DAS Air Cargo
 

DAS Air Cargo called in the administrators today. All flying has ceased. The aircraft is now stored at Manston until the future can be decided. A sad day for all involved. It has been a struggle for them since the EU ban.

:{ No more 10s at LGW

Did they own that 10-30 or was it leased? If leased who it was leased from?

According to news pages on their website Bulago Aviation:confused: It was at Manston last night but seems to have disappeared overnight unless it's locked away in the their hanger.

Has there been any formal announcement from DAS yet?

A real shame if this is the nail in the coffin for those guys.

The end?
 

A definite end the the name of DAS. It seems there may be some sort of takeover or buyout in the making. Hopefully jobs may be saved, nobody has yet been made redundant. We should know in a few weeks ;-)

sad
 

A sad day if they go to the wall, good luck to crews who are left:ok:

Nothing on their website as yet
http://www.dasair.com/index.asp
Be lucky
David

Hi

I hope some sort of "new" DAS can be resurrected from this, I have a few friends who are exceptional in their line of work.

Fingers crossed.

Vince

Phoenix of DAS
 

Maybe "Andy squared" will start their own rather than just be an operational/marketing arm for Joe?

ANA cancelled their contract with DAS some time ago and "Andy Square" markets the two GCO DC10 they have leased.

Sad day and I know of another Andy who is probably partying today.

Would that be an Andy of the Avient kind? I'm sure he was very eager to assist DAS when they had their problems. Although AIA might be able to pick up some of their work?

statement
 

Menzies Corporate Restructuring appointed to DAS Air Limited.


Date: 19 September 2007, London:
Andrew Duncan and Andrew Stoneman, partners from Menzies Corporate Restructuring (MCR), have been appointed as Joint Administrators to DAS Air Limited, the all cargo airline. The appointment was made on 17 September 2007. DAS Air Limited was established in 1983 to provide airline and ancillary services to Dairo Air Services, initially to satisfy the need in the African cargo market for a dedicated all cargo operator. Since then, the Group expanded to provide a successful, award winning, worldwide cargo service. In 2006, the company was awarded ‘Best All Cargo Airline to Africa’ by Air Cargo News and, just last month, operated a relief charter flight to help those affected by the floods in Sudan. At its peak in 2006, the company enjoyed annual revenues in excess of US$200m. However, a combination of events including fuel prices reaching an all time high and an unexpected legal case – duly won - by DAS Air against a sudden ban imposed on them for operating within the European Union (EU), saw their customer base drop and their financial performance decline dramatically. Andrew Duncan commented, “DAS Air has a strong pedigree and has enjoyed a market leading position for many years. The unfortunate events of last year, particularly the completely unforeseen EU ban, have, however, taken their toll.” He continued, “The EU ban has been lifted and the company is in good shape for reclaiming its position as a worldwide cargo carrier. We are working closely with the directors on a plan for taking the business forward and hope to sell the business as a going concern, thereby saving jobs and minimising disruption to the company’s customer base.” Interested parties should contact Geoff Bouchier or Paul Cooper at Menzies Corporate Restructuring

What will happen to the GCO's they leased? They are flying like crazy for Dasair. They must still have some work left.
Will they dissapear as soon as the lease ends (when is that?) and that will be the end for Das Air? :uhoh:
I sure hope not, would be another classic gone from Ostend ... :ugh:

Fingers crossed the outcome for all is a good.

Das
 

MKA 742
I beleve the two DC-10's operated by GAC are not run by Das but by Andy
(squared) meaning the old ANA Aviation services , anyone back this up !!! , this after all is a rumours network network ,
The Very sad thing is i worked for this company for six years and what ever people say they were superb and i hope along with many others in the industry they can find a away to bounce back

well done to all at Das Air Cargo you will be sadly missed

Fondly remember their fly-bys at the Biggin Hill Air Fair too! Hope all involved find employment soon.

Andy Squared
 

The biggest shame of the DAS demise is that the Andy's squared made lots of money, but DAS didn't. ANA have been relatively unaffected by their demise. Therein lies the crime...They sucked their brain and wallet out with a straw....lessons to be learned for any independent airlines left out there I am sure...

The final nail has not yet been driven into the coffin ... who knows what might happen? Nearly a year after the ban and still some signs of life.

rogerdabootler

Yes totally agree but those 2 pieces of s*** are not the only ones bleeding operators dry. It's been happening a lot over the years in this industry. In fact being a cargo broker is a license to money and boy are some printing. I despise them and their like.

Brokers
 

Gentlemen, not wishing to continue the arguement with regards to brokers. Ask yourself why are there are so many brokers ? Brokers deal directly with the freight fwders and sometimes directly with the actual shipper. In the case of a freight fwder going via a broker.......all cargo airlines advertise their telephone number and are not too difficult to contact directly. If you want a DC10F then there are a finite number available. Same for a B747F. Same for a AN12.....etc. Is it because the freight fwder is too lazy ? Or is it down to the invoice flow between the freight fwder /manager / individual looking for a " Harrods Hamper ".

Not all brokers are the same. Some are better than others.

In the case of A & A, yes agreed, they made alot of money. From memory and back in the late 80`s when is was the B707 in/out of LGW they both struggled to make it work......and work it did. Good for them if they made alot of money. DAS grew with their success.

I work for a Cargo Airline, nothing to do with DAS or A & A if you are wondering.

Brokers and things
 

Need to Know - You point is well made, half the all cargo airlines, wouldnt know a retail customer if he came up and slapped them on the face and said can i give you all my money - brokers have a big role to play and do. Also it gives an airline multiple distribution channels too...trawler fishing concept.!

I don't view A squared as a broker, they had a JV with DAS which appears to be very one sided. One person had the assets, fixed costs and liabilities, the other the customers and no fixed costs....one party still thriving..the other not....and when it got tough the JV was dissolved..apparently.

The real sad thing is that this industry doesnt seem to learn from its mistakes, many of the operators have a romantic notion of flying, which is fine, if you romantic notion is viable and if it was my airline I would want to know I was making money and not just activity for activities sake. I know of and deal with companies today, who are based in one part of the world and turn over their global commercial activity to someone in another part of the world. Thats just plane (excuse the pun) daft.!

Lets put some real facts together on this , ANA were the GSA for Das , and were for many years , they all built the business together , in fact it was JCR who put A+A together , yes Das had the fixed costs , but Das would never have got where they were if it was not for ANA , for a long time they both needed each other , and the commercial and operational side of ANA gave Das alot of credibility ,they would not have had otherwise , I have dealt with both companies for many years , and they both made alot of money over the years , I think ANA invested their money alot better than what Das did , as in all JV's mistakes get made , the biggest mistake was a certain Director of Das giving notice to ANA as the GSA , and letting it be known in the market that they could be looking for a new partner....after that I think the writing was on the wall , plus I think in the end the "hunger" was gone at top levels of the company , but the staff there were second to none , and everybody worked as a team ,alot of ANA staff concidered themselves as DAS , its a shame to see them go , but in aviation , the small boys are getting smaller and going , and the big guys are growing

What was ANA supposed to do when DAS got banned from EU ops (justified or not is another question)? Call it quits? Nah..
I'm pretty sure they would've loved to stick with DAS instead of turning to a MIA carrier for their biz. In addition to losing its "in-house" carrier, ANA found themselves in growing competition with Avient, who enlarged their fleet with..out of all...ex DAS aircraft. After the ban, DAS returned to a changed market, struggling to regain their position with ANA and in the market.

There are several sides to this story

Firstly every Airline has to choose a route to market; either direct sell to brokers and forwarders and sometimes end user or they appoint a GSA. The benefits of this are that a GSA isn't a fixed cost and all ready has a office network and client base.

Knowing how unreliable Cargo airlines, a lot choose the GSA route as one customer is easier to deal with than 60 plus all wanting to know if they've shipped.

One of the key things is a good broker can match add-hoc with timetable and the right equipment with the customer.

A good sales department would cost £100,000 minimum possibly £250K which is a lot to fund running 3 DC 10's

das air cargo
 

sorry guys for bringing things up again , but has anyone realised that das air cargo was more about who was right who was wrong ,whether it be ANA or Das Air does any one of you think about the crews who tried to reach every possible route work and under pressure, no i will rest my case ,every single capt ,fo , fe , loadmaster worked their b....ll..oks off to try and make things right , but due to circumstances your best is not ,sometimes good enough

Das Air Cargo RIP

Well I to hope the crews have found other work. One thing in on their side is there are a few more jobs going at the moment.

Rumour has it that there may be an anouncment about a buyer this week. Does anyone Know any more?

news?
 

The 16th is the end of the four week period assigned by the administrators to find a buyer. So tomorrow should be the day when we find out what deal has been struck ;)

Any DC 10 pilots looking for working, and still want three engines strapped to your back, aplly to EVA AIR, u get 5000 US a month average, and 8-9 block days off a month, as for routes, lots of USA, some europe.

das air cargo
 

Flight Mechanic ,all very good you stating DC - 10 work around but most of these guys are not in the region of getting visa's easily , quote i hope i do not offend anyone please!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are all profesional DC-10 Captain's ,Fo's and Fe's but they are limited to where they can work and operate ,unless the company helps them to obtain the right paperwork ,

again sorry if i'm wrong or offend anyone from Das Air

Twitcher
 

Any news on the outcome of Das Air ,yet

EVA takes any ICAO ATPL, i've heard good things about DAS Dc 10 crews.dont worry abouts visa, taiwans hardly recognised by many countries

update
 

It seems there are still buyers interested. Hopefully a decision by Friday. All staff are still being paid as they wait.

DAS a slight aside
 

Apologies first off.

Anyone remember Ray Williams last flyby at EGKB before retirement? Did he actually touch the mains onto concrete? looked like it from the hospitality tent!

PM me if anyone has a pic, mine lost in house move.

latest news.....
 

Somebody has indeed agreed to purchase the entire DAS Air operation. :)
It will take a week or two now to complete the legal and financial matters.
I have no idea though of who it is yet or what their intentions are.

At last.........
 

The official announcement on the new owner will be made on wednesday this week. Anybody care to make any guesses before we get to find out officially? ;)

Avient................:eek:

I would like to know what they are buying? and what is Das? from my understanding the AOC and traffic rights are Dairo Air Services from Uganda , if it is Das that is being sold what do you get for your money? as without Dairo , I would not have thought there was much to sell... apart from 1 old DC10 with very high hours and cycles and also in need of a c check. But would really like to see a buyer who will put them back in the sky again.

Avient supposedly getting 4th DC10 in Dec, could this coincide with the sale of DAS ??:confused: