Bellview Airlines was an airline headquartered at Bellview Plaza in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.[1] Founded in 1992 and having had 308 employees[when?],[2] it operated scheduled passenger flights within Africa as well as to Heathrow Airport out of Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.[2] The airline was shut down in 2009.[3]
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1992 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 2009 | ||||||
| Hubs | Murtala Mohammed International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Port Harcourt International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Premium Club | ||||||
| Fleet size | 13 | ||||||
| Parent company | Bellview Airlines Nig. Ltd. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria | ||||||
| Key people | Tunde Yusuf (Chairman), Kayode Odukoya (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.flybellviewair.com/ | ||||||
History edit
In 1992, Bellview Airlines emerged from Bellview Travels Limited, a Lagos-based travel agency, originally concentrating on offering executive charter services using a single Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft. In 1993 scheduled domestic passenger services commenced with a leased Douglas DC-9-30. In order to expand further, a subsidiary in Sierra Leone was founded in 1995, which later merged back into its parent company.
The Government of Nigeria set a deadline of April 30, 2007, for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise to avoid being grounded, in an effort to ensure better services and safety. Bellview Airlines satisfied the criteria of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and was subsequently re-registered for operation.[citation needed]
In October 2009, Bellview Airlines suspended all operations following the suspension of its London Heathrow services[why?].
Destinations edit
In July 2009, Bellview Airlines offered scheduled flights to the following destinations:[4]
Africa edit
- Cameroon
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Gabon
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Liberia
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
Europe edit
Incidents and accidents edit
- On October 22, 2005, Bellview Airlines Flight 210, a Boeing 737-200 aircraft with 117 people on board, crashed shortly after taking off from Murtala Mohammed International Airport en route to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, killing all 117 people on board. Bellview grounded all flights on the next day, but resumed operation again on October 24.[5]
- On December 19, 2005, a Boeing 737 operating a Bellview Airlines flight between Lagos and Freetown made an emergency landing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana due to hydraulical problems. On the following day, Nigerian authorities ordered all Bellview flights to be grounded and suspended the airline's license until December 22.[6]
Fleet edit
Over the years, Bellview Airlines operated the following aircraft types:[7]
- 2 Airbus A300-600 (between 1997 and 2000) (REG 5N-BVU, 5N-BVV)
- 5 Boeing 737-200 (since 2001)
- 5 Boeing 737-300 (since 2003)
- 3 Boeing 767-200ER (since 2005, for flights to London) (REG 5N-BGH-Stored, PP-VNS Sold to Varig Airlines, 5N-BHC-Returned to the lessor)
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Contacts." Bellview Airlines. 21 April 2008. Retrieved on 27 November 2010. "CORPORATE HEAD OFFICE Bellview Plaza 66b, Opebi Road, Ikeja P.M.B 21766, Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria"
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 85.
- ^ Bellview Airlines at airlineupdate.com Archived 2012-09-04 at archive.today
- ^ "Bellview Airlines: A tale of life, peak and plunge". ATQ News. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
- ^ [1]Lagos crash 2005
- ^ Nzeshi, Andy Ekugo And Onwuka (2006-01-03). "Nigeria: FG Clears Chanchangi, Converts Bellview License Revocation to Suspension". This Day (Lagos). Retrieved 2017-08-29.
- ^ "Bellview Airlines Fleet | Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
External links edit
- Bellview Airlines (Archive)
