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Founded | 2011 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 2015 | ||||||
Hubs | Sfax–Thyna International Airport | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Tunis–Carthage International Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 2 | ||||||
Destinations | 13 | ||||||
Company slogan | Fly Smart | ||||||
Headquarters | Sfax, Tunisia | ||||||
Key people | Mohamed Frikha | ||||||
Website | flysyphax.com |
Syphax Airlines was a scheduled airline with its head office and main base at Sfax–Thyna International Airport in Sfax, Tunisia. It served destinations in the Mediterranean.
The airline was incorporated as a limited company in 2011 by businessman Mohamed Frikha, Founder and CEO of Telnet, with a capital of 10 million dinars ($6.3m). Originally the airline planned to operate services only from Sfax, but the Tunisian aviation authorities gave them permission to fly from all airports in Tunisia. The first scheduled services were launched on 29 April 2012 using two Airbus A319 aircraft. Despite growth in services and passenger numbers the airline had after-tax losses of 14.53m dinars ($9.2m) in the first year of operation.
In December 2012 an Airbus A330-200 lease contract was announced and the aircraft delivered in June 2013, eventually operating services to Montreal. These widebody operations came to an end in 2015 with the return of the aircraft to its lessor. On 15 January 2013 the airline ordered 3 Airbus A320neo and 3 A320ceo narrowbody aircraft, at a list price of some $600m and with delivery starting in 2015. These orders were cancelled in June and August 2015 respectively due to the airline's deteriorating financial situation.
In July 2015, Syphax Airlines suspended all operations stating financial difficulties. However, the airline announced a resumption of services by September 2015 after sourcing new funding.
As of September 2015, the Syphax Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft: