Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, With flights operating mostly from Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers and Ahmed Ben Bella Airport in Oran, Air Algérie operates scheduled services to 33 domestic destinations in Algeria and 42 international destinations in 28 countries across Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Air Algérie is 100% owned by the Government of Algeria.
History
Formation and early years
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In 1946, Compagnie Générale de Transports Aériens (CGTA) was established. It started operating flights between Algeria and Europe on a charter basis in 1947. However, by the end of the decade, CGTA was operating scheduled flights serving Algiers, Basel, Bône, Geneva, Marseille, Paris, Philippeville, and Toulouse. In 1952, three 34-seater Bretagnes joined a fleet of seven DC-3s. Meanwhile, Compagnie Air Transport (CAT), a subsidiary of Air France and Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, had been formed in the late 1940s to connect Basel, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, and Toulouse with Algiers, Constantine, and Oran. Seasonal London–Deauville, and London–Le Touquet flights were also undertaken. Following a drop in traffic after 1951, a merging partner was under consideration.
thumb|left|A France-registered [[Lockheed Constellation in Air Algérie markings at Paris Orly Airport in 1957]]
CGTA, and CAT merged on 23 May 1953 to form the Compagnie Générale de Transports Aériens Air Algérie, In 2006 its capital amounted to 57 billion dinars (about 560 million euros).
The sales network comprises 150 agencies in Algeria and abroad, linked to the booking system and distributed through GDS to which Air Algérie has subscribed.
Air Algérie is a Joint Stock Company (J.S.C) the registered capital of which is 43.000.000.000,00 DA.
In November 2010, Air Algérie announced an investment of €400 million to renew its fleet, to be launched in 2011.<!-- All figures in the AFRAA annual reports are as of the preceding year -->
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;text-align:center;"
! Year
! Sales turnover<br>(DA b)
! Operating profit<br>(DA b)
! Net profit<br>(DA b)
! Number of employees
! Number of passengers (scheduled) (m)
! Passenger load factor (%)
! Cargo carried (000 tonnes)
! Number of aircraft (at year end)
! References
|-
| 2007
| 49.4
|
|
|
| 2.9
| 57
| 14.7
|
|
|-
| 2008
| 54.3
|
|
|
| 3.2
|
|
|
|
|-
| 2010
| 55.6
| 2.9
| 2.3
| 9,502
| 3.5
| 60.5
| 13.4
| 39
|
|-
| 2011
| 57.0
| 2.9
| 2.6
| 9,750
| 3.7
| 63.6
| 11.7
| 43
|
|-
| 2012
| 65.6
| 2.7
| 2.8
| 9,563
| 4.3
| 66.4
| 11.3
| 43
|
|-
| 2013
| 69.6
|
| 1.2
| 9,469
| 4.7
| 66.4
| 15.7
| 43
|
|-
| 2014
| 77.6
|
| 1.4
| 9,095
| 5.2
| 63.2
| 14.9
| 44
|
|-
| 2015
| 80.6
|
| 0.1
| 8,610
| 5.5
| 69.7
| 15.3
| 54
|
|-
| 2016
|91.5
|
|
|9,016
|6.1
|70
|15.5
|56
|
|-
| 2017
|96.0
|
|
|8,768
|6.3
|72
|17.7
|58
|
|-
| 2018
|113.6
|
|
|8,670
|6.6
|74
|20.1
|56
|
|-
| 2019
|
|
|
|
|6.6
|75.1
|17.1
|57
|
|-
| 2020
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|56
|
|-
| 2021
|
|
|
|
|1.9
|73.1
|11.5
|56
|
|-
| 2022
|
|
|
|7,945
|4.6
|78
|17.9
|58
|
|}
thumb|Air Algérie's first logo, used from 1966 to 2023.
thumb|Air Algérie headquarters in [[Algiers]]
Ownership and subsidiaries
Air Algérie is a joint stock company, with the shares 100% owned by the Algerian state.
The airline has the following main subsidiaries:
- Technics Air Algérie
- Air Algérie Catering, with 2,000 employees, preparing the meals of all Air Algérie's flights departing from Algeria
- Air Algérie Cargo
- Air Algérie Handling
- Domestic Airlines
Corporate identity
The Air Algérie logo was created in 1966 in Algiers. On 21 June 2011, the company officially announced that the logo is a swallow. This bird is a national Algerian symbol. In 2023, the airline updated its logo, with a new typeface and an updated swallow.
Destinations
In June 2007, Air Algérie inaugurated the Algiers–Montreal route.
, the airline serves 33 countries and 78 routes.
{|class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|-
!Country
!City
!Airport
!Notes
!Refs
|-
|rowspan="35"|Algeria||Adrar||Touat-Cheikh Sidi Mohamed Belkebir Airport||align=center| ||align=center|
- Tunisair
- Turkish Airlines
Interline agreements
Air Algerie has interline agreements with the following airlines:
- Air Burkina
- APG Airlines
- Emirates
- Hahn Air
- Lufthansa
- Singapore Airlines
Fleet
Recent developments and future plans
thumb|737-600 of Air Algérie at [[Geneva Airport]]
Ten Next Generation 737s—seven-800s and three-600s—were ordered in 1998 to replace the ageing Boeing 727-200s and Boeing 737-200s;
Current fleet
thumb|An Air Algérie [[Airbus A300 in 1982]]
thumb|An Air Algérie [[Boeing 737-800 taxiing at Charles de Gaulle Airport]]
thumb|An Air Algérie [[Airbus A330-200 ]]
, Air Algérie operates the following aircraft:
|-
|Airbus A330-900
|3
|7
|18
|24
|266
|308
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|ATR 72-500
|rowspan="2"|12
|rowspan="2"|—
|rowspan="2"|—
|rowspan="2"|—
|66
|66
|rowspan="2"|
|-
|70
|70
|-
|ATR 72-600
|3
|16
|—
|—
|68
|68
|-
|Boeing 737-600
|5
|—
|—
|16
|85
|101
|
|-
|Boeing 737-700C
|2
|—
|—
|8
|104
|112
|
|-
|Boeing 737-800
|24
|—
|—
|48
|114
|162
|
|-
|Boeing 737 MAX 8
|—
|10
|colspan="4"|<abbr title="To Be Announced">TBA</abbr>
|Deliveries from 2026.
|-
! colspan="8" |Cargo
|-
|Boeing 737-800BCF
|1
|—
| colspan="4" align="center" |<abbr title="No Seats, Cargo Configurations">Cargo</abbr>
|
|-
|Lockheed L-100-30T
|1
|-
|Bréguet 763 Deux-Ponts
|
|1952
|1953
|Launch customer<br />Operated as freighter
|
|-
|Convair CV-640
|
|
|
|
| from Aer Lingus (1979, 1980), Middle East Airlines (1981), SAS (1982, 1983), Air France (1982, 1985, 1986) and Air Atlanta Icelandic (2000–2005).
Other aircraft types that were operated on short-term leases during the Hajj season included the Airbus A310-300 (2005–07, leased from Saga Airlines and Air Atlanta Icelandic), the Airbus A320-200 (2005, operated by Eagle Aviation France), the larger Airbus A330-300 (2004/05, leased from AWAS), Airbus A340-300 (2012, from AirAsia X), Boeing 757-200 (2004/05), Boeing 767-200 (2001/02 and 2004/05, leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic) and Boeing 777-200 (2003, operated by Khalifa Airways), as well as the Douglas DC-8 (from the mid-1970s throughout the 1980s, leased from Eagle Air, Icelandair, National Airlines, Trans International Airlines and World Airways), the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (1989/90, leased from American Trans Air, Caledonian Airways and Eastern Airlines), and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (1977, from Laker Airways).
Accidents and incidents
Fatal
- On 19 May 1960 at 9:46 UTC, a mid-air collision occurred away from Paris-Orly Airport, involving an Air Algérie Sud Aviation Caravelle jetliner (registered F-OBNI) on a scheduled passenger flight from Algiers, and a privately owned Stampe SV.4 biplane (F-BDEV). The Stampe was completely destroyed upon impact, killing the sole pilot on board. The impact and the propeller blades of the biplane tore open the cabin roof of the Caravelle, and both of its jet engines flamed out due to ingested debris but were restarted almost immediately, allowing for a safe landing. There was one fatality amongst the 32 passengers and 7 crew members of the Air Algérie flight, and the aircraft was later repaired.
- On 11 April 1967, an Air Algérie Douglas DC-4 (registered 7T-VAU), which was on a flight from Dar El Beïda Airport in Algiers to Tamanrasset Airport, crashed into a hill in the Sahara desert near Tamanrasset during landing approach, killing 29 of the 33 passengers and all 6 crew members on board.
- On 26 July 1969 a fire broke out on board an Air Algérie Sud Aviation Caravelle (registered 7T-VAK), which likely had been caused by an electric malfunction. The aircraft was on a chartered passenger flight from Marseille to Biskra, and the pilots tried for an emergency landing at Oued Irara – Krim Belkacem Airport, but the plane was quickly engulfed by flames and crashed, killing all 30 passengers and 7 crew members.
- On 24 January 1979 at around 19:40 local time, an Air Algérie Aérospatiale N 262 (registered 7T-VSU) crashed 15 kilometres short of the runway of Boudghene Ben Ali Lotfi Airport, resulting in the death of 14 out of the 20 passengers on board. The three crew members survived the accident, which was blamed on the malfunction of an altimeter (as the approach was performed too low), coinciding with pilot error and fatigue.
- On 21 December 1994, a cargo-configured Boeing 737-200 operating Air Algérie Flight 702P from East Midlands Airport to Coventry Airport (both in England) on behalf of Phoenix Aviation crashed 1.7 kilometres short of the runway at the destination airport, killing the five crew members on board.
- On 6 March 2003 at 15:15 local time, Air Algérie Flight 6289, a Boeing 737-200 (registered 7T-VEZ) on a domestic flight from Tamanrasset to Algiers via Ghardaïa, crashed shortly after take-off from Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport because of an engine failure, killing 96 passengers and all 6 crew members on board. There was only one survivor.
- On 13 August 2006 at ca 20:15 local time, Air Algérie Flight 2208 (a Lockheed L-100 Hercules registered 7T-VHG) crashed near Piacenza in Italy, resulting in the death of the three crew members. The aircraft had been on a flight from Algiers to Frankfurt when a problem with the autopilot occurred, resulting in the pilots losing control of the plane.
- On 24 July 2014, ATC controllers lost contact with Air Algérie Flight 5017, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 leased from Swiftair, en route from Ouagadougou Airport in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, Algeria, which was reported missing at 01:55 or 02:00 UTC near to Gao, Mali. The flight was carrying 112 passengers and 6 Spanish crew members. 54 of the passengers were French citizens. It was found crashed in Mali.
Non-fatal
- On 8 June 1949, the right main landing gear of an Air Algérie Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registered F-BCYO) collapsed upon landing at Lyon-Bron Airport, following a cargo flight from Algiers. During the crash landing, the aircraft was destroyed, but the three crew members survived.
- On 30 October 1951, an Air Algérie Sud-Ouest Bretagne (registered F-OAIY) caught fire and was subsequently destroyed at Paris-Orly Airport, following the sudden collapse of the right main landing gear during take-off run. All 30 passengers and 4 crew members on board could be saved.
- On 26 April 1962, shortly after the end of the Algerian War, a parked Air Algérie Lockheed Constellation (registered F-BAZE) was blown up at Maison Blanche Airport by OAS terrorists, a militant French far-right nationalist group strongly opposed to the independence of Algeria.
- On 23 September 1973, an Air Algérie Sud Aviation Caravelle (registered 7T-VAI) was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident at Algiers-Dar el Beida Airport.
- On 1 August 1989, an Air Algérie Lockheed L-100 Hercules cargo aircraft suffered a ground loop upon landing at Tamanrasset Airport following a flight from Algiers, resulting in the aircraft being damaged beyond repair.
- On 25 July 1991, the nosegear of an Air Algérie Fokker F27 Friendship (registered 7T-VRM) collapsed during a hard landing at In Guezzam Airport, damaging the aircraft beyond repair.
- On 2 August 1996, an Air Algérie Boeing 737-200 (registered 7T-VED) overran the runway at Tlemcen Airport in an attempt to abort the take-off for a scheduled flight to Algiers. There were no fatalities among the 100 passengers and 6 crew members on board, even though the aircraft was substantially damaged.
- Another runway overshot involving an Air Algérie Boeing 737-200 (this time 7T-VEH) occurred on 31 January 1999. Upon landing at Constantine Airfield in unusual snowy conditions following a flight from Paris, the aircraft was severely damaged when it overshot the runway and struck a heap of snow. There were no casualties among the 92 passengers and 7 crew members.
- On 18 March 2006 at 10:30 local time, the right main landing gear of an Air Algérie Boeing 737-600 (registered 7T-VJQ) collapsed upon landing in poor weather conditions at Seville Airport following a flight from Oran. Approximately 45 out of the 101 passengers and 6 crew members on board were injured.
- On 14 March 2008, an Air Algérie Boeing 737-800 (registered 7T-VKA) that was operating Flight 1143 from Paris to Sétif with 120 people on board suffered extensive damage during a hard landing at Ain Arnat Airport.
Hijackings
- On 31 August 1970, three passengers armed with pistols and molotov cocktails hijacked an Air Algérie Convair CV-640 on a scheduled domestic flight from Annaba to Algiers and demanded the pilots to head to Albania instead. During a fuel stop in Brindisi, eleven passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft. As the aircraft was denied landing permission by the Albanian authorities, it diverted to Dubrovnik in then Yugoslavia instead, where the perpetrators could be arrested.
- When an Air Algérie Boeing 737-200 landed at Houari Boumedienne Airport on 31 March 1991 (during the Algerian Civil War) following a scheduled passenger flight from Béchar, a passenger threatened to detonate a hand grenade and insisted on being allowed to have a political statement on live national television, concerning the planned national election. The demand was rejected, and the hijacker was persuaded to give up and set free the 53 other persons on board.
- A similar hijacking occurred on 13 November 1994 on board an Air Algérie Fokker F27 Friendship (registered 7T-VRK) during a flight from Algiers to Ouargla. The aircraft with 42 occupants was forced to divert to Palma de Mallorca Airport, where the three perpetrators surrendered.
- On 25 July 1996 at around 9:00 local time, an Air Algérie Boeing 767-300 with 232 persons on board was hijacked at Oran Es Sénia Airport by a man who demanded to be flown to the United States, rather than to Algiers where the aircraft had been scheduled to leave for. After more than four hours of negotiation he surrendered to the local authorities.
- On 19 January 2003, Air Algérie Flight 6025 from Constantine to Algiers was hijacked shortly after take-off by a man who demanded the pilots fly the Boeing 737-800 to North Korea. The flight continued to Algiers, though, where the perpetrator could be restrained by police forces storming the aircraft. None of the 24 other passengers and 6 crew members were injured.
- On 19 August 2003, an Air Algérie Boeing 737-800 was hijacked by a mentally-ill passenger right after take-off from Houari Boumedienne Airport, who threatened to blow up the aircraft when the crew would not divert to Geneva (rather than to Lille as the flight was scheduled to). The crew carried out an allegedly necessary fuel stop at Oran Es Sénia Airport, where the man could be arrested.
See also
- List of airlines of Algeria
- Transport in Algeria