Trans Mediterranean Airways (TMA) was founded in 1953 by a Lebanese entrepreneur, Mounir Abou Haidar, as an all-cargo airline. Scheduled operations quickly expanded to include additional destinations in Africa (Khartoum), Europe (London, Basle), the Middle East, Asia (Kabul, Karachi, Bombay) with a fleet that was enlarged to include as many as 7 DC-4s and 2 Avro-Yorks by 1962. The first DC-6 was introduced in 1963. The airline’s safety record was questionable during these first years of operation; as many as 4 of its aircraft (1 Avro York and 3 DC4s) were lost in successive crashes between 1961 and 1963. Operations improved as technical assistance became available from Trans World Airways (TWA) between 1964 and 1966, and TMA was able to continue its expansion.