Air Trans Africa was formed by Jack Malloch in 1964 after his first company, Rhodesian Air Services

Rhodesian Air Services

Rhodesian Air Services was an airline based in Southern Rhodesia in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-History:Rhodesian Air Services was formed by Jack Malloch in 1959 with one C-47 to operate a service between Salisbury, , in then Southern Rhodesia, and Vilanculas - the closest Landing Strip on the...

 failed in 1962. It operated a Super Constellation

Lockheed Constellation

The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...

, a Douglas C-54 and a DH114 Heron aircraft before Southern Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). The airline's financial crises were compounded when Ian Smith

Ian Smith

Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...

's government declared independence

Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)

The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Rhodesia from the United Kingdom was signed on November 11, 1965, by the administration of Ian Smith, whose Rhodesian Front party opposed black majority rule in the then British colony. Although it declared independence from the United Kingdom it...

 (UDI) on November 11, 1965.

It was a charter airline flying cargo and/or passengers to many different destinations throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. The company (in chronological order):

• Carried mercenaries
  Mercenary
  A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
  
   to the Congo
  Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
  The Republic of the Congo was an independent republic established following the independence granted to the former colony of the Belgian Congo in 1960...
  
   in 1964 to help the government of Moise Tshombe
  Moise Tshombe
  Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
  
   quell the insurgency of a group of Congolese rebels called the Simba.

• Acted as a charter carrier to the Biafran Civil War
  Nigerian Civil War
  The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967–15 January 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra...
  
   in Nigeria
  Nigeria
  Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
  
  . During the civil war the C-54 was impounded and the crew imprisoned for a time in 1967.

• Operated a Lockheed Super Constellation (VP-WAW) under the name of Afro Continental Airways
  Afro Continental Airways
  Afro Continental Airways was a subsidiary of Air Trans Africa, formed to operate a service between Salisbury, Rhodesia and Windhoek, South West Africa, Malawi with a Lockheed L1049G Super Constellation ....
  
   after UDI for a weekly service from Salisbury to Windhoek.

• Obtained a fleet of Douglas DC-7
  Douglas DC-7
  The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.-Design and...
  
  C and DC-7CF aircraft (with the assistance of the Rhodesian Government) which were registered in Gabon, when the airline became a major part of the Rhodesian sanctions-busting operations. They flew beef to Gabon
  Gabon
  Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
  
  , from where it was flown out by aircraft of its associate company Affretair
  Affretair
  Affretair was a cargo airline based in Zimbabwe.- History :Affretair was formed as a Gabon-based associate company of Air Trans Africa, when a Douglas DC-8 aircraft was acquired in the early 1970s for overseas freight operations...
  
  . Essential materiels for the Rhodesian security forces were brought into the country on the return flights. Affretair
  Affretair
  Affretair was a cargo airline based in Zimbabwe.- History :Affretair was formed as a Gabon-based associate company of Air Trans Africa, when a Douglas DC-8 aircraft was acquired in the early 1970s for overseas freight operations...
  
   migrated to Zimbabwe
  Zimbabwe
  Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
  
   after independence, when it replaced Air Trans Africa.

Aircraft

Pre-UDI

• Douglas DC-4
  Douglas DC-4
  The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
  
  /C-54: VP-YTY
• C-47
  C-47 Skytrain
  The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
  
  : VP-YTT
• de Havilland Heron
  De Havilland Heron
  The de Havilland DH.114 Heron was a small, propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, conventional low-wing monoplane with tricycle...
  
  : VP-WAM

Post UDI

• Lockheed 1049G Super Constellation: VP-WAW (transferred to Afro-Continental Airways)-this aircraft became a clubhouse at Charles Prince Airport (formerly Mount Hamden) when it was withdrawn from use. Believed to have been broken up in the 1990s.
• Douglas DC-7C (registered in Gabon): TR-LOK
• Douglas DC-7C/F (registered in Gabon): TR-LNY, TR-LNZ, TR-LOJ, TR-LPQ

call sign was AG

Non IATA

Web page: www.jackmalloch.com

CL44: TR-LVO

DC-8-55F: TR-LVK and TR-LQR (later to be changed to A4OPA under CargOman, another company of Affretair's)