Southern Star Airlines was a short-lived South Sudanese domestic airline based in

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a population ...

, the capital and largest city of

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

. Southern Star Airlines was founded since the independence of the country on 9 July 2011. The airline owned only one aircraft, which was one de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100. Southern Star Airlines' inaugural flight took place on 20 August 2011. However, after only two months of ''"erratic operations"'', the airline closed, shut down all operations, and gave away its one and only aircraft to the Kenyan-based airline ALS.

History

Southern Star Airlines formed in 2011 shortly after its independence from Sudan. Ahmad Issa was appointed as the chairman and managing director of the company when it formed. The airline acquired one Bombardier Dash 8 for the airline, registration ''5Y-BZI''. The aircraft, previously leased to airlines such as

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airline ...

, Sakhalin Aviation, and TMK Air Commuter, was first leased to Piedmont Airlines back in 1988, and eventually was leased to Southern Star Airlines in August 2011. The first flight from the airline took place on 20 August 2011. The airline maintained steady operations, but two months into its business, the airline shut down all of its operations. The sole aircraft of the airline was leased to ALS - Aircraft Leasing Services in December 2011. The aircraft has been with that airline ever since.

Destinations

All of Southern Star Airlines destinations were exclusively inside of South Sudan. The destinations Southern Star Airlines served were

''(landing at Juba International Airport)'',

Malakal Malakal is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Upper Nile State, South Sudan, along the White Nile River. It also serves as the headquarter of Malakal county and it used to be the headquarter of Upper Nile Region from 1970s to late 1990s. ...

''(landing at

Malakal Airport Malakal Airport is an airport serving Malakal, a city in Malakal County in the Eastern Nile state of South Sudan. The airport is located just north of the city's central business district, adjacent to the main campus of Upper Nile University. M ...

)'',

Rumbek Rumbek ( ar, رمبك) is the capital of Lakes State, central South Sudan, and the former capital of the country. Location Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are an ...

''(landing at

Rumbek Airport Rumbek Airport is an airport in South Sudan, near Rumbek the capital of Western Lakes State. The airport is served by several national airlines and by air charter service providers. Location Rumbek Airport is located in Rumbek Central County, ...

)'', Aweil ''(landing at Aweil Airport)'', and Wau ''(landing at Wau Airport)''.

Fleet

When the airline shut down all operations in October 2011, its fleet consisted of only one aircraft:

References

External links

Archive of official websitePhoto of Southern Star Airlines' Dash 8-100
{{Airlines of South Sudan Defunct airlines of South Sudan Airlines established in 2011 Airlines disestablished in 2011 2011 establishments in South Sudan 2011 disestablishments in South Sudan Companies based in Juba