Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these countries did not have the capability to create and maintain a national airline. It was headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The carrier was a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as well as the French Union's smaller IATA-like ATAF.
Air Afrique began a steady decline in the early 1980s. Mismanagement, corruption, and the downturn in the aviation industry after the 11 September 2001 attacks led the airline to a crisis that ended with its liquidation in early 2002. Less than a year earlier the company had about 4,600 employees to service a fleet of just six planes; at the time of closure the carrier was 35%-owned by Air France, and it had one leased operative aircraft. At that time, the company partially owned Air Burkina (17%), Air Mali (11.5%) and Air Mauritanie (32%).
Even though there were plans to revive the airline with the creation of a new company, they never materialised, as it was succeeded by short-lived Afrinat International Airlines. Air France took over most of Air Afrique routes.
Read more about Air Afrique: History, Destinations, Fleet, Accidents and Incidents
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—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)