Ugandan carrier DAS Air Cargo has been forced to cease operations after suffering a European Union ban on its aircraft imposed last year, reports Kampala's East African Business Week.

"We are out of business, the offices have closed and the boss [Capt. Joe Roy] is out in the DR Congo, pursuing other private business," said an unidentified DAS official.

Its two DC-10s have been grounded at London's Gatwick Airport but other sources said they had been moved to Manston, Kent International Airport.

Before the ban, DAS Air was doing well taking fruit and flowers from East Africa to Europe, enjoying annual revenues of more than US$200 million as late as 2006. It won Best Cargo Airline to Africa and Best All Freighter Carrier awards in 2003.

But is was one of 90 airlines, mainly African, east European and Asian that were blacklisted from EU skies after a series of crashes worldwide, blamed on poor maintenance and failures to observe safety standards.

Despite a successful legal challenge against the EU ban, the airline failed to revive its trade when it returned to business eight months ago after being struck off the banned list.

High fuel prices, administrative and legal costs combined to bring the airline down, said the unnamed official, adding that the customer base had also fallen away during the shutdown, and the company's financial performance declined, reportedly losing as much as US$2.5 million a week.

DAS Air, which had been flying across Europe for more than 20 years, has now been forced into administration under UK management firm Menzies Corporate Restructuring (MRC).

Administrator Andrew Duncan told the UK's AirCargo News that DAS officials would have the opportunity "to come up with a restructuring proposal or sell the business as a going concern, thereby saving jobs and minimising disruption to customers."