations with Beech 18s and Twin Bonanzas. To operate long-haul charters, a Lockheed L-1049H is leased from The Flying Tiger Line on January 21, 1966. The Super Constellation is leased back by the cargo operator for part of 1967.
With the discovery of oil in the state, the company abandons its passenger service in early 1968 and changes its role to that of a heavy cargo operator. In January, the L-1049H is sold back to The Flying Tiger Line. A DHC-6-100 freighter with two crew crashes at Sagwan, Alaska, on September 6; both men are killed.
Interior now gradually disposes of its commuter aircraft and begins to assemble a fleet of Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules freighters.
The pilot of an L-100-20 with four crew loses sight of the runway at Prudhoe Bay while landing in heavy snow on December 24 and crashes (two dead).
The Hercules fleet is complete by 1970-1971, complementing the seven Commando freighters. In 1972, Interior is reformed, becoming a subsidiary of Alaska International Industries, which also supplies its new name, Alaska International Air.
INTERISLAND AIRWAYS, LTD.: P. O. Box 191, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies; Phone (809) 9415481; Fax (809) 941-5481; Http://www. interilandairways. com; Code PLS; Year Founded 1992. Under the direction of Lyndon R. Gardiner, Interisland is established at Providenciales, Grand Turk, in 1992 to offer passenger charters within the Turks and Caicos Islands to Miami or other Caribbean points upon demand. Revenue flights begin with a single Piper PA-23 Aztec.
During the remainder of the decade, the fleet is increased by the addition of another Aztec and a Cessna 421 and a number of unusual charters are provided. Among these are flights to and tours of Grand Caicos, the largest island in the archipelago and the former home of the Arawak Indians. Nature buffs are given the chance to visit North Caicos, the ecology capital of the islands. Flights from Miami to Grand Turk allow visitors a chance to visit the national museum and the shore where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492.
By the beginning of 2000, the Cessna has been replaced with a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain and a homepage has been opened on the Internet’s World Wide Web. Other destinations now visited include Cap Haitien, Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, Inagua, and Santiago de Cuba. Unless in possession of special permits, U. S. citizens are not allowed to fly with the airline to the latter point.
In June, the carrier opens the nation’s first full-service FBO.
INTERJET HELLENIC AVIATION, S. A.: 350 Sygrou Avenue, Kallithea, Athens, G-176 74, Greece; Phone 30 (1) 93 02 151; Fax 30 (1) 93 02 152; Http://www. interjet. gr; Year Founded 1989. Interjet is established at Athens in 1989 as the rotary-wing department of the Interamerican Life Insurance Group. Corporate services are provided with two Eurocopter BO-105s and an AS-355F Twinstar.
A Cessna 560 Citation V bizjet is acquired in 1991 and is employed to inaugurate executive and small group charters throughout Greece. During the remainder of the decade, nonscheduled destinations in southeastern Europe, the Mideast, and North Africa are also visited.
A total of 40 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000, including 12 flight crew.
INTERLINE, LTD.: Unit 5, The Business Centre, Norwich Airport, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 6BS, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (1603) 484 594; Fax 44 (1603) 484 907; Code 5W; Year Founded 1994. Formerly known as Aztec Charter, Ltd., Richard Underwood and Stephen Hatfield set up Interline at Norwich Airport on January 28, 1994 as a scheduled commuter subsidiary of Eagle Aviation, Ltd. Managing Director Underwood and General Manager Hatfield, with a staff of 20 and 2 British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s, launch revenue services to Manchester and Rotterdam the same day.
Operations continue apace in 1995. In January 1996, a Shorts 330 is acquired to launch a new route from Norwich to London (LGW). When this does not immediately prove attractive to customers, the Dash-300 is replaced by a Shorts 360-300 in May.
Scheduled service is discontinued at the end of the summer season. Nonscheduled charters are, however, maintained, including flights to Blackpool and the Isle of Man.
INTERMOUNTAIN AIRWAYS: United States (1977-1978). Intermountain is set up at Boulder, Colorado, in the spring of 1977 to provide scheduled Piper PA-31-310 Navajo services to Durango. The airfield at the latter destination’s Animals Air Park must be employed while the runway of the community airport is lengthened.
Early in 1978, the company is taken over by Rocky Mountain Airways.
World History
