From what I understand of Hydro Air, it's owned by a doctor that also owns the Rustenberg Hydro in Stellenbosch - hence the name. Graham Smith, former Chief Pilot-747 fleet of SAA, Air Mauritius, Air Namibia and formerly one of the original ops team at SAX - and a very highly respected individual - is the Flight Ops Director.
I hear that the SA CAA has grounded their aircraft due to lack of STC on various military mods on the ex El Al aircraft that were not removed prior to delivery. Can anyone shed any light on this?
The latest on ASA:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">African Star Wings Its Way To Europe
Business Day (Johannesburg)
December 27, 2000
By Kgamanyane Maphologela
Johannesburg
Independent airline African Star Airways says it is poised to begin scheduled flights between South Africa, Britain and Germany early
next year, taking on rival airlines head-to-head for the lucrative European air travel business.
CEO Joseph Kirama said African Star had obtained clearance from the civil aviation department to operate daily passenger and cargo
services from Johannesburg to London, Munich and Manchester.
The precise date of the inaugural flight has not been fixed, but Kirama said it would be towards the end of the first quarter next year.
Reservations would be open worldwide from the beginning of next year.
"We are totally confident of long-term success," Kirama said. "Our sales agents in Europe tell us they have received many solid
inquiries already about the new service.
"We know we will be taking on established airlines such as SA Airways, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa, but I have no
doubt we will be able to meet the challenge."
African Star chairman Gabriel Mokgoko said "very substantial capital injections from investorshareholders" had helped create a new
SA-owned airline "which we believe will achieve international standing".
The take-off will come more than two years after African Star was conditionally licensed to fly the routes. Since then, Mokgoko and
others have held continuing talks with the department and the Civil Aviation Authority on details of the operator's licence, and on the
lodging of passenger protection guarantees for passengers in the event of financial losses caused by cancellation or curtailment of
flights.
Industry analysts suggested last year the airline would not take off due to funding problems, a highly competitive environment and
high start-up costs.
It plans to fly three times a week to London's Gatwick, and four times a week to Munich on a stopover to Manchester, using Boeing
747- 300s obtained from Singapore Airlines.
The airline says it is in talks to add other aircraft and destinations at a later date, including regional capitals in southern and central
Africa.
"We had hoped to get into the air earlier than this, but were delayed by a number of unavoidable factors," Mokgoko said. "Also,
perhaps, we underestimated the sheer scale and complexity of the empowerment enterprise we committed ourselves to. But we are
on the way now."
Kirama said African Star was recruiting staff locally "to the fullest extent possible", including internationally experienced cockpit crew,
cabin staff, operations personnel, ground staff and passenger- service staff. </font>