Solenta Aviation is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with its maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport. The company was founded in 2000[1] and operates cargo flights on regional routes throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa on behalf of DHL Aviation. Solenta Aviation also operates extensively for the oil and gas industry ("OGP"), offering passenger charter, cargo and aircraft lease services.
![]() | This article needs to be updated. (August 2014) |
![]() | |||||||
| |||||||
Founded | 2002 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating bases | OR Tambo International Airport Libreville International Airport Oued Irara–Krim Belkacem Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 31 | ||||||
Headquarters | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||||||
Website | solenta.com |
Solenta Aviation has adopted a de-centralised business model, thus being able to offer flexible short-haul cargo flights. From its home and maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport, it operates a number of DHL flights on regional routes to Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe using a fleet of ATR 42 and Cessna 208 Caravan cargo aircraft.[2]
There are several subsidiaries under separate airline licenses:
Further aircraft of Solenta Aviation are based and operated out of several other airports:
The Solenta Aviation mainline fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of March 2022):
Aircraft | In Service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ATR 72-201F | 1[11] | 0[12] | 0 | ZS-XCJ delivered 22/02/2017 Parked since 12/2020[13] |
Beechcraft 1900D | 17[14] | 0[15] | 16 | |
ATR 72-202F | 1[16] | 0[17] | 0 | ZS-XCL delivered 30/06/2017[18] |
Embraer ERJ 145LR | 1[19] | 0[20] | 50 | ZS-BBJ delivered 01/01/2017[21] |
Embraer ERJ 145LU | 1[22] | 0[23] | 50 | ZS-BBD delivered 11/10/2015 Parked since 12/2020[24] |
Total | 21[25] |
The Solenta Aviation fleet previously included the following aircraft:
On 6 June 2011 at 10:25 local time, an Antonov An-26 (registered TR-LII) ditched into the Gulf of Guinea 2.3 kilometres off Libreville, Gabon. The aircraft was operated by Scorpion Air, a Bulgarian company, under Solenta Aviation Gabon's AOC.[27] It had been on Flight 122A for DHL Aviation from Port Gentil to Libreville.[28][29] The three crew members and one passenger on board received only minor injuries.[28] Prior to the ditching, they had reported hydraulic problems; eyewitness reports suggest that an engine failure may have occurred.[29][30] As a consequence, the Gabonese government declared a temporary ban on aircraft of the types Antonov An-12, An-24 and An-26 in the country, pending the outcome of the investigation into the cause for the crash.[31]
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) gaboneco.com: French news article on Flight 122A] Media related to Solenta Aviation at Wikimedia Commons
Airlines of South Africa | |
---|---|
Major | |
Minor | |
Cargo | |
Defunct |