Aviation History
Air Mauritanie, founded in 1962, served as the country's flag carrier for over four decades, growing from leased DC-3s to Fokker F28 jets before financial collapse and a UK airspace ban led to its 2007 closure. A short-lived successor, Mauritania Airways, operated from 2006 before also failing; Mauritania Airlines International, established in 2010 and later renamed simply Mauritania Airlines, is today the flag carrier. Mauritania holds a notable distinction in international aviation regulation, having become the first country ever removed entirely from the European Union's blanket airline safety ban list, in December 2012.
Established in September 1962 and beginning operations that October, Air Mauritanie became Mauritania's national carrier, initially flying leased Douglas DC-3s with technical support from Spain's Spantax.
The airline modernized its fleet with Fokker F28 jets as part of a broader 1980s-90s expansion.
On 1 July 1994, an Air Mauritanie Fokker F28 crashed while landing during a sandstorm at Tidjikja Airport, killing approximately 93 people — the airline's only fatal accident.
The United Kingdom barred Air Mauritanie from its airspace in January 2004 over regulatory non-compliance concerns.
Following aircraft seizures over unpaid leasing debts in September 2007, financially crippled Air Mauritanie shut down.
Mauritania Airlines International was founded in December 2010 (rebranded Mauritania Airlines in 2018), becoming the country's new flag carrier and today the only airline flying domestically within Mauritania.
In December 2012 the EU lifted its blanket operating ban on Mauritanian carriers, making Mauritania the first country ever fully removed from that list.
Air Mauritanie (defunct 2007) · Mauritania Airways (defunct) · Mauritania Airlines
Wikipedia, EU Air Safety List records, aviation trade press
Aviation Firsts
Nouadhibou International Airport — Nouadhibou (eski adıyla Port-Étienne): Wikipedia kesin bir açılış/inşaat yılı vermiyor, ama 2 Temmuz 1942'de Port-Étienne Havalimanı'ndan kalkıştan kısa süre sonra meydana gelen bir Air France Lockheed Lodestar kazasını belgeliyor — kaza kaydının başlığının bizzat 'Port-Étienne Airport (NDB)' olması, alanın 1942'de zaten adlandırılmış, faal bir havaalanı olduğunu gösteriyor. Nouadhibou/Port-Étienne Moritanya'nın sömürge dönemi ana liman kentiydi ve yalnızca 1958'de planlı başkent olarak kurulan Nouakchott'tan çok öncesine dayanıyor — bu yüzden Nouadhibou'nun havalimanının Nouakchott'unkinden eski olması makul, ama hiçbir kaynak açık bir açılış yılı vermediği için tentative. (Nouakchott'un kendi ilk havalimanı da hiçbir kaynakta tarihli değil; şehrin 1958'den önce var olmadığı düşünülürse Nouadhibou'dan daha eski olamaz.) · Wikipedia ↗
Air Mauritanie (1962): Eylül 1962'de Moritanya'nın ulusal havayolu olarak kuruldu; operasyonlar Ekim 1962'de Spantax'tan kiralık DC-3'lerle başladı. 1967'de (Moritanya hükümeti %60, Air Afrique %20, UTA %20) ve 1974'te 'Société d'Economie Mixte Air Mauritanie' olarak yeniden yapılandırıldı. Eylül 2007'de alacaklıların ödenmemiş kira borçları nedeniyle uçakları haczetmesinin ardından faaliyeti durdu ve tasfiye edildi; halefi Mauritania Airways (Tunisair %51 ile Aralık 2006'da kurulmuş) Air Mauritanie'nin çöküşünden yaklaşık iki ay sonra uçmaya başladı. · Wikipedia ↗
No documented foreign entrant found. Found one foreign entrant, but it fails the definition: "Afroport Airport Service," a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Airports, was announced in December 2018 to take over airport management at Nouakchott-Oumtounsy — this is an airport management/operations concessionaire, not a ground-handling company, and is explicitly excluded by the task's rules. No separate third-party ground-handling company was found for Nouakchott in the sources checked.