Jump to content

Tunisair Express

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tunisair Express
IATA ICAO Call sign
UG TUX TUNEXPRESS
Founded1991
HubsTunis-Carthage International Airport
Fleet size5
Destinations12
Parent companyTunisair
HeadquartersTunis, Tunisia
Key peopleMontacer Bnouni, General Manager
Websitetunisairexpress.com.tn

Tunisair Express (French: Société des Lignes Intérieures et Internationales, Arabic: الخطوط التونسية السريعة) is an airline based in Tunis, Tunisia that was founded on 1 August 1991. Formerly known as Tuninter (Arabic: الخطوط الدولية) and SevenAir (Arabic: طيران السابع), its parent company is the national carrier Tunisair. It operates to destinations within Tunisia as well as some services to Italy, France, and Malta.

History

[edit]
Tuninter ATR 72-202, in 2004
Sevenair Bombardier CRJ-900, 2009
Tunisair Express CRJ-900, 2014

From its founding in 1990 until 2000, Tunisair Express was known as Tuninter, and bore the Arabic name "Domestic Airline" (الخطوط الداخلية). Initially limited to domestic routes, Tuninter obtained permission to begin international operations in 2000. On 7 July 2007 (7/7/7), the airline was renamed "SevenAir" (Compagnie Aérienne Sevenair Tunisie, طيران السابع). SevenAir was owned by a relative of the wife of the then-President of Tunisia, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, and was renamed TunisAir Express following Ben Ali's departure from Tunisia on 14 January 2011.[1] Tunisair Express transported a total of six million passengers between 1992 and 2008, carrying 300,000 passengers in 2008.[citation needed]

In December 2015, it was announced that Tunisair Express would be merged into Tunisair in the foreseeable future to achieve a better profitability.[2]

Montacer Bnouni was appointed as Director General of Tunisair Express in June 2024.[3]

Destinations

[edit]

As of November 2024, Tunisair Express operates scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations:[4]

City Country Airport Notes
Djerba Tunisia Djerba–Zarzis International Airport
Sfax Tunisia Sfax–Thyna International Airport
Tozeur Tunisia Tozeur–Nefta International Airport
Tabarka Tunisia Tabarka-Ain Draham International Airport
Gafsa Tunisia Gafsa – Ksar International Airport
Gabès Tunisia Gabès – Matmata International Airport
El Borma Tunisia El Borma Airport border town
Tunis Tunisia Tunis-Carthage International Airport
Malta Malta Malta International Airport
Monastir Tunisia Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport
Palermo Italy Palermo International Airport
Naples Italy Naples International Airport

Fleet

[edit]

As of November 2024, the Tunisair Express fleet consists of the following aircraft:[5]

Tunisair Express Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 72-600 2 72
Total 2

Accidents and incidents

[edit]
  • 6 August 2005, Tuninter Flight 1153; while on a flight from the Italian city of Bari to the island of Djerba in Tunisia, a Tuninter ATR 72 suffered fuel exhaustion and was forced to make an emergency landing into the Mediterranean Sea, 18 miles off Palermo, Sicily. The aircraft was carrying 39 passengers and crew, 16 of whom died. Officials at Bari airport reported that most of the passengers were Italian tourists. The aircraft had recently been fitted with an incorrect fuel indicator designed to be fitted only in a smaller version of this plane: the ATR 42. Therefore, the crew were unable to detect that the aircraft was running low on fuel. The airline was banned from flying into Italy for almost two years.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ (in French) « Sevenair devient officiellement Tunisair Express », Business News, 8 mars 2011
  2. ^ ch-aviation.com - Tunisair Express to be merged into Tunisair 14 December 2015
  3. ^ "Montacer Bnouni, nouveau DG de Tunisair Express". Managers (in French). 5 June 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Our network". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  5. ^ planespotters. "Tunisair Express fleet".
  6. ^ John Hooper (25 March 2009). "Tunisian pilot who prayed as his plane went down jailed in Italy". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
[edit]

Media related to Tunisair Express at Wikimedia Commons