The Canadair CL-44s

TL-LLJ, a standard CL-44D was the first aircraft to be operated by the company. August 1970 saw a second 44 joining TF-LLJ, a stretched CL-44 registered TF-LLG. It was lost in Dacca in what was then East Pakistan on 2 December 1970, when it was operating an International Red Cross relief airlift with goods for the victims of the recent flooding, claiming the lives of the four crew and four villagers on the ground.

This aircraft was replaced by TF-CLA, another CL-44D (standard) bought in January 1971. Three more stretched ’44s joined the fleet in the following two years. The acquisition of the last aircraft, TF-LLI, took some negotiations within Saloft. The aircraft had suffered damage as a result of a ‘wheels-up’ landing at the JFK airport in New York and remained there for several months, because Loftleiðir insisted that the aircraft should be scrapped. Eventually, after an extensive repair operation carried out by Flying Tiger engineers, the aircraft returned to service. In March 1970, it was transferred to Saloft and Cargolux took it into service in July 1971.

By the end of 1972, Cargolux was operating a total of five CL-44s, three of which were the stretched versions. Cargolux was the only airline to operate this version of the 44. It had 18% more volume than the standard versions, which was a great advantage compared to the standard version.