Ariana Afghan Airlines

Ariana Afghan Airlines is the national airline carrier of Afghanistan, which is based in Kabul. The airline operates domestic and international passenger services.

History

Ariana Afghan Airlines A310 in Frankfurt.

Ariana Afghan Airlines was established on January 27, 1955. During the 1970s, Ariana was considered a top notch airline company by many travel experts.^{[citation needed]} The airliner at that time had such equipment as Douglas DC-10s flying for them. Times looked bright for the airline company.

After the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1989 and former Najibulla's communist regime, the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996. Afghanistan faced substantial economic sanctions from the international sector during the Taliban. That, combined with the fact that the Taliban government took over the company and stopped all international flights, affected the airline's economic status through most of the 1990s, a period where their fleet was reduced to only a handful of Russian built An-26s, Yakovlev Yak-40s and three Boeing 727s, which were used on the longest domestic routes. In October 1996, Pakistan provided a temporary maintenance and operational base at Karachi. During this time, the airliner's president was Hafez Younis. In 1999 Ariana flew only to Dubai and Saudi Arabia; also, limited cargo flights continued into China's western provinces. However, the UN sanctions forced the airline company to suspend overseas operations. In November 2001, the company was grounded completely.

After the removal of the Taliban government in 2001, following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, and subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Ariana began to rebuild its operations by December 2001. About a month later, the UN sanctions were finally lifted so the airlines can fly again. As a gesture of good-will and step towards creating foreign relations with Afghanistan, the government of India gave the state carrier three Airbus A300s which had been in service with Air India. Ariana once again has been able to fly to international cities, its first international flight in many years landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. According to Ariana's management, they are looking forward to re-establishing international service to other cities that the airliner used to serve in the past very soon.

Destinations

An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 757.

Ariana operates services to the following international destinations (at October 2006):

Asia

Central Asia

• Uzbekistan
  • Tashkent

East Asia

• China
  • Urumqi (Urumqi Diwopu International Airport)

Southwest Asia

• Azerbaijan
  • Baku (Heydar Aliyev International Airport) refuel stop only (for Moscow service)
• Iran
  • Tehran (Mehrabad International Airport)
• Kuwait
  • Kuwait City (Kuwait International Airport)
• Saudi Arabia
  • Jeddah (King Abdul Aziz International Airport)
  • Riyadh (King Khalid International Airport)
• Turkey
  • Ankara (Esenboga International Airport)
• United Arab Emirates
  • Dubai (Dubai International Airport)

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan
  • Herat
  • Kabul (Kabul International Airport)
  • Mazari Sharif

South Asia

• India
  • Amritsar (Raja Sansi International Airport)
  • Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
• Pakistan
  • Islamabad (Islamabad International Airport)

Europe

• Germany
  • Frankfurt (Frankfurt International Airport)
• Russia
  • Moscow (Sheremetyevo International Airport)
• Turkey
  • Istanbul (Ataturk International Airport)

Fleet

The Ariana Afghan Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at August 2006) ^[1]:

• 4 Airbus A300B4
• 1 Antonov An-12
• 4 Antonov An-24
• 1 Antonov An-26
• 5 Boeing 727-200
• 2 Boeing 757-200
• 1 DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300
• 1 Yakovlev Yak-40
• On order: 4 Boeing 737-700

Ariana Afghan Airlines has placed an order for 4 Boeing 737-700, which will be delivered in 2009. The 737-700 will be equipped with blended winglets as well.^[2]

Incidents and accidents

The airline hasn't been devoid of tragedies: In 1964, a Douglas DC-3 of Ariana crashed in Herat, killing all 21 passengers on that flight. In 1969, a Boeing 727 of Ariana was arriving to London Gatwick Airport from Frankfurt International Airport when it crashed into a house, killing 50 of the 66 persons aboard. In 1985, an Antonov An-26 of Ariana was shot down by rebels near Kandahar, killing all 47 passengers and 5 crew. In 1989, a door opened aboard a 727 in the middle of a flight from Kabul to Zaranj, and six people were killed when the plane crashed onto a hill. In 1995, another AN-26 crashed, after running out of fuel at Jalalabad, and three passengers died. Another crash, this time of a Yakovlev Yak-40, happened in Jalalabad two years later while landing, and two people died. And on 19 March,1998, a 727 from Kandahar to Kabul crashed after hitting a mountain, and all 45 passengers died.

In February 2000, to escape a Taliban death squad, nine men, led by brothers Ali Safi and Mohammed Safi, hijacked a Boeing 727 containing more than 180 people. The plane was diverted through Central Asia and Russia before landing at Stansted Airport north of London, where the hijacking ended four days later with a peaceful surrender. The men were convicted in December 2001 of hijacking, false imprisonment and weapons offenses. They each served sentences of between 27 and 30 months, and have since been granted asylum in the UK. It was later found that the hijacking was a drama orchestrated jointly by the hijackers, their families and other passengers in hope of getting asylum.[1]

Banned in the EU

With the exception of one aircraft, the entire Ariana Afghan Airlines fleet is on the list of air carriers banned in the EU (as of July 2006). The rationale for the decision by the European Commission was the following (paraphrased):

• During ramp inspections performed by German authorities under the SAFA programme evidence of serious safety deficiencies on the part of Ariana Afghan Airlines with regard to a certain aircraft of its fleet came to light (SAFA inspections No LBA-D-2004-269, LBA-D-2004-341, LBA-D-2004-374 and LBA-D-2004-597).
• Ariana Afghan Airlines has demonstrated a lack of ability to address the safety deficiencies raised.
• The air carrier in question, Ariana Afghan Airlines, did not respond adequately and timely to an enquiry by the civil aviation authority of Germany regarding the safety aspects of its operation. This demontstrates a lack of communication.
• The regulatory authorities of Afghanistan, which have the responsibility for regulatory oversight of Ariana Afghan Airlines, have not exercised an adequate oversight over the aircraft used by this carrier in accordance with the obligations imposed on them under the Chicago Convention.
• Therefore and on the basis of the common criteria^[3] the Commission assessed that Ariana Afghan Airlines does not meet the common criteria and therefore should be banned from operating aircraft within the airspace of the Member States of the European Union. There is one exception: an Airbus A310 with registration number F-GYYY is registered in France and therefore subject to the oversight of the French authorities.^[4]

References

1. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
2. ^ Boeing order
3. ^ Fly Well portal (Which contains links to the common air transport policy) (English), European Commission, March 22 2006
4. ^ Commission Regulation (EC) No 474/2006 of 22 March 2006 (PDF-file) (English), European Commission, March 22 2006

External links

Official website

• Ariana Afghan Airlines

Other websites

• Ariana Afghan Airlines Fleet at http://www.ch-aviation.ch
• Ariana Passenger Opinions at Skytrax
• Ariana Afghan Airlines at the Aviation Safety Network Database

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