Ultimate Air operates South Sudan evac flights

As fighting broke out earlier this month in the new country of South Sudan, several air cargo carriers have stepped up to help evacuate civilians and bringing needed supplies and personnel to the capital city of Juba during the hostilities.

While commercial flights into and out of the country were halted after violence flared up on July 9 at a military based near the city’s airport, South African carrier Ultimate Air operated more than 20 urgent air evacuation flights out of the country. The carriers, using Cessna Grand Caravans and Fokker 50 aircraft, helped bring more than 150 corporate staff of various non-governmental organizations to safety in nearby Entebbe, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya, during the intense fighting.

Ultimate Air, which has been providing aviation services across Africa for five years, operates a fleet of aircraft based in Juba serving the United Nations and other humanitarian air efforts since 2012. The Johannesburg-based carrier holds an Air Operators Certificate for Cessna C208s, Beechcraft King Air 200s and a Hawker800XP jet.

The company also manages a fleet of cargo An-26 aircraft that “are engaged in post-conflict and humanitarian air operations missions in the continent,” according to Ultimate Air. The airline is part of the Ultimate Aviation Group, which includes Ultimate Heli, a company that operates a fleet of single and twin-turbine helicopters for contract aviation in Africa.