AirQuarius Aviation was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

based in Johannesburg, South Africa, operating chartered flights and

aircraft leasing Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide ...

contracted by companies throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. The airline's base was at

Lanseria Airport Lanseria International Airport is a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton to the northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757, Boeing 75 ...

, Johannesburg.

History

AirQuarius Aviation (Pty) Ltd was established by Gavin Branson in 1997 and started operations in 2001, doing business as AirQuarius Air Charter. The name was changed to Branson Air (Pty) Ltd, doing business as AirQuarius in 2007. At one time, it had 120 employees. The airline specialized in operating flights to political crisis areas. As such, AirQuarius was the only operator into Baghdad or

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. Other missions included UN flights into Afghanistan and Sudan. In 2011, it was alleged that an air operating certificate was awarded to an AirQuarius Charters aircraft on the basis of an inspection form which the inspector said was not written or signed by him. AirQuarius stopped operating on 7 February 2012.

Fleet

AirQuarius operated Fokker 28,

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet that was produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 was based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay tur ...

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro HS 748) is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorptio ...

and

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

aircraft.

References

Defunct airlines of South Africa Airlines established in 1997 Airlines disestablished in 2012 Companies based in Johannesburg 2012 disestablishments in South Africa South African companies established in 1997 {{SouthAfrica-airline-stub