Gabon Express 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

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. It operated scheduled passenger services and passenger and cargo charters. It ceased operations in June 2004.

History

The airline was established in 1998 and started operations on 26 October 1998 between

and

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta. Nearby Cape Lopez is Gabon's weste ...

. The airline operated both Caravelle and HS 748 Aircraft. It grew to become the second largest airline in Gabon, operating 60 scheduled flights a week from Libreville. The airline's operations were suspended following the crash of one of its aircraft on 8 June 2004. Operations ceased on 15 June 2004. At the time the airline ceased operations, it was the only airline still operating Caravelle aircraft in scheduled passenger services.

Accidents and incidents

* On June 8, 2004, a Gabon Express flight using a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 Series 2A, departed from Libreville for a scheduled passenger flight to

Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku. Overview P ...

. Engine problems forced the crew to turn back for Libreville but the aircraft crashed 100 m offshore. Of the 30 people on board, 19 of them were killed. The Gabonese government proposed legal action against the company and banned it from operating, claiming it had failed to insure its aircraft.

Fleet

Over the years, Gabon Express operated the following aircraft types: * 3 –

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 ...

* 2 –

Grumman Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the co ...

* 2 –

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

* 1 –

Fokker F27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

* 1 –

NAMC YS-11 The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of t ...

References

External links

Gabon Express official website
at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine {{Airlines of Gabon Defunct airlines of Gabon Airlines established in 1998 Airlines disestablished in 2004 Companies based in Libreville Gabonese companies established in 1998