Air Guinee Express was an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Conakry

Conakry

Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...

, Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

. It operated domestic services. Its main base was Conakry International Airport

Conakry International Airport

Conakry International Airport , also known as Gbessia International Airport, is an airport located in Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. It is divided into domestic and international terminals...

.

Code data

• IATA
  International Air Transport Association
  The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
  
   Code: 2U
• ICAO Code: GIP
• Callsign: FUTURE EXPRESS

History

The airline was established on 31 December 1960 by the Guinea government as Air Guinee

Air Guinee

Compagnie Nationale Air Guinée was the national airline of Guinea. The airline had its head office in Kaloum, Conakry. Founded in 1960, the airline had flights from Conakry International Airport...

. In 1992 it underwent a restructuring to improve profitability, but it never recovered and its operations were taken over by Groupe Futurelec and the airline rebranded Air Guinee Express.

Destinations

Air Guinee Express operated services to the following international scheduled destinations (at January 2005): Abidjan

Abidjan

Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...

, Bamako

Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...

, Banjul

Banjul

-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...

, Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, Freetown

Freetown

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

, Kinshasa

Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....

 and Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

.

Fleet

The Air Guinee Express fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at March 2007) :

• 4 Antonov An-12
  Antonov An-12
  The Antonov An-12 is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10.-Design and development:...
  
  
• 4 Antonov An-24
  Antonov An-24
  The Antonov An-24 is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport designed and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau from 1957.-Design and development:...
  
  B (including at least 1 Xi'an Y7-100
• 1 Bombardier Dash 7 Seris 100
  De Havilland Canada Dash 7
  The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier...
  
  

Previously operated

At June 2005 the airline also operated:

• 1 Boeing 737-200
  Boeing 737
  The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
  
   delivered in 2003.

Incidents and accidents

On 11 August 2004 a Boeing 737, registration 3X-GCM, failed to take off from Freetown - Lungi International Airport

Lungi International Airport

-Incidents and accidents:On August 11th, 2004 at around 2:30 p.m. a Boeing 737 plane operated by Air Guinee Express crashed while failing to take off at Lungi Airport. None of the 70 passengers aboard were killed....

(Sierra Leone). There were no fatalities among the 127 passengers and crew members. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was written off; the wreckage can still be seen resting next to the runway.

Accident description on aviation-safety.net

External links

• Air Guinee Express Fleet Detail