DAS Air Cargo was a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of air cargo, cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airli ...

based at

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Region, Uganda, Central Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda pri ...

as Dairoo Air Services. It operated all-cargo services between

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and 20 cities 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 ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

was a major hub for business in east and southern Africa and also for flights from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

which stage through

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. Its main bases were

London Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

and

Entebbe International Airport Entebbe International Airport is the only international airport in Uganda. It is located about southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately by road south-west of the central business distric ...

, with hubs at

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airport a ...

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport () is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic as of 2024. It is also the busiest airport in the Middle East as ...

and

Murtala Mohammed International Airport Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) () is an international airport located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the entire state. The airport was initially built during World War II and is named after Mur ...

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. The European office was at

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

, England

History

The airline was established in 1983 in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and started operations in June 1983. It initially provided ad hoc charters and wet-lease flying for established operators. In 1987 it began regular cargo services between London and Lagos and Entebbe. In 1990, the DAS Air Cargo USA division was opened to operate cargo operations there for the airline. The division was based in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and shared its offices with DAS Air Cargo's main business partner, passenger

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

First Choice Airways First Choice Airways Limited (originally Air 2000 Limited) was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel plc, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) in 2008. It ...

-another airline which later went bankrupt. DAS Air Cargo also had an EASA 145 approved maintenance facility at

Kent International Airport Manston Airport is a British airport. Originally operated as RAF Manston, from 1916, it has also operated as a commercial airport and was known as Kent International Airport and, briefly, London Manston Airport. It has been closed since 2014. ...

in the UK. The facility was used for maintenance on their own aircraft as well as those of

World Airways World Airways, Inc. was an American airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. During the regulated era that ended after 1978, World was a supplemental air carrier. After US airline deregulation in 1979, the company op ...

Gemini Air Cargo Gemini Air Cargo was an American ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, & Insurance) cargo airline headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, United States. It operated worldwide cargo schedules and charters on a wet lease, wet-lease basis. Its main bases ...

and Avient Aviation. In 2006 DAS Air Cargo was banned from conducting flights within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. On 6 March 2007, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, the EU's executive arm, removed DAS Air Cargo from its list of banned aircraft after they made safety improvements. The company called in the administrators on 17 September 2007 and all flying stopped. Their aircraft were stored at Manston, England, which subsequently closed in 2015. On 20 November 2007, it was announced on that Continental Aviation Services (Nigeria) Ltd bought all of the business and assets (including the sole remaining DC-10), however the liabilities remain with Das Air Ltd.

Destinations

*Belgium - Brussels, Ostend *China- Shanghai *Finland Hensinki *France - Bâle/Basel, Chalons-Vatry *Ghana - Accra *Hungary - Budapest *Italy - Rome *Malta - Luqa *Serbia - Belgrade *South Africa - Johannesburg *United Kingdom - London-Gatwick, Manchester *United Arab Emirates - Dubai, Sharajah

Fleet

DAS Air Cargo consisted of the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

*On 30 April 2000, a

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

(registered N800WR) overshot the runway on landing at

and ditched at

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

, with the cockpit section broken apart. None of the 7 crew members were injured.

References

External links