Royal Hawaiian is founded by Woodson Woods and Johnny Peacock as an FBO, flying school, and charter operation at Kona on April 13, 1965; Robert Haws is named CEO. Nonscheduled local air taxi service flights are also provided around the “Big Island” and on to Honolulu with a fleet of Cessna 310s and 402s.
Scheduled operations are begun in 1966, and will allow the company to later claim for itself the title of Hawaii’s oldest commuter airline. Three years later, in 1969, Royal Hawaiian Airways, a subsidiary of the Delaware-based Lumber Industries, purchases the carrier from its original owners, the Peacock-Woods Corporation, and give it the new name.
ROYAL HAWAIIAN AIRWAYS: United States (1965-1986). Royal Hawaiian Air Service is originally established in April 1965 as a subsidiary of the Peacock-Woods Corporation to provide air taxi flights from a base at Kona. Scheduled flights commence in 1966. The operation is purchased in 1969 by a subsidiary of the Delaware-based Lumber Industries and renamed. Cessna 310 and 402 and de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100 Twin Otter flight-seeing services continue.
During the early 1970s, the number of daily flight schedules is increased as over 40 flight numbers are added, including service to and from Honolulu, Molokai, Kalaupapa, Lanai, Kahului, Kaanapali, Upolu, Hana, Kona, Kamuela, and Hilo. The company’s sight-seeing vacations attract worldwide recognition and by 1974 bookings reach 128,546. The two Twin Otters have by now been retired.
Airline employment in 1975 stands at 97. The company’s 11 Cessna 402s board a total of 139,723 passengers, an 8% increase.
The number of employees is increased by 17% in 1976 to 112 and another Cessna 402 is purchased. Customer bookings balloon 18% to 164,962. Enplanements in 1977 are 185,727.
Another Cessna 402 is delivered in early 1978. Customer bookings increase again, by 12.8% to 209,555. The workforce in 1979 stands at 135 and enplanements climb by 2.2% to 214,080.
Airline employment in 1980 is 143 and President Robert D. Haws’s fleet is expanded to 14 Cessna 402s.
Traffic for the year increases 4.1% as 223,000 passengers are carried. The company is reclassified as a “large regional” under terms of the CAB’s new airline classification scheme.
The entrance of Mid-Pacific Airlines into the interisland market in 1981 sends Royal Hawaiian into a headlong dive.
Passenger boardings are off 18.5%, down to 181,771 and the carrier reels back into the ranks of the “small regionals.” The only highlights of the year are the boarding of the 1.5- millionth passenger and the addition of a 15th Cessna 402.
A 3% traffic increase is recorded in 1982 with 187,252 passengers carried. Orders are placed for two de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300s. Royal Hawaiian is able to climb back into the “large regional” category in 1983 and remain there in 1984. During the former year, boardings accelerate 13.3% to 212,173 and in the latter year the privately held carrier’s 15 402s and 2 new DHC-6-300s carry 202,451 customers, a dip of 4.6%.
The fleet in 1985 includes 14 Cessna 402s and 2 DHC-6-300s. In November, commuter flights are inaugurated linking Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.
Customer bookings rise a very slight 0.7% to 203,801.
In January 1986, the Kaanapali-Mahi hub airport is sold to land developers. The move is fatal for RHAS as the field has long produced most of the large regional’s business and another site is not available. Operations continue until May 22, when the facility is closed; a total of 57,628 passengers are flown during the last five months.
At this point, owner Robert Haws, without the necessity of declaring bankruptcy, liquidates the airline.
ROYAL JORDANIAN AIRLINES: P. O. Box 302, Amman, Jordan; Phone 962 (6) 679 178; Fax 962 (6) 672 527; Http://www. rja. com. jo; Code RJ; Year Founded 1986. In an effort to change direction, broaden appeal, and reduce its traffic downturn, Alia (Royal Jordanian Airlines) is renamed at the end of 1986. As 1987 dawns, the 4,582-employee carrier is into a massive change in corporate identity that includes adoption of a new gold crown insignia, new gray and white aircraft liveries, additional on-board amenities, and first-class sleeperette seats. Sharjah joins the route network and two A310-304s are added to the fleet, beginning in April.
Daily services to Amman from the U. S. are accelerated during the summer, with daily service being added from New York (JFK) and thrice-weekly flights from Chicago and Los Angeles. Additionally, plans are underway for privatization. In August, the management team assisting Sierra Leone Airlines is withdrawn and in September the Boeing 747-2D3B Prince Hamzad is sold for onward lease to British Caledonian Airways, Ltd.
Passenger boardings climb 4.1% to 1,199,100 and freight is up by 18% to 206,000 FTKs. Revenues advance 12.2% to $305.8 million and the operating loss is improved to $11.4 million. There is, however, a net gain of $3.67 million.
Airline employment climbs 5.3% in 1988 to 5,126 as the carrier’s twenty-fifth birthday, albeit under two names, is celebrated. Unable to pay for assistance, Sudan Airways, Ltd. is forced, in February, to cancel its cooperative agreement with the Jordanian airline. Twice-weekly L-1011-500 Amman to Miami service commences on May 3. In June and July, service is initiated to New Delhi and Calcutta and the Miami schedule is revised to allow for twice-weekly flights to the Florida stop from Amman via Vienna.
On July 1, the carrier becomes the first Mideast airline to ban smoking on all of its short-haul flights, notably those between Amman and Aqaba and Damascus. In November, the company enters into a block-space agreement with Air Canada, Ltd. under which the Mideast carrier allocates seats to the Canadians on its new route from Amman to Montreal and later, to Toronto.
A third A310-304 is delivered and the company starts the process of privatization.
Customer bookings swell 4.1% to 1,225,934 and cargo jumps 8.2% to 201.53 million FTKs. Revenues ascend 7.6% to $216.8 million and the operating loss is cut to $3.1 million. Net income dips to $3.39 million.
The payroll is cut by 4.9% in 1989 to 4,876 and the last B-747-2D3BC, Prince Ali, is sold. During the spring, the technical base at Amman begins doing certification checks on four Air France A310s. Twice-weekly nonstop flights begin in August from Amman to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore. Service is also inaugurated to Ankara, Jakarta, and Colombo. In November, President/CEO Ali Ghandour is removed and replaced by his deputy, Husam Abu Ghazaleh.
Still, passenger boardings slide 1.8% to 1,203,776. Freight, however, inches its way up by 2.4% to 206.45 million FTKs.
Company employment remains unchanged in 1990. The first A320-211 is delivered in April and is christened Cairo. Also during the fourth month, joint services begin with Tarom (Transporturile Aeriene Ro-mane) on a route between Amman and Bucharest.
During the spring, a cooperative agreement is signed with Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines) and under it, 12 pilots and 4 flight engineers are seconded to the Saudi carrier in May. Also in May, a contract is signed with the Caribbean carrier Seagreen Air Transport for B-707 maintenance.
In June, Garuda Indonesia leases an L-1011 for three months to operate flights from Jakarta, Bali, and Hong Kong. During July, plans are made by President/CEO Ghazaleh’s carrier to convert several TriStars into freighters. At the same time, construction is begun on a new maintenance hangar at Amman.
The crisis in the Gulf that erupts following Iraq’s August invasion of Kuwait has a strong impact upon the airline. With Jordan providing support to its aggressive neighbor at the same time as Allied forces are gathering in Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield, the company sees a steady downturn, operating from its homeland only through November.
Prohibitively high insurance premiums now force the airline to move most of its fleet to a temporary hub at Vienna. The service to Amman from Austria is operated by B-727-2B6As, which are not allowed to stay overnight at Amman, but must work out of Larnaca, Cyprus; the cost is, in insurance alone, $30,000 per plane per day. To help offset costs, the airline undertakes charter flights for the International Organization for Migration, taking refugees to the Philippines and Bangladesh. Services to Chicago are suspended.
During the year’s first 11 months, Royal Jordanian transports a total of 910,367 passengers, a decline of 19.1% from the previous year. Freight traffic, however, grows by 8.6% to 205.95 million FTKs.
The payroll is increased to 5,000 in 1991. Twelve charter flights are made between Amman and Hanoi January 2-8, transporting 2,860 passengers. Early in the year, paying travelers are assessed insurance surcharges of up to $400 per ticket. Routes to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami must be closed, in addition to the previously ended Kuwait and Baghdad runs. Jordan’s support for Iraq during the UN’s Operation Desert Storm in February brings a traffic decline of 85.3% over the same period a year earlier.
At the end of the war, King Hussein recommends that Royal Jordanian be privatized as quickly as possible; the airline, meanwhile, begins a cost-cutting program designed to end financial difficulties. Staff reductions and aircraft delivery deferrals occur, coupled with the lease of an L-1011 to Sudan Airways, Ltd. A second weekly flight to New York is initiated on March 19 and by midyear the company is able to resume service to all points of its pre-Gulf crisis route network. It even increases frequencies to New York to six a week, while also restarting the flights to Beirut that were suspended years earlier.
Still, as might be expected, a significant downturn occurs in overall traffic statistics. Customer bookings decline another 25.4% to 646,890 and cargo plunges 31.8% to 126.89 million FTKs. Income exceeds expenses and there is an operating profit of $30.2 million. Unhappily, there is also a net loss of $56.7 million.
The employee population falls 1.3% in 1992 to 4,717. The company recovers from the Gulf crisis and resumes services to Athens. In May, Amman-New York B-707F frequencies are doubled from one to two per week. New frequencies are initiated to Aden, Jakarta, and Berlin.
Passenger boardings increase 38% to 1,129,315 while freight advances 6.9% to 193.06 million FTKs. Revenues swell 19.7% to $378.1 million and allow an operating surplus of $48.4 million. There is a net loss of $16.5 million.
In 1993, President/CEO Mahmoud Jamal Balqez oversees a workforce of 5,000, up 6% from the previous year. The leased fleet now includes 4 A310-304s, 2 A320-211s, 5 L-1011-500 TriStars, 2 B-727-2D3As, and 1 each B-707-324C, B-707-365C, and B-707-384C. Service is resumed to Chicago in June and in July a contract is signed with Alyemda Yemen Airlines to maintain that carrier’s two A310-204s.
Customer bookings jump 7.2% to 1,188,799 while cargo swells 23.7% to 217.8 million FTKs. Revenues total $407.48 million and expenses are sufficiently low to allow an operating profit of $52.13 million and a net profit of $1.32 million.
While there are no changes in the employee base during 1994, initial steps toward privatization now begin. During a Washington summit between King Hussein and Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in late July, Jordan and Israel agree in principle to give each other over-flight rights. In the first test of the new policy, the monarch personally pilots a company L-1011-500, escorted by Israeli fighter planes, over Tel Aviv on August 3.
Meanwhile, since its creation in 1963, the carrier has lost, by July, a total of 134 million dinars and its debt stands at JD 579 million against assets of JD 534 million. The company’s capital will be increased from JD 22 million ($32 million) to JD 57 million when the government settles part of the foreign debt, for an equivalent amount of U. S. dollars, defining the expenditure as a capital investment in the airline. About JD 100 million owed to local banks and the Jordanian Petrol Refinery Corp. are rescheduled.
Traffic figures are released through June and show passenger boardings up by 5.8% to 686,000, but freight down by 0.6% to 119.54 million FTKs. With the rest of the year also down, revenues decline 4.4% to $310.31 million, while expenses swell 3.9% to $369.92 million. The operating gain drops to $20.38 million and there is a huge $44.12-million net loss.
Again in 1995, no changes are made in the employee base. Late in the year, arrangements are made to lease a pair of Airbus A310-302s from Air Algerie (Societe Nationale de Transport et Travail Aeriens, S. A.).
Traffic figures once more are given only for the first 6 months and show enplanements up 2.4% to 588,000. Cargo is down 9.4% during the same period to 93.83 million FTKs.
The workforce grows 8.8% in 1996 to 5,438. The feeder subsidiary Royal Wings is established on January 1 and begins revenue services on February 10 with a single de Havilland Canada DHC-8-300. Destinations visited on behalf of the parent include Aqaba, Haifa, Sharm el Sheikh, and Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv’s Rehov Shalom Aleichem takes on a festive air on April 8, as a Jordanian folklore group entertains local residents and visiting tourists with a selection of music and dancing to mark the opening of the first Royal Jordanian office there. Nader Dehabi, president and chief executive officer of the Jordanian airline, whose subsidiary Royal Wings made its maiden commercial flight to Israel a few days earlier, stresses that Royal Jordanian is interested in cooperation, rather than competition with El Al Israel Airlines, Ltd. Employing the leased Algerian Airbuses, the company inaugurates daily commercial air service between Jordan and Israel on May 25 in association with El Al Israel Airlines, Ltd.
Customer bookings rise 2.5% on the year to 1,302,375. Although a small $3.51-million operating profit is enjoyed, a large $48.75-million net loss must also be absorbed.
The employee population is cut 8.3% in 1997 to 5,128. Agovernment committee, chaired by the prime minister, is established in early spring to look into the possibilities of restructuring and privatizing the airline. At the end of the year, five L-1011-500s are sold to American Trans-Air(ATA).
Weekly Saturday roundtrips from Chicago to Amman via Detroit and Amsterdam commence on May 31; the Detroit stop will continue through September 6. Meanwhile, the five-times-a-week departures from New York for Amman are advanced in frequency to daily.
After a seven-year lapse, service from Amman to Kuwait City is resumed on July 9 with twice-weekly roundtrip flights.
According to the August 8 issue of Jordan’s Al-Aswag newspaper, the number of passengers carried by Royal Jordanian from Amman to Tel Aviv during the first 6 months of the current year totals 9,066, with an aircraft occupancy rate of 52%.
A code-sharing agreement is begun with Trans World Airlines (TWA) in November. Under its terms, the American major is able to place its two-letter designator on Royal Jordanian flights from New York to Amsterdam and Amman. With this agreement, TWA has become the only U. S. airline offering direct service between New York, Holland and Jordan.
On the year as a whole, passenger boardings accelerate 4.2% to 1,353,427, while freight, on the other hand, falls 8.6% to 271.02 million FTKs. Operating revenues advance 1.9% to $396.37 million, while expenses are $384.49 million. The operating profit improves to $11.88 million (later reduced to $8.85 million), while the net gain is $ 67.07 million.
On January 26, 1998, Trans World Airlines (TWA) seeks to expand its dual-designator service with Royal Jordanian. The proposed growth will allow TWA to add codes on Royal Jordanian flights from Amman to Manama in Bahrain, Karachi, Calcutta, and New Delhi. Royal Jordanian will be able to add its codes to TWA flights from New York to Cleveland, New Orleans, St. Louis, and San Francisco.
Employing A310-302s, the company, on June 16, resumes direct return service to Tehran, twice weekly.
Also in June, a letter of intent is signed with American Trans-Air for the sale of five L-1011-500s, plus a stock of spare parts. The jetliners will be integrated into the fleet of the U. S. charter carrier over the next 18 months.
A block-seat, code-sharing pact with Air Canada, Ltd. takes effect on July 2. The Canadian company purchases space on the Jordanian company’s four weekly roundtrips between London (LHR) and Amman, while Royal Jordanian sells seats on Air Canada flights from London (LHR) to Montreal and Toronto.
A formal purchase agreement with American Trans Air is signed on August 4 for the five TriStars; the first is now scheduled to be placed into service by the American operator in early December.
It is announced on October 27 that the carrier will begin twice-weekly nonstop return flights on January 17 from Amman to Chicago (ORD) via Shannon, Ireland. The company’s current stop at Amsterdam will be eliminated.
The conclusion of the year and the beginning of the next is, for employees of the airline around the world, just as emotional for them as for the citizens of Jordan as a whole. King Hussein, who had been taken to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, aboard a company aircraft, has spent the year battling lymphatic cancer. As the year ends, it appears the monarch, who has often piloted Royal Jordanian jetliners, may be sufficiently recovered to return home.
Customer bookings during the 12 months decline by 12.3% to 1.18 million, while cargo traffic drops 19.1% to 216.21 million FTKs. Revenues are off 21.5% to $348.49 million, while costs also drop, by 25.7%, to $323.26 million. Although a $25.23-million operating profit is gained, the net profit plummets to just $7.01 million.
On January 19, 1999, an L-1011 flies King Hussein and his royal party back to Queen Alia International Airport at the edge of Amman, from which he and they ride through the city in triumph.
After naming his eldest son, Abdullah, as his successor on January 22, King Hussein and Queen Noor suddenly fly back to Minnesota aboard the same Lockheed that had brought them to Amman days earlier. The ruler must undergo an emergency bone marrow transplant operation in hopes of reversing his suddenly rampant disease. The procedure, performed on February 2, is not successful and Hussein orders himself flown back to Jordan on February 4 so that he might die at home. King Hussein passes away on February 7.
Despite the death of King Hussein, company offices in Tel Aviv remain open for business. A book of condolences is, however, placed out where visitors can register their comments daily through February 12.
On March 15, the carrier and Air Canada, Ltd. announce plans to extend their successful dual designator service between Canada and Amman from March 28 until October 30.
The new service with Air Canada, Ltd. begins as advertised on March 28 and features five flights a week from Toronto and Montreal to Amman via London (LHR). Under the agreement, Air Canada offers customers originating from Canada economy-class seats on Royal Jordanian flights from London (LHR) to Amman. Conversely, Royal Jordanian customers have access to Hospitality Class seats on Air Canada flights from London (LHR) to Montreal and Toronto. Coordinated schedules ensure fast, convenient, same-terminal connections at Heathrow Airport.
Following the lifting of the UN embargo on air travel to Libya at the end of March, Royal Jordanian resumes flights to Tripoli and Benghazi on April 20.
Passenger boardings jump 5.5% to 1,252,000. Revenues of just under $360 million are generated and a net gain of $34 million is reported.
Airline employment stands at 3,500 at the beginning of 2000, down from 5,500 at the start of 1994.
A weekly dedicated roundtrip B-707F freight service is inaugurated on January 7 from Amman to Montreal (YMQ).
During the first quarter, significant progress is made toward cutting costs. Unprofitable routes to Canada and Iran are dropped and offices at Paris and Geneva are combined, as are those in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and those in Calcutta, New Delhi, and Bombay.
The March 30 issue of the Al-Ittihad newspaper reports that the Israeli government has begun subsidizing up to 50% of the cost of tour packages for those Israeli citizens wishing to visit various approved Arab countries, particularly Qatar and Oman, in cooperation with selected foreign tourist agencies. Royal Jordanian and El Al Israel Airlines, Ltd. immediately begin to compete for this new Jewish business, with the latter cutting its tariffs by up to a third.
It is reported that, as of April 30, the carrier’s debt has dropped from over $1 billion in 1995-1999 to just $150 million. Managing Director Nader A-Dhahabi also discloses that, following 10 consecutive years of loss, his airline earned a net profit of $36 million for the first quarter. A-Dhahabi’s figures are contained in a May 1 interview that will finally be printed by Al-Quds on November 13. In the same interview, the managing director reveals that the decision to privatize the company taken the previous year has yet to receive parliamentary approval. The carrier has, however, accepted a study on recommended structural reorganization prior to privatization commissioned from Andersen Consulting.
In accordance with the Andersen study, plans have been laid for the sale or conversion into independent government corporations of five noncore airline divisions, including training, catering, engine overhaul, engineering maintenance, and the duty-free shops at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport.
Desperate to reach Germany, Syrian Mahmoud Rizq Deeb yanks a grenade and a pistol from the carry-on bags of his 2 young children on board Flight 435, an A320-212 with 12 crew and 84 passengers en route from Amman to Damascus on July 5. Some 20 minutes into the service, on which Deeb’s brother is also a passenger, the man walks out of economy class into first class, screams at a flight attendant, and sprays the ceiling with gunfire. Deeb moves toward the cockpit and rolls a grenade down the isle, which explodes, wounding 15 people; the man is unable to reach the flight crew before he is shot and killed by security guards. Although the grenade explosion blows a hole in the floor of the aircraft, it does not prevent a safe emergency landing back at the point of origin.
The duty-free shops at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport are sold to a Spanish operator in August. Also in August, the Jordanian Parliament approves an annulment of the 1963 law forming Royal Jordanian as a public corporation. The new act allows the carrier to be transformed into a private concern wholly owned by the government, the first stage required for eventual privatization.
Two A310-203s are wet-leased to Jamahiriya Libyan Arab Airlines in early October.
A company aircraft transports Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb to Baghdad on November 1, the first trip into Iraq by any Arab official of his rank since 1990. The trip is condemned in certain Western circles, but applauded throughout the Arab world.
Flight 604, an A320-200 en route from Amman to Abu Dhabi, is forced to make an emergency landing in Kasim, at Buraida Airport, Saudi Arabia, on November 6 due to a bomb threat. At the same time, another threat causes Flight 606, a A320-212 flying from Amman to Doha, to return to its point of origin. Former Royal Jordanian pilot Fakhri Ahmad Mahoud Humaiti is arrested by police and charged in the incidents.
Charter flights that have not operated for over a decade are restarted on November 30 between Amman and Baghdad. Airline officials are careful to point out that these flights do not represent a resumption of “scheduled” services, but are for humanitarian purposes. The A310-304, which had departed the Jordanian capital with UN approval and 19 passengers, returns from Iraq on December 1 bringing 20 riders. The adventure is reported for the BBC by reporter Barbara Plett, who is on the flight, and is archived on the news organization’s Web site.
ROYAL NEPAL AIRLINES CORPORATION: P. O. Box 401, RNAC Building, Katipath, Kathmandu, 711000, Nepal; Phone 977 (1) 220757; Fax 977 (1) 225348; Http://www. royalnepal. com; Code RA; Year Founded 1958. When an Indian Airlines Corporation contract expires in 1958, the Kingdom of Nepal and several private investors form this small national carrier on July 1 to take over domestic service. The act establishing the company gives it three major goals: (1) manage air transport services within and outside the Kingdom of Nepal in a safe, efficient, economical, and proper manner; (2) ensure maximum profitability as well as provide air services at economical fares as far as possible; (3) diversify air services. A single Douglas DC-3 is made available and the initial workforce totals 97. Flights commence on July 3 from Katmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport to four domestic destinations.
Under terms of a new Indian Airlines Corporation regional contract, routes are extended from Kathmandu to New Delhi, Calcutta, and Patna in 1959. The government of Nepal assumes full ownership on October 12. In 1960, sufficient Nepalese personnel are available to assume most flight and ground positions. In January, the company assumes the international route to Patna.
A DC-3 with four crew fails takeoff from Bairihawa, Nepal, on November 5 and crashes; there are no survivors.
During 1961-1963 , the fleet grows to include 12 aircraft and the work force rises to 434. Services to Delhi and Calcutta begin during the former year. A DC-3 with four crew and six passengers disappears on a flight to New Delhi on August 1, 1962; the wreckage is found near Tu-lachan Dhuri the next day and there are no survivors. A new hangar is built at Katmandu during the latter year.
Enplanements in 1964 total 100,000 and revenues are $1.46 million.
In 1965-1967, the employee population rises to 720 and the fleet is strengthened through the addition of a Fokker F.27-100 Friendship and a STOL-capable de Havilland Canada DHC-6-100. The carrier begins to receive aid from the UN Development Fund (UNDP), administered by ICAO, for the training of personnel and the buildup of infrastructure.
Domestic services increase 36% in 1968 and international 17% for a systemwide total of 167,599 boardings. Helicopter service is inaugurated into remote areas. Revenues total $1.46 million.
A new headquarters is opened at Kathmandu in 1969. While flying over a cloud-covered 7,300-ft. ridge on July 12, a DC-3 with 4 crew and 31 passengers collides with a tree at Hitauda, Nepal; the wreckage is found the next day and there are no survivors.
Reflecting the conflict of differing political influences on the country, the fleet during 1970 comes to feature several Russian aircraft, as well as 2 Hawker Siddeley HS 748s (known as Avro 748s), 6 DC-3s, and 1 Fokker F.27-100.
While on final approach to Delhi from Kathmandu on January 25, an F.27-200 with 5 crew and 18 passengers encounter bad weather and turbulence that result in a crash short of the runway (1 dead).
A technical and management contract is signed with Air France on July 13; the arrangement will eventually allow the carrier to inaugurate international services.
With the two Avro 748s operating the major domestic services, the company acquires several more DHC-6 Twin Otters and two Pilatus PC-6 Porters with which to inaugurate flights to such mountainous destinations as Lukla and Syangboche. DHC-6 flights commence in August, followed by the Porters in November.
Operations continue apace in 1971-1972, with management provided by Air France under a three-year contract. The first jetliner, a B-727-1F8, arrives via the French major in June of the latter year and in a September 10 ceremony, Nepalese religious leaders slaughter goats and sprinkle their blood in the cockpit for good luck. The Boeing, christened Yeti, pioneers a route to New Delhi five days later. A DC-3 with 31 aboard crashes in the Katmandu Valley on September 13 of the latter year; there are no survivors.
On June 10, 1973, three armed men hijack a Twin Otter en route from Biratnagar to Katmandu and after forcing the aircraft to land at
Forbesganj, India, escape with $400,000 in Nepalese bank funds that were being shipped.
The Air France contract is completed on October 31.
During 1974-1976, airline employment grows to 922. Chairman/ Managing Director B. B. Pradhan’s fleet is expanded and improved as the DC-3s and F.27 are retired in favor of a Boeing 727-1FS purchased new, a B-727-116C acquired from LanChile Airlines, S. A., two more Avro 748-B2s, nine additional DHC-6-300s, and two Pilatus Porters. The latter begin a special new domestic service on October 31, 1975 to
10 communities above the 6,000-ft. level.
Employing an Aerospatiale AS.332 Puma, the company inaugurates rotary-wing flights on January 31, 1977, to Tiger Tops National Park south of Kathmandu. Direct trijet service from Kathmandu to Colombo, Sri Lanka, begins on March 16; the route is the company’s first significant international aerial highway. A technical, management, and marketing agreement is now signed with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. As part of the deal, RNAC, in the fall, is able to begin pooled service, aboard German aircraft, to Frankfurt.
The domestic network is increased during 1978-1982 to 37 points in
11 districts and pooled international routes are opened to Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Karachi, and Rangoon. The Hong Kong route allows transport for the large number of Gurkha soldiers based there with the British army. Management and technical assistance continues to be provided by Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., now joined by Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd.
Enplanements total 163,473 in 1983. The workforce grows 1.8% in 1984 to 1,858. Service is extended to Singapore and Dubai.
Badly off course in foul weather on December 22, a DHC-6-300 with 3 crew and 20 passengers crashes near Bhojpur, Nepal (15 dead).
Customer bookings for the year dip 6.3% to 153,784. Service during the latter year is extended to Singapore and Dubai and the workforce grows 1.8% to 1,858.
The fleet in 1985 includes 3 B-727-100s, 3 Avro 748-B2s, 9 DHC-6-300s, and 2 Pilatus Porters. In March, B. R. Singh succeeds B. B. Prad-han as managing director.
Another DHC-6-300 is added in 1986 and orders are placed for two B-757-200s; the $110-million request is Nepal’s biggest ever trade contract. One will be purchased with a commercial loan and the other through a lease-purchase deal; both arrangements are handled by France’s Credit Lyonnais.
While landing at Safebagar on May 3, a DHC-6-300 turboprop with 3 crew and 15 passengers is destroyed when it encounters windshear 100 ft. over the runway; there are no fatalities.
Flights continue apace in 1987, with the first B-757-2F8 delivered in October. With fuel costs in land-locked Nepal averaging $10 per gallon due Indian-imposed border restrictions, jetliners on shorter foreign routes load maximum fuel before leaving regional destinations for Kathmandu. Upon reaching the Nepalese capital, surplus fuel is unloaded for use by the fleet’s turboprops on domestic flights and the jetliners are left with only sufficient fuel to reach the first foreign airport on their next scheduled route. Under an arrangement with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., a two-year, pooled route is launched between Nepal and Frankfurt.
The first traffic figures in three years are released this year and show overall bookings of 330,551.
UNDP funding for the 1988 totals $1.5 million. The fleet now includes 1 B-757-2F8,2 B-727s, 3 Avro 748-B2s, 8 Twin Otters, and 3 Pilatus Porters. B-727-100 charter service is extended, with a large number of flights to Nagoya, Japan; a series of “mountain flights” are introduced, with frequencies of up to three per day depending upon the season, over the Himalayas. The sight-seeing aircraft make left and right circuits over such famous peaks as Everest and Annapurna, allowing good views for passengers and shots for photographers.
Employing a B-707 leased from CAAC (General Administration of Civil Aviation of China), the company flies 44 passengers on its inaugural shared charter service from Kathmandu to Lhasa, Tibet, on April 4. The Nepalese flag carrier undertakes the 50-min. return route every
Wednesday and the Chinese carrier each Saturday. These flights will continue to be provided annually from April to October, although Royal Nepal will substitute its B-727-1F8.
On June 11, customs officials at Kathmandu confiscate an illegal shipment of gold worth more than Rs 100 million from a chartered company aircraft. The British Gurkhas cargo flight had arrived with the undeclared booty in boxes weighing 194 kilos and 570 grams, respectively.
The second Boeing 757-2F8C arrives in September; it is the first B-757 combi built and is christened Gandaki.
The 1,879-employee airline enjoys enplanements of 597,745, a 16% increase.
The workforce is increased to 2,500 in 1989 and the fleet now includes the 2 newly delivered B-757-2F8s plus 10 Twin Otters, 3 Avro 748-2Bs (1 in service), and 2 Pilatus Porters. The year’s big event is the inauguration of Boeing service to London in September, as an extension of the Frankfurt route. Also, an agreement is signed with Royal Brunei Airlines for the technical support of the carrier’s B-757s.
During the year, the company is reorganized into separate international and domestic divisions, with the latter headed by Deputy Managing Director G. R. Rajbahak. Pooled B-707-3J6C flights operated with Air China International Corporation between Kathmandu and Lhasa are suspended in November.
Enplanements for the year total 610,000, a 2.1% increase, and revenues are $54.3 million. Profits are generated: $17 million (operating) and $2.06 million (net).
In 1990, airline employment at Managing Director Singh’s carrier totals 2,500 and the route network includes 38 domestic destinations and 10 foreign destinations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Joint services with Air China International Corporation between Nepal and Lhasa are resumed in March. Flights begin to Paris.
The fleet in 1991 includes 1 each B-727-1F8, B-727-116C, B-757-2F8, and B-757-2F8C, 8 DHC-6-300s, 2 Harbin Yu-12Hs, 2 Avro 748-2As, and 2 748-2AFs.
Following an unstabilized approach to Lukla from a June 9 Kathmandu service, a DHC-6-300 with 3 crew and 14 passengers crashes on the runway; although the aircraft is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
A total of 644,509 passengers are carried on the year and revenues reach $110 million.
In 1992, the Harbins and Avro 748-2Bs are placed out of service, the latter temporarily. Charter flights to Japan now average 12 to 15-per-year while service to Europe is weekly, a single route from Nepal to London via Dubai, Frankfurt, and Paris.
During its takeoff run from Jumla on July 5, a DHC-6-300 with three crew veers right and runs off the runway and into the perimeter fence; although the aircraft is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
ADC-8-72 is leased during October while the B-757-2F8C is away at Brunei for its 16,000-hr. maintenance check. Late in the year, a new Twin Otter hangar is opened at Nepalgunj, in the western part of the country. The government now announces a policy of domestic liberalization that will allow the formation of new airlines.
Managing director Pradeep Raj Pandey oversees a workforce of 2,200 in 1993 and increases his fleet by the addition of a B-757-2F8C and a leased Airbus Industrie A310-304, the latter arriving at Kathmandu in December. Destinations visited from Kathmandu now include, in addition to 37 domestic stops: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, London, Paris, and Frankfurt.
Operations continue apace in 1994 and following the opening of Osaka’s new international airport (KIX) in September, twice-weekly flights are inaugurated to Japan.
Flight 133, a DHC-6-300 with 3 crew and 21 passengers, fails its takeoff from Kathmandu on January 17, 1995, for a service, hits the perimeter fence, and plunges into a field (2 dead).
Many of the domestic stops are lost to competing Necon Air, Ltd. and Nepal Airways, Ltd. and two of the Avro 748s are withdrawn. Smoking is banned on the airline’s Kathmandu-Bangkok-Singapore flights. Additionally, it is forbidden on all domestic services and to flights into India.
Flights continue in 1996 with the company increasingly emphasizing its international services. New routes are inaugurated to Shanghai and Osaka. At the request of the World Health Organization, the carrier prohibits smoking on its Frankfurt to London and Frankfurt to Paris European segments.
Just after landing on the rain-soaked grass airstrip at Meghauli following an April 25 service from Kathmandu, an HS 748-2B with 4 crew and 27 passengers, runs off the runway into drainage ditches, losing its nose landing gear. There are no fatalities.
Destinations visited in 1997-1998 include Bangkok, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Osaka, Shanghai, Singapore, and 30 local points.
A one-year ACMI wet-lease contract is signed with China Southwest Airlines Company, Ltd. on March 8, 1999. Under its terms, China Southwest will fly a B-757-2Z0 on behalf of the Nepalese on routes from Kathmandu to Singapore, Hong Kong, New Delhi, and London.
Protesting the Chinese contract, company pilots go out on strike on March 14, grounding the airline. The flyers demand that the carrier cancel its foreign deal and purchase an aircraft to be flown by local crews.
The Home Ministry, indicating that air transport is an “essential service” that comes under the regulations of the nation’s essential services law, orders the pilot strike halted eight days later. Royal Nepal Managing Director Singh requires his pilots to return to their cockpits or forfeit their jobs.
Service continues in 2000.
During its descent into Dhangarhi in rain and poor visibility on July 27 service from Bajang, a Twin Otter with 3 crew and 22 passengers hits a row of pine trees on high ground 4,300 ft. up in the Dharampani Hills, 450 mi. W of Katmandu near the remote village of Jogbudha, catches fire and crashes. There are no survivors.
A problem often reported during the years at Katmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport continues into the fall-huge vultures attracted to the garbage dumps around the field. After two accidents involving the giant birds occur within 24 hours during the second week of October, authorities on October 20 order the airport closed indefinitely while hunters are recruited to shoot as many vultures as possible. Although many birds are destroyed, the refuse piles remain.
Twice-weekly B-757-2F8 roundtrip service is inaugurated on October 29 between Kathmandu and Bangalore, India. The airline is authorized by the Indian government to transport 6,000 people a week between the 2 cities. Speaking in Bangalore on November 3, RNA Chairman Hari Bhakta Shrestha indicates that he will seek an upgrade to 10,000 a week.
As the year ends, Royal Nepal operates not only within Nepal but offers 12 weekly roundtrips from Kathmandu to Delhi, 3 to Bombay, and 2 each to Calcutta and Bangalore. Plans are in place for the initiation of new direct return service from Kathmandu to Ahmedabad early in 2001.
ROYAL PHNOM PENH AIRWAYS COMPANY, LTD: No. 209, 19th Street, Phnom Penh, 12206, Cambodia; Phone (855) 23 216 487 Fax (855) 23 217 420; Http://www. babysosoft. com/kohkong/phno-mair. html; Year Founded 1999. Royal Phnom Penh Airways Company, Ltd. is established as a tourist airline on October 29, 1999 by Prince Norodom Chakrapong, son of King Norodom Sihanouk. The owner is also chairman/CEO. He had previously served as deputy prime minister, civil aviation minister, and CEO of Kampuchea Airlines (1).
During the spring of 2000, two Antonov An-24Bs are leased from Nizhegorad Airlines (Nizhegorodskie Avialinii). A complement of Russian pilots and flight engineers redundant to the bankrupt Russian carrier are seconded out as well.
The first of the new aircraft is employed to inaugurate daily return service for the airline’s namesake city to Siem Reap and Battambang. When the second An-24 becomes available, thrice-weekly flights are offered to Stung Treng, Koh Kong, and Sihanoukville, with special flights to Mondulkiri on Mondays and Rattanakiri on Sundays. The company employs three flight crews, two Cambodian and one Russian.
In July, plans are announced for the initiation of a new international return service from Bangkok to Siem Reap via Phnom Penh on October 15. It is also hoped that weekly flights from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City can be started by the end of January.
During the fall, work begins on a company-owned airport at Poi Pet District in Banteay Meanchey Province on the border between Cambodia and Thailand.
The inauguration of the roundtrip route to Thailand is delayed until December 28; employing a Yakovlev Yak-42D, the airline begins the service thrice weekly. It is anticipated that weekly roundtrips to Ho Chi Minh City will commence in mid-January.
World History
