La Société Tunisienne de l'Air, trading as Tunisair () , is the national airline of Tunisia.

History

thumb|Tunis Air [[Douglas DC-4 at Paris (Orly) Airport in 1957]]

The carrier was formed by the government of Tunisia as Société Tunisienne de l'Air in late 1948. The initial investment was FRF 60 million, with shareholding split between the government (35%), Air France (35%) and another interests (30%). Air France transferred some of its DC-3s and routes (which included Tunis–Bone–Algiers, Tunis–Ajaccio–Nice, Tunis–Bastia–Nice, Tunis–Rome and a cargo flight between Tunis and Marseille) to the new airline for it to start operations; these commenced on 1 April 1949. The remaining 20% of the stake is floated under the ticker TAIR. The position of CEO was replaced by a head of general management, and a chairman of the board of directors. Montassar Bnouni and Habib Mekki were appointed respectively. Habib Mekki also holds the position of Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport.

Annual reports for Tunisair do not appear to be regularly published; figures can also appear to be inconsistent in industry and press reports. Figures for the Airline (or the Group) seem to be as shown below (as of year ending 31 December):

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center;"

|-

!

! 2014

! 2015

! 2016

! 2017

! 2018

! 2019

! 2020

! 2021

! 2022

! 2023

! 2024

! 2025

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Turnover (TND m)

| 1,114

| 857

| 995

| 1,280

| 1,793

| 1,868

| 596

| 733

| 1,428

| 1,580

| 1,635

! 1,627

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Net profit (TND m)

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

!

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Number of employees

| 3,747

|

| 3,579

| 3,765

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

!

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Number of passengers (m)

| 3.5

| 2.8

| 3.0

| 3.5

| 3.8

|

|

|

|

|

| 2.6

! 2.5

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Passenger load factor (%)

| 71.8

|

|

| 74.4

| 74.5

|

|

|

| 74.5

| 72.8

| 73.1

! 76.1

|-

| style="text-align:left" | Number of aircraft (at year end)

|

|

| 29

| 29

| 28

|

|

|

|

|

|

!

|-

| style="text-align:left" | <small>Notes/sources</small>

|

| <br />

|

|

|}

thumb|The head office of Tunisair

Head office

Tunisair's head office is located on Route X near Tunis–Carthage International Airport in Tunis.

Destinations

Tunisair flies to destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Its main base is Tunis–Carthage International Airport.

As of November 2023, the airline serves 24 countries on 68 routes.

Codeshare agreements

Tunisair has Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

  • Emirates
  • Middle East Airlines
  • Royal Jordanian
  • Etihad Airways

Interline agreements

  • Air Canada
  • Air Burkina
  • Kuwait Airways
  • WestJet

Fleet

Current fleet

thumb|A Tunisair [[Airbus A319-100 at Zurich Airport in 2011.]]

The Tunisair fleet consists of the following aircraft, :

{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;text-align:center;margin:1em auto;"

|+ Tunisair Fleet

|-

!rowspan="2"| Aircraft

!rowspan="2"| In Service

!rowspan="2"| Orders

!colspan="3"| Passengers

!rowspan="2"| Notes

|-

!<abbr title="Business class">C</abbr>

!<abbr title="Economy class">Y</abbr>

!Total

|-

|Airbus A319-100

|2

|&mdash;

|12

|102

|114

|

|-

| rowspan=2 |Airbus A320-200

| rowspan=2 |11

| rowspan=2 |&mdash;

|32

|114

|146

|

|-

|&mdash;

|162

|162

|

|-

|Airbus A320neo

|5

|&mdash;

|12

|138

|150

|

  • Boeing 737-500
  • Boeing 747

Recent developments

thumb|left|Tunisair [[Airbus A300|Airbus A300-600 at Paris-Orly.]]

Tunisair became the first Airbus A319 customer in both the Arab World and Africa when it ordered three aircraft in October 1997, along with four Airbus A320s.

  • On 12 January 1979, a Boeing 727 was hijacked and diverted to Libya after the hijackers demanded the release of Tunisian trade unionist Habib Achour. In Tripoli, the hijackers surrendered. There were no fatalities.
  • On 11 February 1992, a Boeing 727 rolled out of its hangar at Tunis–Carthage International Airport during an engine test due to technicians forgetting to set the aircraft's brakes. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
  • On 6 February 2013, an Airbus A320 operating as Flight 712 excursed from the runway while landing at Tunis–Carthage International Airport. All 83 people on board survived, but the aircraft was declared a hull loss.

See also

  • TunisAir Express
  • Transport in Tunisia

Notes

References

Bibliography