Madagascar Airlines

Madagascar Airlines is an airline based in Antananarivo, Madagascar.[3][4][5] It is the flag carrier of Madagascar; it operates services to Europe, Asia and neighbouring African and Indian Ocean island destinations, from its main base, Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo.[6] It also operates an extensive domestic network.

The airline was formed in 1947 to feed into flights by Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux and Air France, and upon the independence of Madagascar, it became the national airline. Initially operating services on domestic routes, the airline saw expansion in the late 1960s and 1970s, when it began international flights to destinations such as France and South Africa.

In recent years the airline has been a subject of failed privatisation measures. These are now on hold and the loss making airline is majority owned by the Malagasy government.

History

Formative years

Air Madagascar was formed in March 1947 by Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI) in order to feed into flights by TAI and Air France. The airline began operations with two Air France Douglas DC-3s and six de Havilland D.H.89 Dragon Rapides. In 1957 TAI and Messageries Maritimes acquired shares in the airline, and in 1958 a third DC-3 was added to the fleet. In 1961 the Malagasy government, Air France and TAI reorganised the airline. In April 1961 the airline was renamed Madair and became the flag carrier for the newly independent republic.[7] On 23 August 1961, the status of Société Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens, MADAIR was approved by decree.[8] On 20 October 1961 a service from Antananarivo-Paris, via Djibouti, with a Douglas DC-7 leased from TAI was inaugurated.[7][9] Société Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens, MADAIR was created on 13 November 1961, with a working capital of 400 million CFA Francs, 447 employees, and a fleet comprising two Douglas DC-4s, seven DC-3s and four Dragon Rapides.[8][10] The government held 20%, Air France 44% and TAI 36% shareholdings, and the government held an option to increase its shareholding to some 65%.[10] On 1 January 1962, Madair took over service to some 58 points in Madagascar, and on 14 October the name of the airline was changed to Air Madagascar, because of a negative image of the name Madair.[7] In 1962 Air Madagascar carried 103,000 passengers, 7,500 tons of freight and 375 tons of mail and flew a distance of 2400000 km.[10] On 31 December 1962, the company was renamed Société Nationale Malgache des Transports Aériens — Air Madagascar.[11] A DC-3 of the airline crashed at Farafangana on 15 July 1963, killing five people. Flights to the Comoro Islands with DC-4s began in 1963.[7] On 14 May 1963, the Malagasy government increased its share capital to 460 million CFA francs, and its shareholding from 20 to 30.44%.[12]

Jet age

In October 1963 the airline signed an agreement with Air France, which saw Air Madagascar beginning a service to Paris, via Djibouti, in July 1964 with a Boeing 707, which was painted in Air Madagascar livery, and operated by Air France crews. In 1965 the Dragon Rapides began to be replaced by light aircraft, mainly Pipers, and a Nord 262 was ordered in 1966.[7] On 19 July 1967, an Air Madagascar DC-4, on a scheduled flight from Antananarivo to Tamatave and Diego Suarez, crashed after take-off from Ivato International Airport, killing 42 people, including Albert Sylla, the Malagasy Foreign Minister.[7][13][14] The airline began scheduled flights to Rome in 1968, and the airline acquired its first Boeing 737-200 in September 1969.[7]

Towards privatisation

As part of reorganisation plans to get the airline ready for privatisation, in January 1998, the airline announced that it would replace the Boeing 747-200 Combi with a Boeing 767-300ER. The airline purchased a new 767-300ER from Boeing with an April 1999 delivery date, and leased another aircraft from GE Capital Aviation Services from March 1998.[21][22] Government plans for privatisation of the airline in 1999 to a consortium which include Air France was suspended when the Central Bank of Madagascar defaulted on payments to Exim Bank for the airline's Boeing 747.[23]

In 2002, Lufthansa Consulting was awarded a management contract with Air Madagascar, with a view to improving the airlines' efficiency and making it an attractive enterprise for privatisation.[24] The airline's creditors in November 2002 agreed to forgive half of the company's debts and rescheduled the rest over a three-year period.