Air Afrique
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Afrique was based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and was established as a transnational African airline
[edit] History
On March 28 1961, cofounded by Air France and the following 11 Western African countries:
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Republic of the Congo
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Senegal
- Togo
On July 24 1987, Hussein Mohammed Hariri, a man claiming to be a member of Hezbollah, hijacked an Air Afrique DC-10 en route from Rome to Paris. He demanded to be flown to Beirut and, as a sign of his determination, murdered a French passenger, one of 148 passengers on board the flight. He also seriously wounded a stewardess who attempted to overpower him.
In 2001, the 11 African cofounders, which originally owned 68% of the company, sold almost two thirds of their stake in the company to Air France and other private investors in exchange for a $69 million bailout.
[edit] External links
- Google Groups - History of Air Afrique
- Terrorism Knowledge Database - Hezbollah attacked Airports & Airlines target (July 24 1987, Congo (Brazzaville))
- Air France
