Dark Continent Four Holers - African 707s Pt1: North Africa

During my childhood in the 80s, on the rare occasion I could get my dad to drive me up to Heathrow (Gatwick was my local and my dad was not a spotter) I was always thrilled by the variety of airlines on show.

Africa was an especially exciting location for interesting airlines. With Britain's colonial ties and business centre most English speaking African nations could be seen at Heathrow. Some of the more affluent airline's could afford new equipment so for example Ghana Airways, Air Zaire and Nigeria flew DC-10s, SAA 747s and Egyptair A300s, but well into the 90s most African flag carriers based their fleet around what they could afford. Near universally these were second-hand Boeing 707s.

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National airlines have rarely been a bastion of operating profit, but prior to the deregulation of domestic and international markets they were the primary means of air travel. This resulted in airlines often following the fortunes of the nations they represented along with pretty much every country having its own national carrier regardless of its size. Not necessarily common-sense (though you could at least guarantee minimum levels of service) but a boon for the aviation enthusiast who got to see a much wider range of airlines.

In this two part review we'll take a tour of some of the great African 707s that once operated the flagship routes of a whole series of national airlines, courtesy of Aeroclassics sublime 707-320B\C mould. We'll begin with North of the Sahara desert:

Royal Air Maroc CN-RMB
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RAM was formed in July 1953 with the merger of two smaller airlines dating from the late 40s and didn’t take its current name until June 1957 when the government took a 67.73% share. By April 1960 the first jet, a Caravelle, had joined the fleet of 4 L-749s, 4 DC-4s and 3 DC-3s. By 1969 all routes to North Africa and Europe used Caravelles but these were replaced by 727s and 737s in the 1970s. In 1975 the first second-hand 707s arrived. RMB was the second having previously been N382US delivered to Northwest in May 1968. Four 707s would wear the Moroccan registry whilst several others were leased at times. The 707s survived into the early 90s when they were replaced by a single 747 and 757s. RMB was sold to Omega Air as N149DM and converted to a freighter. She was sold to Skymaster in 1997 as PT-WSM and was withdrawn in 2005.

Libyan Arab Airlines 5A-DAK
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Kingdom of Libya Airlines began operations in December 1965 with Caravelles and F-27s, but was renamed to Libyan Arab when the King was ousted in 1969. A pair of new 727-200s arrived from 1970 followed by nine others from 1975. In addition a single 707 was acquired fitted out with a VIP interior and operated for the Libyan Government in LAA colours. This was 5A-DAK and she has served consistently with LAA since in spite of the airline’s travails centred on the Libyan State’s involvement with the Lockerbie bombing. She was still in service as late as 2003 though her present whereabouts are unclear.

Somali Airlines 60-SBS
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Somali Airlines was founded on 5th March 1964 after the country’s independence and was supported by Alitalia. Initial services were domestic using DC-3s, Cessnas and later Viscounts on regional services. A Boeing 720 arrived in 1974 for the London service followed by a pair of ex-AA aircraft in 1976. By 1985 the fleet consisted of two 707-320Cs and two F.27s; with routes operated from Berbera and Mogadishu to Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Nairobi and Rome. SBS and its sister SBT were both originally Lufthansa aircraft, SBS having been D-ABUL ‘Duisburg’, delivered in December 1966 and leased to Condor for 8 months in 1984. The 707s were replaced by A310s in 1988/89 but the disintegration of the Somali state ended the airline’s operations in 1991. SBS became EL-AJU and served with Liberia World, but only until October 1990 when she was sold and used for spares for the USAF’s KC-135s.

Sudan Airways ST-AFA
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Sudan Airways was formed as early as 1946 using De Havilland Doves. By the early 1950s a fleet of DC-3s flew services to regional destinations and in 1959 Vickers Viscounts started long-haul flights to London. It wasn’t until November 1972 that the first jets joined the fleet when a pair of British Midland 707s was leased in. These stayed with the carrier until the delivery of its own 707s in 1974 of which AFA was the first. A pair of 737-200s arrived in 1975 and several other 707s were leased during the 1970s but it wasn’t until the 1980s that 5 more were gradually picked up. ST-AFA has spent her whole career in Sudan and though seemingly in and out of service she was seen operating as late as 2006 at Sharjah.