Civilian aircraft

In addition to its military commitments, Khormaksar was the operating base for a number of civilian registered companies. Prominent among these was the local flag carrier, Aden Airways, which operated a fleet of around a dozen twin and multi-engined aircraft on passenger carrying routes from its apron at the eastern extreme of the airfield. A number of other civil-registered aircraft owned by local businesses and private owners could be found dotted around the apron when they were not away on business or leisure activities.

Taking photographs of civil registered aircraft for anyone on the RAF side of the airfield was relatively easy and entailed either waiting for them to taxi along the peri-track or simply walk round the portable barbed-wire ‘security’ barrier to the apron. Although all of the images displayed in the following galleries were taken by the author, unless indicated otherwise, images from contributors are most welcome.

Aden Airways and locally-based aircraft

Having had many years of experience of operating routes through the Middle East area, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) decided in the late forties to set up a subsidiary airline based in Aden. Thus, on 7 March 1949, Aden Airways was born, the initial fleet comprising six DC-3s which BOAC had ‘sold’ to its new sibling. For the whole of its existence the Aden Airways fleet was structured around this venerable aircraft and was bolstered further in the fifties by the addition of a few Avro Ansons and DH Rapides for short-range, internal routes.

As competition from airlines operating out of other Middle Eastern countries increased, Aden Airways began to lose custom and had no option but to obtain larger, faster and more luxurious aircraft for its routes to Egypt, East Africa and to the northern countries of Arabia if it were to survive. The opportunity was, thus, taken to ‘purchase’ three Canadair Argonauts from its parent company, BOAC, and they duly arrived at Khormaksar in 1960. The Argonaut was basically a DC-4 fitted with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and from an airmen’s perspective, produced a sound reminiscent of a Lancaster. However, these were already eleven years old and they soon succumbed to the inhospitable climate of Aden. One by one corrosion took hold and they were withdrawn in 1963/4, replaced by a second-hand pair of Viscount 760Ds, plus one other leased from Central African Airways.

As the colonial troubles of the mid-sixties intensified, sabotage became a real issue and one of the company’s DC-3s was destroyed by a bomb with the loss of all 31 people on board, as it flew down the east coast towards Khormaksar. With the imminent withdrawal of British forces, the deteriorating operating conditions up-country and the difficulty in persuading pilots to remain in or move to Aden, the Aden Airways board decided to cease operations and DC-3, VR-AAZ flew the last scheduled service to Mukeiras and back on 30 June, 1967.

A comprehensive history of Aden Airways can be found in the excellent Dacre Watson book, ‘Red Sea Caravan’, further information about which can be found on the Bibliography page.

Civilian aircraft

Aden Airways and locally-based aircraft

Twin-prop aircraft

Multi-prop aircraft

Jet-engined airliners