Lao Air Lines
| Lao Air Lines | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | WL |
| ICAO code : | WL |
| Call sign : | unknown |
| Founding: | 1967 |
| Operation stopped: | 1975 |
| Seat: |
Vientiane , Laos.svg){kind=small}
|
| Home airport : | Vientiane airport |
| Fleet size: | 3 |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Lao Air Lines ceased operations in 1975. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Lao Air Lines (officially Lao Air Lines - Societe Anonyme de Transports Aeriens ) was a Laotian airline based in Vientiane and based at Vientiane Airport . The company ceased operations in 1975 as a result of the state takeover by the Pathet Lao communist resistance movement .
history
Lao Air Lines was founded in September 1967 and began operations in November 1967 with Douglas DC-3 aircraft . In contrast to the mainly international Royal Air Lao , it initially only operated domestic flights in the Kingdom of Laos , including from Vientiane to Attapeu , Houei Sai , Luang Prabang and Pakse . The connections to the southern provinces of Attapeu and Salavan were discontinued after a short period because of the increasingly unsafe situation in these regions controlled by the Pathet Lao.
In September 1969 the company acquired a used Vickers Viscount 806 turboprop aircraft from British European Airways for its newly opened international routes from Vientiane to Saigon ( South Vietnam ), Phnom Penh ( Cambodia ) and Singapore . Lao Air Lines also applied for route rights to Bangkok ( Thailand ) and Hong Kong (British colony).
At the beginning of the 1970s, the company was bought up by Royal Air Lao, which was nationalized at that time . A merger of the two companies was planned, but this did not take place. Lao Air Lines remained as a subsidiary of Royal Air Lao and ceded its Vickers Viscount and international scheduled routes to it in December 1973. The national scheduled service continued with the three remaining Douglas DC-3s, which were also used on international charter flights and cargo flights. The flight operations ceased in 1975 as a result of the takeover of power in the state by the communist movement Pathet Lao and the simultaneous exclusion of the Kingdom of Laos from the international civil aviation organization ICAO .
fleet
Fleet at the end of operations
At the time of cessation of operations, the fleet consisted of three Douglas DC-3s.
Previously deployed aircraft
Throughout its history, Lao Air Lines also operated the following types of aircraft:
Incidents
- On June 30, 1971, a Douglas DC-3 ( registration number : XW-TDI) had to be written off as a total loss after an incident in Ban Houei Sai . No precise information is available about the incident.
- On December 21, 1971, a Douglas DC-3 (XW-TFC) crashed near the village of Ban Boum in the Lao province of Attapeu . Two of the three occupants were killed in the accident.
There are contradicting information about another incident: Allegedly a Douglas DC-3 (XW-TDO) was written off as a total loss as a result of an accident on July 23, 1970. However, this machine remained listed in the company's inventory in the following years, which indicates a repair of the aircraft.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Flight International, May 6, 1971, page 633 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ^ A b Vickers Viscount Network, Viscount c / n 396 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ^ Flight International, March 22, 1973, p. 468 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ↑ JP airline-fleets 75
- ↑ JP airline-fleets 76
- ↑ JP aircraft-markings and JP airline-fleets, various years
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network: Lao Air Lines, Douglas C-47B-5-DK (DC-3), XW-TDI, July 23, 1970 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network: Lao Air Lines, Douglas DC-3, XW-TFC, December 21, 1971 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ↑ Aviation Safety Network: Lao Air Lines, Douglas C-47B-5-DK (DC-3), XW-TDO, July 23, 1970 , accessed January 5, 2016
- ^ JP aircraft-markings and JP aircraft-fleets, born 1973 to 1975