- National Airlines (N8)
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This article is about Michigan-based National Airlines (est. 1985). For other uses of the name, see National Airlines. For 'national airlines', see Flag carrier.
National Airlines 
IATA
N8ICAO
MUACallsign
MURRAY AIRFounded 1985 Hubs Willow Run Airport Fleet size 7 Destinations Headquarters Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, USA Website nationalairlines.aero National Airlines is an American airline based in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, United States.[1][2] It operates on demand cargo and passenger charter services. Its main base is Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti.[3]
Contents
History
The airline was established in 1985 and started operations in December 1986. It began with Mitsubishi MU-2 aircraft, which it developed for cargo use. In April 2005, Murray Air and its sister company, Murray Aviation, merged operations under Murray Air’s newly acquired Part 121 certificate. Murray Aviation will continue as a separate business entity for the time being, but will join with Murray Air in a strong operational alliance.[4] In December 2008, after the airline was acquired by National Air Cargo, Murray Air changed its name to National Airlines and operates under the National Air Cargo Group, Inc. umbrella.
National Airlines used to operate scheduled charter passenger flights from Oakland County International Airport to Kokomo Municipal Airport in Kokomo, Indiana, Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Illinois, Spirit of St. Louis Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, and Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (with some flights making intermediate stops at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan) for Chrysler Corporation employees but also sold seats on those flights to the general public. These flights were operated by Saab 340 and BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft in 30 and 19 seat configurations respectively. This service is no longer operational.
On the cargo side, National Airlines operated two Douglas DC-8-63CF's and one Douglas DC-8-71F on scheduled and charter operations worldwide.[3] In April 2009, the carrier began cargo flights from Ypsilanti, Michigan to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan; the flights were extended to Kandahar International Airport in August.[5]. This service was discontinued in 2010, although National continues to operate a DC-8-63F, a DC-8-71F, and a DC-8-73F on an ad hoc charter basis.
During the summer of 2010, the airline purchased three former Air France Boeing 747-400BCF aircraft. These aircraft were placed on Icelandic registrations as TF-NAC, TF-NAD, and TF-ALF and all were operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic.[6]. In June 2011, TF-ALF was re-registered in the United States (N949CA) and National began operating the aircraft in September 2011.
During 2010, Pemco World Air Services began converting the first of five Boeing 757-200 aircraft into a combination passenger/cargo configuration for service with National Airlines; certification of the type was expected to occur during the first quarter of 2010. [7] National's innovation in the fledging 757 combi-freighter charter market was subsequently noted by Global Aviation Holdings - North American Airlines, who rapidly instituted conversion plans of their own to effectively compete[1]. PEMCO's delivery of National's combination aircraft has been delayed to first quarter 2012. In preparation for the operation of it's combination aircraft, National leased a 757-200 aircraft in all passenger configuration (N169CA) and began operating the aircraft in an on-demand charter basis in May, 2011.
Fleet
National Airlines Boeing 757-200 passenger plane
As of October 2010, the National Airlines fleet includes:[3][6]
- Three Boeing 747-400BCF not yet on certificate
- One Douglas DC-8-63CF
- One Douglas DC-8-71F
- One Douglas DC-8-73F
- One Jetstream 31
- One Boeing 757-200
Four Boeing 757-200 aircraft are planned to be introduced into service during 2011.[7]
References
- ^ "Township Map." Ypsilanti Township. Retrieved on June 22, 2009.
- ^ "Welcome to National Airlines." National Airlines. Retrieved on October 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 53. 2007-04-10.
- ^ Murray Air 1 April 2005
- ^ "National Air Cargo Extends Flights from Bagram Air Base to Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan". AllBusiness. 6 August 2010. http://www.allbusiness.com/transportation/air-transportation-airlines-air-freight/12612460-1.html. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b "National Airlines puts its first Boeing 747-400 freighter into service". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 18 September 2010. http://blog.seattlepi.com/worldairlinenews/archives/221855.asp?source=rss. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b "National Airlines to operate five Boeing 757-200 combi aircraft". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 20 October 2010. http://blog.seattlepi.com/worldairlinenews/archives/225522.asp?source=rss. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
External links
Categories:- Airlines of the United States
- Airlines established in 1985
- Charter airlines
- Companies based in Michigan
- Ypsilanti, Michigan
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