Union Aéromaritime de Transport
| Company type | Airline |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founder | Group of technicians and Chargeurs Réunis |
| Defunct | 1963 |
| Fate | Merged with Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux to form Union de Transports Aériens |
| Headquarters | Paris (8th arrondissement) , France |
Area served | West Africa, Far East, South Africa |
| Products | Passenger air transport |
Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT) was a French carrier with its main office located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
History
Established in 1949 by a group of technicians alongside the shipping company Chargeurs Réunis, UAT took over from the initial Aéromaritime, which had been created in 1934 to facilitate maritime operations in West Africa. The airline functioned throughout the postwar years until the rise of African nationalism prompted the emergence of regional airlines such as Air Afrique.
On 1 May 1955, UAT purchased Aigle Azur Extrême-Orient, the Far East branch of Aigle Azur, continuing to operate its routes under that name until 1961. Among its aircraft was a fleet that included three Boeing 307 Stratoliners.
Operations
In the early months of 1950, UAT initiated scheduled flights using Douglas DC-4 Skymasters to destinations like Dakar, Pointe Noire, and Saigon. By 1951, services to Dakar extended further to Abidjan. The airline introduced the De Havilland Comet 1A on 19 February 1953 for routes within West Africa and expanded to Johannesburg by November that same year. In September 1954, UAT incorporated Nord Noratlas aircraft into its operations, and in 1955 replaced the Comet planes with Douglas DC-6 models following reliability concerns experienced by BOAC with the Comet.
Additionally, UAT operated flights under contract for the International Control Commission, linking Saigon, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, and Hanoi with aircraft registrations F-BELU, F-BELX, and F-BHHR.
By February 1959, UAT was running fourteen weekly DC-6B flights from Le Bourget Airport to cities including Tripoli and Johannesburg. Passenger traffic on scheduled services increased significantly from 304 million revenue passenger-kilometers in 1957 to 468 million by 1960.
In 1963, UAT merged with Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux to create Union de Transports Aériens. The Aeromaritime brand persisted on certain aircraft into the late 1960s.
Historic fleet details
The types of aircraft operated by UAT included:
- De Havilland Comet 1A
- De Havilland Heron
- Douglas DC-3
- Douglas DC-4
- Douglas DC-6
- Douglas DC-8
- Nord Noratlas
Incidents
On 26 December 1958, a UAT Douglas DC-6B (registration F-BGTZ) crashed during takeoff at Salisbury, Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), resulting in three fatalities among seventy passengers and crew. The accident was caused by encountering a downdraft amid a tropical storm and occurred within airport boundaries.
On 29 March 1959, a UAT Nord Noratlas (F-BGZB) suffered an in-flight explosion between Berbérati and Bangui, killing all nine individuals onboard. Among the victims was Barthélemy Boganda, who served as prime minister of the Central African Republic autonomous territory.
Bibliography
- R.E.G. Davies, A History of the World's Airlines, 1964, Oxford University Press