Abu Dhabi Aviation Co. is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...

, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

. It serves oil-fields and economic facilities in the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states. Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Abu Dhabi International Airport is an airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The airport is one of the fastest growing airports in the world in terms of passengers , new airline operators, and infrastructural development...

.

History

The airline was established in 1975 and started operations in March 1976. It began with helicopter operations and added fixed-wing aircraft in 1991. A third-party maintenance facility was opened in 1994. It is owned by Abu Dhabi nationals (70%) and the Abu Dhabi government (30%) and has 640 employees (at March 2007).

Fleet

The Abu Dhabi Aviation fleet includes the following aircraft (as of 23 October 2008):

• 2 Bombardier Dash 8 Q200
• 1 Bombardier Dash 8 Q300
• 1 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400
• 2 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300
  De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
  The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
  
  
• 11 Augusta Westland AW139
  AgustaWestland AW139
  The AgustaWestland AW139 is a 15-seat medium sized twin-engined helicopter manufactured by AgustaWestland. Originally designed and developed jointly by Agusta and Bell Helicopters and marketed as the Agusta-Bell AB139, it was redesignated the AW139 when Bell withdrew from the project...
  
   - additional awaiting delivery
• 19 Bell 212
• 15 Bell 412
  Bell 412
  The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212 model, the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor.-Design and development:...