Ndege Airlines

Ndege Airlines
Ndege yendege

File:Ndegelogo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign RZ RWZ RIZIKURU
Founded	1 November, 1955 (as Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service) 13 February, 1968 (as Royal Rwizikuran Airways) 2 December, 2003 (as Ndege Airlines)
Commenced operations	2 December, 1957
Hubs	Zophar Bohannon International Airport
Fleet size	255
Destinations	TBC
Headquarters	Port Fitzhubert, Rwizikuru
Key people	Lanaraie Garon (CEO) Kuenda Gwisai (Chairman)

Ndege Airlines (Rwizi: Ndege yendege) is the national airline and flag carrier of Rwizikuru.

History

Establishment

Since the end of the Great War in 1935, plans were underway by colonial authorities in Riziland and national officials in Estmere to establish a regular passenger service to connect the two entities.

In 1942, Jean-Louis Milhaud chaired a commission to study the possibility of establishing an airline, which may have been tentatively called Estmerish Bahian Airways, or EBA. However, the report in April 1944 stated that:

"As of this period, there is no sufficient demand for flights between Euclea and Bahia, and in particular, between Port Fitzhubert and Ashcombe. While such services may improve the ability of wealthy persons in both the colony and the metropole to visit the other and conduct business much easier, and would certainly help speed up the delivery of goods, the fact is that with the technology available, it is impractical for there to be a regular service between the two communities."

Following independence from Estmere on 2 December, 1946, the government of Rwizikuru, led by President Zophar Bohannon were initially uninterested in developing a Rwizikuran airline, as they viewed it as an unnecessary expense which would distract from "developing the institutions of a Rwizikuran nation."

However, by 1955, under President Vudzijena Nhema, it became clear that there was an increasing demand for flights between Euclea and Bahia. In addition, Izibongo Ngonidzashe felt that "communities in the interior that lack road access should have a quick way of receiving goods."

Thus, on 1 November, 1955, the Airlines Act was passed, establishing the Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service (Rwizi: Basa veruzhinji ndege reRwizikuru) to be Rwizikuru's flag carrier, and granted it a legal monopoly on all domestic flights in the country.

Over the next two years, airplanes were purchased, mostly from Estmere, and a route network was planned.

It was decided at this point that there would be a hub and spoke system, with all domestic flights being from Port Fitzhubert to a given community, and vice-versa, while all international flights will be from Port Fitzhubert to a major city. All domestic flights would use the 24-seat TBD plane, whilst all international flights would use the 62-seat TBC plane.

Early years

TBD at the Port Fitzhubert Aerodrome, 1958

On 2 December, 1957, the first flight of the Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service took place, going from Port Fitzhubert to Port Vaugeois (present-day Port Tsalar, Mabifia), with Izibongo Ngonidzashe on the flight. Later that day, after returning to Port Fitzhubert, he oversaw the first international flight take off from Port Fitzhubert Aerodrome to Ashcombe, Estmere.

During the early years, most of its operations were largely devoted to domestic flights to serve remote communities, with only a handful of international flights to Euclean nations, mostly to Estmere. However, as Izibongo Ngonidzashe started focusing on Bahian socialism and began efforts to remove foreign influences from Rwizikuru, most of these international flights started to be cancelled.

In 1965, the Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service was renamed to Royal Rwizikuran Airways (Rwizi: Ndege veumambo veRwizikuru), in light of the establishment of the Rwizikuran monarchy. At around this time, it started to open international flights with leftist nations, with flights commencing to Urafaada, Kaiye-Tourie in 1966, while reducing flights to foreign countries to only a weekly flight to and from Ashcombe by 1968.

With the outbreak of the Mabifian-Rwizikuran War in October 1968, all passenger flights were grounded and suspended, partially to save fuel for the Air Force, and partially to prevent passenger planes from being shot down by Mabifia forces or by Rwizikuran forces. After the end of the war in March 1969, passenger services resumed in April, although flights to Port Vaugeois were discontinued, on account of its annexation by Mabifia.

During the 1970s, Royal Rwizikuran Airways began to suffer in quality of service, and in quality of equipment, as spare parts were starting to run out. However, due to the nation's poverty, and mistrust towards the outside world at the time, they were forced to rely on "hand-me-down" planes.

Attempted revitalization

In 1982, after having survived the attempted coup d'etat that previous December, Mambo Kupakwashe Ngonidzashe, son of Izibongo Ngonidzashe, instituted policies to open up Rwizikuru to the outside world. To this end, he ordered that Royal Rwizikuran Airways emphasize international flights.

During the 1980s, as Rwizikuru emerged from its diplomatic isolation, Royal Rwizikuru Airways began service to countries such as Mathrabumi, Senria, and (TBD), while services to Kaiye-Tourie were discontinued due to the poor relations after the 1981 putsch.

However, despite efforts at expanding its international presence, a major problem was the aging equipment operated by Royal Rwizikuran Airways, which greatly hindered its abilities to expand its operations to other countries, as well as the embezzlement of funds allocated to the airline by the House of Ngonidzashe and other corrupt officials in Rwizikuru, which meant it did not have enough money to buy spare parts or new aircraft.

This led to a situation where during the late 1980s and through the 1990s, the number of accidents and incidents involving aircraft operated by Royal Rwizikuran Airways rose dramatically: while there was only a single incident in 1967, which had no fatalities, in a ten-year period between 1988 and 1998, there were (TBC) incidents, of which (TBD) had fatalities.

Following the Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 815 crashing while landing at Verlois-Orly, Royal Rwizikuran Airways suddenly was faced with a problem, as many nations banned Royal Rwizikuran Airways from flying in their airspace as a consequence of their poor safety record over the preceding decades, including several crashes between 1986 and 2000 with fatalities.

After being banned from flying in many countries as a result of this incident, including the entirety of the Euclean Community, in October 2000, Kupakwashe Ngonidzashe issued a decree to suspend all international Royal Rwizikuru Airways flights indefinitely. That decree also laid off all the crews involved in international flights, including ground crew.

Ndege Airlines

By late 2000, the government started to draft up plans to privatise Royal Rwizikuran Airlines, as it was viewed by Kupakwashe Ngonidzashe that having direct government control over the airline was harming the airline's reputation, as it was vulnerable to corruption and embezzlement by both the House of Ngonidzashe and by corrupt officials. By privatising the airline, they would be able to divest itself of the responsibility of operating the airline.

Thus, in 2001, the government began searching for a buyer of the airline: buyers of the airline must be willing to:

• Replace the entire fleet with modern aircraft, and
• Continue operating domestic flights to Rwizikuran settlements

With these two conditions, it was unclear if they would find a buyer who would be able to meet both requirements. However, in November 2001, they found a willing buyer when Lanaraie Garon, a billionaire from Cassier agreed to these conditions.

Over the next two years, Garon focused his attention to replacing the long-haul aircraft that would be used to fly to international destinations, especially in Euclea and southern Coius, as it was deemed to be the most pressing by both Lanaraie Garon and the Rwizikuran government.

Garon decided that the most efficient way was to buy all the planes for international flights in bulk, so to ensure that mechanics and crews only need to be trained for one type of aircraft. Thus, Garon placed a bulk order of TBC (TBC) planes for use by Royal Rwizikuru Airways in January 2002: as planes started to arrive in late 2002 and early 2003, Garon hired new mechanics, and trained them to conduct proper maintenance, as well as hired new pilots, with the pilots being taught how to fly. The goal at the time was to ensure that by 2006, it would be allowed to fly in Euclean Community airspace once again.

On 2 December, 2003, Royal Rwizikuran Airways was renamed to Ndege Airlines (Shona language: Ndege yendege) by Lanaraie Garon, due to the associations of Royal Rwizikuran Airways with "the abysmal safety record of the 1980s and 1990s." It was felt that by renaming the airline, it would attract more customers than it otherwise could have done. On that date, international flights resumed, with a flight taking off from Zophar Bohannon Ngonidzashe International Airport at Port Fitzhubert to (TBC).

Over the next few years, as countries started letting Ndege fly into their airspace once again, Garon focused his attention to replacing the "ancient" and "cobbled-together" fleet of short-haul planes, with a modern fleet. To this end, he used a similar strategy as before, by placing a bulk order of (TBD) planes, hiring new ground crews and mechanics, and training new pilots.

By 2008, the last of the "ancient aeroplanes" have been retired, with most of them either being sold for scrap, or else donated to museums.

Destinations

Domestic

Hub

Focus city

Seasonal service

International

(TBC)

Fleet

(TBC)

Accidents and incidents

• 9 June, 1964 - Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service Flight 55: A TBD en route from Port Vaugeois to Port Fitzhubert stalled near Port Graham. When it made an emergency landing, it made a hard landing, although there were no injuries. The plane was repaired and brought back into service.
• 1 December, 1986 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 62: A TBD en route to Crogan from Port Fitzhubert made a crash landing: of the twenty passengers and five crew, only three were seriously hurt.
• 31 October, 1988 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 377: The tires of a TBA caught fire while taking off from Sirand International Airport to head to Port Fitzhubert, causing an in-flight fire which killed all 111 passengers and ten crew when the plane crashed while attempting to land back at Sirand.
• 5 March, 1992 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 61: A TBD en route to Mutupo from Port Fitzhubert crashed into the Rwizikuru River after a bird strike. Of the twenty-nine passengers and five crew aboard, twenty-eight died on the scene, while two died from injuries at the local hospital: only four recovered from their injuries.
• 18 June, 1994 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 79: A TBC en route from Nhiriri to Port Graham on a charter flight overshot the runway at Port Graham on landing, hitting a ditch: of the nine passengers and crew, only one person was injured. The plane was rendered a total loss.
• 2 January, 1995 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 36: A TBC en route from Port Fitzhubert to the village of Rokumupata, about halfway between Nhiriri and Mutupo, crashed into a mountain peak, killing all ten passengers and crew: it was judged to be a suicide by pilot.
• 18 August, 2000 - Royal Rwizikuru Airways Flight 815: TBA en route from Port Fitzhubert to Verlois-Orly lost two of its four engines due to problems with the fuse lines. While attempting to land, the plane rolled to the right, and thus crashed into an tower block. All 149 passengers and ten crew died on impact, and (TBD) died on the ground.

(TBC)

Logos

• RCASlogo.png

  Logo of the Rwizikuran Civil Aviation Service, 1955-1965

• RoyalRwiziAirlines.png

  Logo of Royal Rwizikuru Airways, 1965-2003

• Ndegelogo.png

  Logo of Ndege Airlines, 2003-