Flash Airlines
Flash Airlines was a private charter airline operating out of Cairo, Egypt that was part of the Flash Group tourism company. The airline operated two Boeing 737-3Q8 aircraft manufactured in 1993 on non-scheduled commercial passenger flights on both international and domestic routes.
History
The airline was established in 1995 as Heliopolis Airlines. It received its certificate of operation from the Egyptian authorities in 1996. It became a member of the Flash group in 2000. During that year Flash Airlines had one 737-300 with another that joined in 2002.In 2002, Swiss aviation authorities performed a surprise inspection on SU-ZCF, a Flash Airlines Boeing 737-300. They discovered missing pilot oxygen masks, a lack of oxygen tanks, and inoperable cockpit instruments. The Swiss grounded the aircraft until Flash repaired the plane. Several days later, Switzerland banned Flash. Poland also banned Flash, while tour operators in Norway ceased contracting. In early 2004, SU-ZCF crashed while operating Flash's Flight 604 from Sharm el-Sheikh to Paris via Cairo. The subsequent investigation exposed poor safety measures and pilot disorientation, which lead to the demise of Flash.
Fleet
Flash Airlines
The Flash Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft during operations:| Aircraft | Registration | Delivered | Exited | Fate |
| Boeing 737-3Q8 | SU-ZCF | 22 July 2001 | 3 January 2004 | Crashed as Flash Airlines Flight 604 |
| Boeing 737-3Q8 | SU-ZCD | 16 February 2002 | 5 March 2004 | Became N271LF with ILFC |
Heliopolis Airlines
The Heliopolis Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft before merging into Flash group:| Aircraft | Registration | Delivered | Exited | Fate |
| Airbus A310-222 | SU-ZCC | 27 October 1997 | 26 August 1999 | Became N453FE with FedEx Express |
| Boeing 737-3Q8 | SU-ZCE | 21 April 2000 | 17 May 2000 | Became N221LF with ILFC |
| Boeing 737-3Q8 | SU-ZCF | 23 June 2001 | 22 July 2001 | Stayed as SU-ZCF with Flash Airlines |
| Boeing 737-3Q8 | SU-ZCD | 16 February 2000 | 27 August 2000 | Stayed as SU-ZCD with Ecoair International |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | SU-ZCA | 23 August 1996 | 13 February 1998 | Became HK-4137X with Avianca, involved in the Air Algérie Flight 5017 crash |
Accidents and incidents
- On 3 January 2004, Flash Airlines Flight 604, operated by a Boeing 737-300 registration SU-ZCF, crashed into the Red Sea shortly after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh. All passengers and crew died. As a result of the crash, Flash Airlines went out of business in March 2004.