Two shipping companies, "Compagnie Générale Transatlantique" and "Compagnie de Navigation Mixte", were the owners of a majority stake (98%) in Air Algérie until Algeria gained its independence in 1962. Following independence, the "Délégation Générale" in Algeria and Air France took over a controlling interest. The financial structure changed in , when the shipping companies and Air France ceded a 31% interest, and the Algerian government took possession of 51% of the company assets, with the airline gaining flag carrier status. In , the government increased the participation in the airline to 57%. That month, a contract was signed for the acquisition of two Ilyushin Il-18s aimed at operating the Algiers–Moscow service. Air Algérie took delivery of just one of these aircraft, as the contract was later cancelled. The sole Il-18 in the fleet was used by the government. There were eight DC-4s in the airline's fleet by . That year, four ex-Lufthansa Convair 440s were bought and converted to the 640 version. These aircraft came to replace the ageing DC-4s. Charter operations made up to 20% of the airline activities.