AIR RHODESIA B707 OPERATIONS IN THE 70s

AIR RHODESIA

Air Rhodesia was founded as a subsidiary of Central African Airways and became an independent company in 1967 when C.A.A ceased to have a raison d' etre after the independence of Malawi ( Nyasaland), Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) which established their own national airlines. The company inherited some of the Vickers viscount and Dc3 of Central African Airways.Air Rhodesia,until the introduction of its jet operations, operated a very dense domestic network (Kariba, Salisbury, Victoria Falls, Bulawayo, Wankie, Fort Victoria, Buffalo Range and Gwelo) together with regional services to Johannesburg ( From Salisbury, Victoria Falls and Bulawayo), Durban, Blantyre, Beira , Louranco Marques (now Maputo) and Vilanculos.


The fate of the company closely followed the disturbed time of the South African region, economic sanctions imposed by the UN on Rhodesia (following its unilateral declaration of Independence and its "disdain" of the majority rule), civil wars in neighboring Mozambique , Apartheid in South Africa etc.... The jet age arrived in 1973 when Air Rhodesia took delivery of 3 BOEING 720-025. (see table)...The country managed to acquire these jet aircraft despite the UN imposed embargo and sanctions resorting, if I may say, to Machiavellian plans ....the delivery of these aircraft was quite epic. The new jets were put in service on November 1, 1973.

By clipperarctic (Air Rhodesia Boeing 720  Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Source:  www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson

AIR RHODESIA B720 OPERATIONS 70S -1973

Following the independence of Mozambique in 1975, Air Rhodesia was forbidden to serve this country as the new Mozambican government suspended the bilateral agreement and closed its aerial space to Rhodesian aircraft . Jet services were then restricted to serving South Africa as evidenced by the timetable dated April 1976.

Source:  www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson

AIR RHODESIA B720 OPERATIONS 70S -1976

The Timetable dated August 1979, will show no substantial differences from 1976. However in 1979 , the bush war had ended and the country was renamed Zimbabwe, For a short time , the national airline will be called Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia and then taking its actual name Air Zimbabwe in 1980. Following the lifting of the sanctions , the company will embark into a vast program of expansion by acquiring new aircraft and developing its network with its first intercontinental flights to London . This will be may be another captivating post on Utopiaairport. 

From the April 1, 1976 timetable,  this nice shot.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.