Bakhtar Afghan Airlines Explained
Bakhtar Afghan Airlines is an airline from Afghanistan, which offers domestic flights. The company was founded in 1967 as Bakhtar Airlines, a name it kept until 1985, when it was renamed Bakhtar Afghan Airlines by Pashtun governments. In 1985 the company absorbed Ariana Afghan Airlines and became Afghanistan's sole airline company.[2] In 1988 the Ariana and Bakhtar brands merged. However, the airline relaunched in 2020.
Destinations
Bakhtar Afghan Airlines offer scheduled flights to the following destinations:[3]
Flights were operated using Yakovlev Yak-40 or de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft.
Accidents and incidents
- On 25 January 1972, a Bakhtar Yakovlev Yak-40 (registered YA-KAD) was damaged beyond repair when its hit trees during approach of Khost Airfield near the Afghan town of Khost.[4]
- On 18 April 1973, a Bakhtar Twin Otter (registered YA-GAT) carrying 16 passengers (most of whom were American or Canadian citizens) crashed upon take-off at Bamyan Airport, killing two passengers and two of the three crew members on board.[5]
- On 10 March 1983, a Bakhtar Twin Otter (registered YA-GAZ) operating a domestic flight from Kabul to Uruzgan crashed during a thunderstorm near the town of Ghazni, killing all 17 passengers and 2 crew members on board.[6]
- On 8 January 1985, another Bakhtar Twin Otter (registered YA-GAY) was damaged beyond repair in a landing incident at Bamyan Airport. There were no fatalities among the 17 passengers and 3 crew members.[7]
- On 4 September 1985 (during the Soviet–Afghan War), a Bakhtar Antonov An-26 (registered YA-BAM) was shot down by a surface-to-air missile near Kandahar. The aircraft was carrying 47 passengers and 5 crew members on a scheduled flight from Kandahar to Farah. There were no survivors.[8]
- On 11 June 1987, another Bakhtar An-26 (registered YA-BAL) was shot down by a missile near Khost, killing 53 out of the 55 people on board. The aircraft had been on a flight from Kandahar to Kabul. Rebels had downed the aircraft, thinking that it was a military Ilyushin Il-14.[9]
2020-2021 relaunch
Bakhtar Airlines was relaunched in 2020 for domestic flights. The new company operates a single Boeing 737-500 leased from Ariana Afghan Airlines.
References
- 5th Information on Bakhtar Airlines at the Aviation Safety Network
- Flight International. 23 May 1987. 5.
- http://www.timetableimages.com/i-bc/bakhtar2.jpg Bakhtar 1975 timetable
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/330610 Bakhtar 1972 incident at the Aviation Safety Network
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/330212 Bakhtar 1973 crash at the Aviation Safety Network
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/327695 Bakhtar 1983 accident at the Aviation Safety Network
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/327289 1985 Bakhtar incident at the Aviation Safety Network
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/327134 1985 Bakhtar shoot-down incident at the Aviation Safety Network
- https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/326760 Bakhtar 1987 shoot-down incident at the Aviation Safety Network
