Alyemda ( - al-Yamdā), internationally known as Democratic Yemen Airlines or just Yemen Airlines, was the national airline of South Yemen. It was established at Aden on 11 March 1971 after nationalizing Brothers Air Services (BASCO) which was a private company owned by the Ba Haroon brothers. It operated a network of flight routes throughout Africa and the Middle East, with its hub at Aden Airport, the former Khormaksar Air Force Base. Its head office was in the Alyemda Building in Khormaksar, Aden. History Alyemda was founded as the national airline of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen by presidential decree on . At March 1972, the workforce was 600. At this time the fleet consisted of three DC-3s, a single DC-6A/B and three DC-6Bs. By the mid 1970s Alyemda acquired a fleet of Boeing 707/720 jetliners. Three brand new Dash 7s turboprop liners were acquired in 1979. On 9 May 1982, one of these aircraft crashed into the sea on approach to Aden Airport. In 1983 Alyemda got its first brand new Boeing 737-200ADV which was mostly used for domestic and regional flights, also the Tupolev Tu-154 joined the fleet by the mid 1980s and later the Airbus A310-304 jetliner in 1993. Following the unification of Yemen in 1990, the airline was renamed first Alyemda Air Yemen in 1992, and later in 1995 Alyemen Airlines of Yemen. By March 1990, Alyemda had 1,207 employees; at that time, the airline operated scheduled passenger and cargo services that radiated from Aden to Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa, Al Ghaydah, Ataq, Beihan, Bombay, Budapest, Cairo, Damascus, Djibouti, Doha, Jeddah, Kuwait, Larnaca, Mogadishu, Mukeiras, Riyan, Sanaa, Seiyun and Sharjah. By April 1995, Abdulla Ali Abdulla held Alyemda's chairman position, and the airline had 1,258 employees. The fleet consisted of one Airbus A310-300, one Antonov An-26, one Antonov An-12, two Boeing 737-200s, one leased Boeing 727, two Boeing 707-300Cs and one Douglas DC-6, and the network included services to Abu Dhabi, Al Ghaydah, Ataq, Bombay, Cairo, Djibouti, Doha, Riyan/Mukalla, Sanaa and Sharjah. On 11 February 1996, Alyemda merged into Yemenia to create a single national airline for Yemen. Fleet details Over the years of its existence, Alyemda operated the following aircraft types: Airbus A310-304 Boeing 707 Boeing 720 Boeing 737-200ADV de Havilland Canada Dash 7 Douglas C-47 Skytrain Douglas DC-3 Douglas DC-6 Tupolev Tu-154 Accidents and incidents On 22 August 1972, an Alyemda Douglas DC-6