Republiair

Republiair is the national flag carrier of Republia, a member of The Cutaway States to the north of Ourcity. The airline was founded as a result of the split between all four Cutaway States and Ourcity.

## Republiair

### Headquarters

Truss Tower, Business District, Grestin, Republia

## History

Republia International Airline Flighting Company was founded in January 1971 in Grestin, Republia. The Republian government decided three years prior that in order to stay at the forefront of the Cutaway States, they required an international airline to undertake flights between Republia, Ourcity and the other cutaway states. The first flight was in September 1971 from the newly built Akklid Hammud International Airport in Grestin. Until June 1974, they only had one aircraft, that being russian-built **Tupolev** **Tu-134** RP-AKH. Once the year 1974 rolled around, They decided that they needed to expand their route network. Previous to this date, They only operated two flights, one to Ourcity Worldwide Aerodrome (Later became Heathwood in 1973) and Cumonico Municipal. June 1974 saw 4 new routes and 6 new aircraft introduced into the airline, with the new routes consisting of Grestin to Lonchester, Grestin to Edinburgh, Grestin to Moscow and Grestin to Toulouse. The fleet introduced at this time were 5 Republian-built **Trakolaiv TRA4441s** and 1 **de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.** All of these aircraft are still in service to this day. The airline operated with this structure all the way until April 1990, when the decision was made to rebrand the airline into Republiair. At this time, The Moscow and Edinburgh routes were terminated due to lack of demand. In 2005, The airline began flying to Callastakia in Cameron for the first time ever, due to border restrictions only permitting entry by air travel. It was at this time that Republiair changed its main Ourcity destination to Oakley rather than Heathwood due to cost cutting methods. In 2013, Republiair flew their last flight to Toulouse, which would be their final flight outside of the island. In 2020, Republiair ordered one brand new **Bradford's Aerospace BT390** aircraft, which is expected to be delivered in late November 2021.

## Routes and Fleet

Republiair has operated a range of routes and aircraft over its time in operation, which are listed below.

### Republiair Fleet

 **Trakolaiv TRA4441** | 4 (1)
 **Trakolaiv TRA4442** | 1
 **de Havilland Canada DHC-6** | 1
 **Bradford's Aerospace BT390** | 1

## Accidents & Incidents

Republiair has had a relatively large number of Accidents & Incidents for their category, with 7 in total. Two of these 7 were major-scale fatal incidents which temporarily or permanently resulted in the aircraft being written-off.

### **Incident 1 - 1974**

Upon delivery into Grestin airport, One of newly built Trakolaiv TRA4441 RP-FJKs wings struck a concrete wall whilst taxiing to a stand. The aircraft was unable to enter service for three months until the wing was fixed, and it passed all safety inspections. The aircraft entered service in January 1975 and began operating international routes.

### **Incident 2 - 1980**

Whilst operating a routine Moscow - Grestin flight on the 14th September 1980, Trakolaiv TR4441 RP-FJK was shot down by a Ukranian missile over Lutsk, North East Ukraine. The strike was later found out to be an accidental shot on behalf of the Ukrainian military, and compensation was paid. All passengers were fatally injured during the crash, and the aircraft was completely destroyed in the process. This was the same aircraft involved in the wing-strike during 1974. A revised version of the Trakolaiv TR4441 named the TR4442 was built as a replacement, and registered RP-UKR as a memorial to the accident.

### **Incident 3 - 1987**

During a take-off at Toulouse on March 1st, Trakolaiv TR4441 RP-PPQ suffered a tail-strike whilst pulling back, resulting in a decompression incident within the cabin, The aircraft circled round and landed back at Toulouse, with the damage taking 14 weeks to fix before the airframe re-entered service.

### **Incident 4 - 1995**

Trakolaiv TR4441 RP-TUV was involved in an engine failure whilst climbing out of Grestin airport on the 22nd November, resulting in a loss of said engine, meaning the aircraft had to land back at Grestin. Three passengers were lightly injured by shockwaves sent throughout the bodywork of the aircraft, resulting in a lawsuit against Republian Aircraft manufacturer Trakolaiv, as it was said the engine failure was caused by an error made by them.

### **Incident 5 - 2001**

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 RP-TWN was on final approach to Grestin airport late at night on the 18th August 2001, when it suddenly spotted a rogue Air Libya Boeing 737-200 pulling out onto the active runway without permission. It was too late in the landing sequence to abort due to the nature and geography of Grestin airport, resulting in RP-TWN striking the front half of the Air Libya 737, and subsequently overshooting the runway, crashing into a hard concrete wall. Both aircraft were badly damaged, with 3 fatalities reported on the Air Libya, including the First Officer, and 6 onboard the Twin Otter. The 737 was written off immediately and never saw service again, Although Republiair decided that instead of purchasing another Twin Otter to replace TWN, They would simply fix and overhaul the aircraft. The aircraft took around a year and a half to rebuild and re-certify, entering service for New Years 2003. The runway layout and markings were changed as a result of this accident at Grestin.

### **Incident 6 - 2009**

Whilst taxiing to an active runway at Northpool-Lonchester Airport, Trakolaiv TR4441 RP-TUV encountered a rare ground bird-strike in its left engine, the same one that suffered a failure 14 years prior. The engines on this aircraft were eventually refitted, and the plane re-entered service in late 2010.

### **Incident 7 - 2018**

During a routine parking manoeuvre at Cumonico Municipal, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 RP-TWN suffered a taxiway excursion where it slid into a small ditch. No passengers or crew were injured in this incident, although CMAA were fined £14,000 due to negligence of maintaining the runway on their behalf. The aircraft obtained little to no damage, and returned to service the next week.