NSAE is founded in 1993 at Neriyungri in the Republic of Sakha Yuku-tiya of the new CIS, as the national flag carrier. V. A. Ganchuk is appointed general director and he begins international and regional passenger flights with a fleet of 4 Tupolev Tu-154Bs.
Although schedules are maintained over most of the next four years, the company is unable to survive the Russian currency crisis of 1998 and shuts down before the end of that year.
NETHERLINES, B. V.: The Netherlands (1984-1991). Leen P. Jans-son sells his construction concern and begins this regional airline late in 1984; four BAe Jetstream 31s are acquired. Picking up routes from Lux-air, S. A. and NLM Cityhopper, B. V., revenue flight operations begin on January 8, 1985 from Amsterdam Schipol Airport to nine points in Holland, England, Austria, Luxembourg, France, and West Germany. A fifth Jetstream 31 is delivered in December.
Start-up costs bring a loss of $1.2 million during the first full year of operations.
Another Jetstream 31 is delivered in the spring of 1986, making the carrier the largest operator of the plane outside of the U. S. In April, Eindhoven-Vienna flights begin. Destinations now visited include Amsterdam, Birmingham, Cologne, Enschede, Groningen, London (CTN), Luxembourg, Munster, and Strasbourg.
Flights to Southampton begin in 1987, with Henk Roos becomes managing director in November. When, in April 1988, management of the company is taken over by the KLM (Royal Dutch Airline, N. V.) subsidiary NLM Cityhopper, B. V., A. J. Leyer is appointed managing director. The fleet is now altered by the replacement of two Jetstream 31s with six new SAAB 340As.
Replacement service on behalf of the major is inaugurated to Malmo, Sweden, in July 1989. In April 1991 , the two subsidiaries are combined into KLM CityHopper, B. V.
NEVADA AIR LINES: United States (1929-1930). Set up at Reno by famed aviator Roscoe Turner in the spring of 1929, NAL is equipped with 4 Lockheed Model 5 Vegas that are employed to inaugurate scheduled, multistop passenger service to Los Angeles on May 1. Without a mail contract, the carrier is unable to generate sufficient revenue traffic to continue operations beyond February 1930.
NEVADA AIRLINES: United States (1971-1980). NA is established at Las Vegas in 1971 to offer scheduled third-level passenger and cargo flights; officers include a number of former Scenic Airlines officials. Revenue services are inaugurated on January 1 to Reno via Tonopah and to Hawthorne. Sight-seeing flights are also conducted to the Grand Canyon. Initial frequencies are provided with a pair of Cessna 402s and a Douglas DC-3.
Operations continue apace in 1972-1977, during which years the company adds Carson City to its route network and another Douglas transport and a Martin 4-0-4 to its fleet.
The company transports 39,064 passengers in 1978.
In 1979, two more Cessna 402s and two additional Douglas transports are acquired.
On November 16, Flight 2504, a chartered Martin 4-0-4, loses power in one of its two engines and collides with terrain 753 ft. past the end of the runway, just after takeoff from Grand Canyon, Arizona. The 3 crew and 41 passengers are safely evacuated before a post-impact fire destroys the aircraft.
Unable to overcome concerns raised during a FAA safety check following the accident, the carrier is forced to fold its wings in June 1980.
NEVIS EXPRESS, LTD.: Newcastle Airport, Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis; Phone (869) 469-9755; Fax (869) 469-9751; http:// Www. nevisexpress. com; Code D4; Year Founded 1993. NE is set up
At Nevis, in the Leeward Islands, late in December 1993 by former Alaskan bush pilot Allen Haddadi. A Pilatus Britten-Norman PBN-2 is acquired and christened Express One. It is employed to inaugurate an air bridge shuttle to nearby Saint Kitts.
In addition to President/CEO Haddadi, airline employment in 1994-1997 stands at 10, including 3 additional pilots, 2 engineers, and 6 customer service agents.
The number of daily frequencies between the 2 islands is increased to 14 with the addition of another Islander, Express Two. In addition, scheduled service is started to St. Martin in the Dutch Antilles and charters are flown to the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
To take advantage of the growing traffic at St. Martin, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 is leased in October of the latter year. Shortly thereafter, the government of the Dutch Antilles withdraws the company’s landing rights. Negotiations between the governments involved are now undertaken as the DHC is returned.
Service is maintained without incident or headline in 1998-1999. The effort to gain reentry into St. Martin is unsuccessful; however, day charters are subsequently initiated to that point, as well as St. Barth. Frequencies on the Nevis to St. Kitts Islander shuttle are increased to 14 per day and it becomes possible to make reservations on the company’s Web site.
When Carib Aviation, Ltd. raises its roundtrip ticket prices to Antigua to $170 on February 16, 2000, members of the Barbuda Council are outraged. Not inclined to listen to that concern’s protest that it must adjust its rates in light of six years of losses, the Council holds an emergency meeting and moves to travel to Nevis to enter into discussions with Nevis Express concerning the possibility of its offering a service.
Following negotiations, Nevis agrees to offer a shuttle service between Antigua and Barbuda and in July makes a proposal. On August 2, Council Chairman Arthur Nibbs petitions the central government asking that it react favorably to the Nevis proposition. The response, if any, is unknown.
NEW ACS, S. A.: BP 5371, Kinshasa, 10, Congo, Democratic Republic II, Sky Air Services, London, England, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (181) 961-0932; Fax 44 (181) 961-0956; Code DF; Year Founded 1996. Late in 1996, as civil war embroils Zaire, Air Charter Service, S. A. is reformed, renamed, and based at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with an office in London. Tshimbombo Mukuna remains chairman, but his fleet, which operates regional and domestic passenger and cargo charters, is reduced to 1 Boeing 727-30 and 2 Lockheed L-188AElectras.
Flights continue from Dar es Salaam to Kinshasa, Djibouti, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, and Zanzibar.
NEW CENTRAL AVIATION COMPANY, LTD. (SHIN CHUO KOKU): 3177 Handa-cho, Ryugasaki-shi, Ibaraki, 301, Japan; Phone 81 (297) 621 271; Fax 81 (297) 621 275; Code NCA; Year Founded 1980. New Central is formed at Ryugasaki-shi, Ibaraki, in 1980 to offer regional services. President Haruo Wakabayashi’s initial fleet comprises 3 Pilatus-Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders and 1 GAF Nomad N-22B. Scheduled service is offered between Chofu Airport and Niijima, Kozushima, Oshima, and Hachjojima
A second Nomad is acquired in 1992, by which time the Islander fleet has been doubled in number to six. Operations continue apace in 1993-1998, during which years the fleet is enhanced by the addition of three Fokker 50s. The Nomads, due to flight restrictions, are withdrawn.
The large Fokker turboprops are withdrawn in 1999 and at the beginning of 2000, the fleet includes 5 Islanders and a single Dornier 228-212.
NEW ENGLAND AIR EXPRESS: United States (1950). NEAE is set up at Boston in early 1950 to operate irregular all-cargo charters throughout the U. S. and to Alaska. Two Curtiss C-46 Commandos are acquired with which to begin revenue flights; unable to achieve economic viability, the company shuts its doors before the end of the year.
NEW ENGLAND AIRLINES: 56 Airport Road, State Airport, Westerly, Rhode Island 02891, United States; Phone (401) 596-2460; Fax (401) 596-7366; Http://www. block-island. com/nea; Code EJ; Year Founded 1970. William Bendokas and his wife Lois found “Block Island’s Resident Airline” at the State Airport at Westerly, Rhode Island, on August 12, 1970. Employing 2 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders and 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec, the Bendokas inaugurates scheduled daily passenger and cargo services in January 1971 linking their base with Providence and Block Island. Operations, including individually tailored charter flights, continue apace during the remainder of the decade and into the 1980s.
In 1985, the three-stop carrier employs 15. There is no change in the route network during the remainder of the decade or in the 1990s. A BN-2 with eight aboard disappears into the Atlantic Ocean on November 28, 1989, during a night flight from Block Island.
By 1993-1994, President Bendokas employs 15. His fleet is expanded to include not only the 2 Islanders, but 2 PA-28 Cherokees and 2 PA-32 Cherokee Sixes as well. Operations continue apace in 1995 and in 1996 the fleet is altered to include 1 each Piper PA-23 Aztec and Cessna 206. Enplanements total 21,983.
Passenger boardings accelerate 17.5% in 1997 to 25,833.
FAR Part 135 flights continue without incident or headline through 1998 and in 1999, until September 5. On that same date, approximately 200 ft. into its takeoff from Westerly, Rhode Island, for a scheduled commuter flight to Block Island, a Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six with a pilot and four passengers, suffers engine failure and crashes 200 ft. beyond the end of the runway. The pilot and two passengers are killed.
Higher fuel costs and adverse publicity associated with the September accident cause passenger boardings for the year to fall 2.8% to 23,000.
NEW ENGLAND AIRWAYS (PTY.), LTD. (1): Australia (19311936). NEAL-1 is formed at Brisbane in early 1931 as a division of the New England Motor Company, a bus company, to offer service across the Queensland border to the New South Wales town of Lismore. Employing a Ryan monoplane and a de Havilland DH 80A Puss Moth, the company begins operations on March 1. Following the shutdown of ANA (Australian National Airways [Pty.], Ltd.) on June 31, NEAL-1 acquires the pioneer’s Avro 10s and extends its own Lismore destination to Sydney on July 17.
The Queensland-New South Wales route is maintained in 19321933. In late 1934, the company obtains a contract to participate in providing connecting mail flights as part of the start up of a regular England-Australia mail route. The first connecting flight is made on December 21 when the Avro 10 City of Grafton, flown by Capt. Keith Virtue, obtains the incoming mail sacks at Narromine from a Butler Air Transport (Pty.), Ltd. DH 84 Dragon and flies them to Sydney. In early December, the routes, Codock aircraft, and other assets of Northern Airways (Pty.), Ltd. are purchased. Sydney-Newcastle flights begin over the former Northern route on December 24.
On January 28, 1935, Avro 10s initiate a Brisbane-Toowoomba and Townsville daily frequencies. Late in the year, British Pacific Trust, Ltd. forms Airlines of Australia (Pty.), Ltd. to acquire NEAL-1. Meanwhile, on December 11, the Sydney-Newcastle service is suspended. On July 6, 1936, Airlines of Australia (Pty.), Ltd. buys the aircraft, 1,200-mile coastal route, and New England’s other assets; the Brisbane-Toowoomba daily service is suspended the same day.
NEW ENGLAND AIRWAYS (PTY.), LTD. (2): Australia (19471980). NEAL-2 is formed at Sydney early in 1947. Equipped with several de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapides, it inaugurates scheduled flights to small stops north of the New South Wales capital city. In 1949, the carrier is taken over by Butler Air Transport (Pty.), Ltd., but continues its commuter efforts much as it will later after Butler is acquired by Ansett Transport Industries, Ltd.
World History
