| Airline: | Solenta Aviation |
| Fleet Size: | 31 |
| Iata: | - |
| Icao: | SET |
| Callsign: | SOLENTA |
| Founded: | 2002 |
| Headquarters: | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Bases: | OR Tambo International Airport Libreville International Airport Oued Irara–Krim Belkacem Airport |
| Website: | solenta.com |
Solenta Aviation is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with its maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport. The company was founded in 2000[1] and operates cargo flights on regional routes throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa on behalf of DHL Aviation. Solenta Aviation also operates extensively for the oil and gas industry ("OGP"), offering passenger charter, cargo and aircraft lease services.
Solenta Aviation has adopted a de-centralised business model, thus being able to offer flexible short-haul cargo flights. From its home and maintenance base at OR Tambo International Airport, it operates a number of DHL flights on regional routes to Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe using a fleet of ATR 42 and Cessna 208 Caravan cargo aircraft.[2]
There are several subsidiaries under separate airline licenses:
Further aircraft of Solenta Aviation are based and operated out of several other airports:
The Solenta Aviation mainline fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of March 2022):
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-201F | 1[11] | 0 | 0 | ZS-XCJ delivered 22/02/2017 Parked since 12/2020 | |
| Beechcraft 1900D | 17[12] | 0[13] | 16 | ||
| ATR 72-202F | 1 | 0 | 0 | ZS-XCL delivered 30/06/2017 | |
| Embraer ERJ 145LR | 1[14] | 0 | 50 | ZS-BBJ delivered 01/01/2017 | |
| Embraer ERJ 145LU | 1 | 0 | 50 | ZS-BBD delivered 11/10/2015 Parked since 12/2020 | |
| Total | 21 | ||||
The Solenta Aviation fleet previously included the following aircraft:
On 6 June 2011 at 10:25 local time, an Antonov An-26 (registered TR-LII) ditched into the Gulf of Guinea 2.3 kilometres off Libreville, Gabon. The aircraft was operated by Scorpion Air, a Bulgarian company, under Solenta Aviation Gabon's AOC.[16] It had been on Flight 122A for DHL Aviation from Port Gentil to Libreville.[17] The three crew members and one passenger on board received only minor injuries.[18] Prior to the ditching, they had reported hydraulic problems; eyewitness reports suggest that an engine failure may have occurred.[17] [19] As a consequence, the Gabonese government declared a temporary ban on aircraft of the types Antonov An-12, An-24 and An-26 in the country, pending the outcome of the investigation into the cause for the crash.[20]