DAS Air Cargo

DAS Air Cargo was a Ugandan cargo airline based at Entebbe. It operated all-cargo services between Europe and 20 cities throughout Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Entebbe was a major hub for business in east and southern Africa and also for flights from Bangkok which stage through Dubai. Its main bases were London Gatwick Airport and Entebbe International Airport, with hubs at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Dubai International Airport and Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The European office was at Crawley, England

In 2006 DAS Air Cargo was banned from conducting flights within the European Union. On 6 March 2007, the European Commission, 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. The aircraft is now stored at Manston, England.

It was announced on 20 November 2007 that Continental Aviation Services (Nigeria) Ltd has bought all of the business and assets (including the sole remaining DC10 aircraft), however the liabilities remain with Das Air Ltd.

Air cargo

Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.

Aircraft types

Cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft:

History

Early years

The first cargo flight took place on the 7 November 1910 in the USA, between Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. Philip Orin Parmelee piloted a Wright Model B aeroplane 65 miles (105 km) carrying a package of 200 pounds of silk for the opening of a store. Newspaper clippings quoted the Wright brothers as stating he covered the distance in 66 minutes, but the flight was officially recorded at 57 minutes, a world speed record at the time. It was the first “cargo only” flight solely for the transport of goods; the first flight commissioned by a client, and the first example of multimodal air transport, since the pieces of silk were transported by car from Columbus aerodrome to the store.