Pomair
| Pomair | |
|---|---|
| IATA code : | (without) |
| ICAO code : | HZ |
| Call sign : | (unknown) |
| Founding: | 1969 (as inair ) |
| Operation stopped: | 1974 |
| Seat: |
Ostend , Belgium
|
| Home airport : | Ostend Airport |
| Management: | Charles fries |
| Fleet size: | 3 |
| Aims: | international |
| Pomair ceased operations in 1974. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Pomair (branded Pomair Ostend , until 1971 Transpommair ) was a Belgian airline based in Ostend , which ceased operations in October 1974. The company operated international charter flights and also used its machines in wet leases for other airlines around the world .
history
Pomair's origins lie in Inair NV , a company founded by Aubin Van Bellinghen , which offered handling services at Ostend Airport . With the participation of the freight forwarder Charles Pommé and the commercial vehicle manufacturer Van Hool , it was decided at the end of 1969 to convert Inair into a charter airline. Charles Pommé took over the management. Based on the transport company Transport-Pommé , the new company was named Transpommair in January 1970 .
The company's first aircraft was a Douglas DC-6B ( registration number : OO-CTK) acquired by Sabena in late 1969 and delivered on February 28, 1970. Operations began on March 1, 1970 with a charter flight from Ostend to the Channel Island of Jersey . In the first business year, Transpommair mainly used the machine in ad hoc charter traffic . For cargo charter flights , the company leased two more Douglas DC-6s (TF-OOA and TF-OOB) one after the other from the Icelandic questioning flight Iceland until the end of 1971 . After an eponymous Belgian trucking company had raised objections, was Transpommair in on May 3, 1971 Pomair renamed.
The US Civil Aeronautics Board approved the company in the spring of 1971 to take up tour group flights to the United States, whereupon the Florida- based aircraft dealer Boreas Corporation acquired a stake in the company. In addition, Pomair was able to conclude extensive transport contracts with the Belgian tour operator Jetair , including long-haul charter to Asia , Mauritius and South America . For this purpose, the company acquired a Douglas DC-8-33 from Boreas Corporation , which had originally been delivered to Pan Am . The acquired on May 7, 1971 jet aircraft received the Belgian indicator OO-TCP (derived from T ransport C harles P omme ). The company's own Douglas DC-6B (TF-OAD) and another one leased by Boreas were used on IT charter flights from Antwerp , Brussels and Ostend to southern Europe in the same year . The leased propeller aircraft was returned to Boreas at the end of the summer season in October 1971 and the company's own Douglas DC-6 was operated for British Air Ferries on scheduled services between Ostend and Southend in the winter of 1971/72 .
In May 1973 Pomair sold its Douglas DC-6B to the Belgian Delta Air Transport and in return acquired two Douglas DC-8-32s (OO-AMI and OO-CMB). The IT charter orders were not enough to keep the three jet aircraft at full capacity, so that Pomair rented its first Douglas DC-8 from May 1973 to Air France , from January 1974 to Air Ceylon and from July 1974 to Sudan Airways . The other two machines were operated in wet lease outside the main travel times for British Caledonian Airways , East African Airways , Garuda , Martinair and Nigeria Airways , among others . Pomair ran into serious economic difficulties in the summer of 1974 after an American ticket dealer had sold several thousand tickets on behalf of the company and sold the proceeds. The already scarce financial resources were insufficient to meet these transport claims free of charge, so that the company ceased operations on October 13, 1974 and filed for bankruptcy four days later.
fleet
Pomair operated the following types of aircraft:
- Douglas DC-6B (operated from 1970 to 1973)
- Douglas DC-8-32 and DC-8-33 (operated from 1971 to 1974)
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Flying Zone, Transpommair - Pomair Ostend (in French), accessed April 1, 2016
- ↑ a b c d Skystef's Aviation Page, Pomair (in English), accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ a b c Pomair Ostend, Wim Zwakhals, August 2011 (in Dutch), accessed on March 31, 2016
- ↑ Skystef's Aviation Page, Douglas DC-8, OO-TCP (in English), accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ JP aircraft markings, years 1970 to 1974
