Africa Aviation thread [Archive]

SkylineTurbo

January 29th, 2005, 06:11 AM

South African Air Cutting Out The Fat

South African Airways (SAA) is planning savings of 1.6 billion rand (USD$268.9 million), returning the struggling state-owned airline to profitability, Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula said.

Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula told reporters that Africa's biggest airline would offer its 602 managers voluntary severance packages. SAA employs 11,000 people.

"Our target is to save 1.6 billion rand in the next 18 months. This is what we call excessive fat," Ngqula said. "We know we are overweight and have to deal with that as responsibly as possible. The biggest cost is us, management."

Ngqula said although SAA was not looking at a specific number, he would be happy with a 50 percent acceptance, which would put the flag carrier on the same level with other airlines in its category.

"We are not retrenching at this point in time. It's very guarded. But if the price of oil goes above USD$50 per barrel, then there is no option but to look at the cost structure," he said.

SAA, which posted a pre-tax loss of 8.7 billion rand (USD$1.46 million) in fiscal 2003/04, was on track to report a profit this financial year, Ngqula said. The loss followed a huge hedge-book loss built when it took 10 year cover against the rand weakening.

The rand subsequently strengthened and has put in three consecutive years of hefty gains. The hedge book was closed at a cost of 5.9 billion rand (USD$996.6 million) in June 2004.

The airline reported a 132 million rand (USD$22.2 million) profit before tax in the six months to the end of September 2004. It has posted net losses of 15 billion rand (USD$2.5 million) in the past two years.

"We are not out of the woods yet. For years nobody has told us to make a profit. That is about to change. This year we are going to make a profit, next year we are hoping to show 100 percent improvement on this year's results," said Ngqula.

The government has sunk about 10 billion rand (USD$1.69 billion) into SAA over the last six months and Ngqula said between 3 and 4 billion rand was needed to recapitalize the airline.

He said SAA was keen to order an A380 superjumbo plane from Airbus depending on affordability.

"It's just a question of affordability. If by the end of the year everything is good, we should be able to place an order. It makes sense to have it," said Ngqula. "If the oil price does not get out of hand, this business is going to be good."

He said the unbundling of SAA from parent company Transnet was on course and expected it to be complete in April or May 2006. Transport group Transnet has said SAA is not part of its core operations.

Ngqula said SAA would concentrate on consolidating its dominant position on the African market.

"Africa is one of the most important markets for us. Going forward the challenge is to focus on South America. That is the market of the future. The strategy is to focus on south to south and those routes that are profitable to us," he said.

European airlines such as Lufthansa, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have increased direct flights to African destinations, Ngqula said.

hkskyline

January 30th, 2005, 04:45 AM

Nothing to Cheer About Aviation in 2004
by Dele Ore
28 January 2005
All Africa

Lagos, Jan 28, 2005 (Daily Champion/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

One hundred years of powered flight was celebrated worldwide about a year ago and it will soon be eighty years since aviation industry made a debut into Nigeria.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) celebrated her 60th Anniversary on 7th December, 2004 with full Nigerian participation at her 35th General Assembly in Montreal Canada. Weighted against all these landmark events, aviation in Nigeria is still in a doldrums. Foreign airlines operating in and out of Nigeria are doing very well while the participation of Nigerian indigenous airlines is negligible due to constraints brought about by bad policies of our government.

The Emirates, Afriquiyah Airways of Lybia started their operations into Nigeria in 2004 while Iberia made an impressive and triumphant return. The only Nigerian carrier that made appreciable impression is Aerocontractors at home and abroad. Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria finally graduated some pilots after many years of slumber. While Nigerian carriers are still encumbered into operating old fuel guzzling aircraft, Cameroon Airlines emerged with modern Boeing 737-800.

A cumulative impact of policies, bad decisions, the market, competition and financing difficulty is destroying the Nigerian aviation industry. The economy has so much to do with its strength but obviously the biggest problem seems to be lack of attention placed on whatever is Nigeria's interest.

This is why the airlines from strong and advanced countries of the world continue to be stronger while those owned by Nigerians are denied the much needed good will and very strong political base for survival. In an industry which does not allow for any mistakes lack of adequate regulating will result in an attempt to cut corners with possible catastrophic consequences.

It is patient to note that, most of our airlines are characterized by low capitalization, high indebtedness to creditors, low capacity utilization, wet and dry leasing of aircraft, unstable manpower retention (high technical staff attrition) rate which are symptoms of an economically weak airline industry, regulations guiding air transportation must be in accordance with standards set internationally by ICAO. Ensuring compliance with regulations is becoming more difficult in view of the poor state of economy of most African countries. Consequently this is the in ability of African Airlines to acquire modern aircraft which have high acquisition cost, through cheaper to operate has become a big challenge to all concerned.

Despite the fact that the airline business is highly capital intensive it is ironically grossly under capitalised in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, the dwindling value of the Naira against other foreign currencies has further worsened the situated for Nigerian airline operators. It is even more disturbing that aviation industrial, commercial and socio-economic development of the nation has no credit agency exclusively put in place to fund aviation unlike in other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the interest rates being charged by Banks and Financial Institution's on loans are too high for any airline to borrow and operate profitably. To aggravate this situation, the fortunes of some airlines that have gong under or have been distressed consequently stopping operations are note encouraging enough to attract investment in the industry. Among some of the very sore points in the industry in the past year include, but not limited to:

- Failed Nigeria Eagle Airline
- Controversial appointment of Virgin Atlantic group in September 2004 as strategic investor to midwife Virgin Nigeria
- The SAHCOL saga
- More policies militating against making MMIA as a Hub for Africa
- Insensitively in designating local operators on regional & international routes.
- High attrition rate in aviation professionals.
- Controversial grounding of Slsock Airlines.
- $120 Million Airspace Total Rader coverage project.

On the whole, activities in the industry were overshadowed by the "Liquidation" of Nigeria Airways Ltd.

The basic role of government is to create an enabling environment for the growth and development of aviation in Nigeria by ensuring that the state's Primary Aviation Legislation is in line with the requirement of International civil Aviation Origination (ICAO). For this reason, the government should ensure, that Aviation Policies create growth and protect national economic interest in all agreements as well as providing a conducive environment for local operators to effectively participate in every sector. Our policies so far have not shown government's commitment to serious international relations, tourism and trade liberalization and integration in the region.

The most worrisome thing now is however the issue of State's primary aviation legislation which must without exception fulfil the requirements of Chicago Convention and their associated ANNEX provisions for International operations.

As things stand presently, Nigeria's basic aviation legislation does not meet with the above mentioned requirement. This is what is responsible for Nigeria's inability to obtain the desired IASA Category 1 Certification for NCAA which is a very big issue that must not be toyed with as it is presently. The truth of the matter is that our basic aviation law must conform with international norm. This is supposed to be our present pre-occupation instead of the government's unnecessary involvement in creating and funding a new national airline:- another costly mistake by that ill-advised creation of a new national airline.

For the achievement of optimal benefits in regional air services and efficient utilization of its gateway airports, Nigeria should and must support and strengthen the private sector for unhindered and fair participation in the industry. There is no alternative to full private sector participation for the transformation of our gateway airport to a leading hub" in Africa and for Nigeria to become a major actor in global aviation activities as envisaged by Vision 2010 objectives of at least 7% per annum growth in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Under this administration, aviation has suffered neglect and fuel cost has been increased more than other time reaching strangulation point for the airlines.

hkskyline

January 30th, 2005, 04:46 AM

Rivalry May Hurt East Africa Airline Industry
by Steven Odeu
27 January 2005
All Africa

Kampala, Jan 27, 2005 (New Vision/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

THE battle for East African skies has intensified with two regional airlines tithering on the edge of disaster from strong arm tactics being applied by Kenya Airways.

The failure to renew a code share agreement by Air Tanzania has caused the airline to drop its Dar-es-Salaam route, while the outcome of talks between Kenya Airways and East African Airways (EAA) for the Kenyans to cede one daily trip to Entebbe will be coloured by Kenya Airways' latest decision to cancel its ground-handling contract with Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS).

ENHAS shareholders are also major stakeholders in EAA.

"It is true Kenya Airways has stopped the handling contract with ENHAS. It's a result of their route wrangle with EAA. When EAA and the Government asked Kenya Airways to surrender one route, they refused. When they learnt that one of ENHAS directors is also a shareholder in EAA, they cancelled the contract," Tytens Georges, ENHAS chief executive officer, said.

The cancellation means ENHAS has lost a sh182m deal, almost half of its annual turnover since they handle 250 flights per year. Kenya Airways used to pay ENHAS $800 per flight.

ENHAS was once the lucrative department of Uganda Airlines, which was torn away and given to private people.

Most people think that was the last blow that sent Uganda's national carrier to death.

Sam Kutesa, the foreign affairs minister, is among the principal shareholders in ENHAS and EAA.

"It looks like Kenya Airways wants to squeeze out all the small players," said a source.

But Emmanuel Okware, the Kenya Airways' country manager, said they invoked a relevant clause in the contract.

"We provide ramp and warehousing facilities to Dairo Air Services at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Now Das Handling Limited provides a symbiotic facility at Entebbe International Airport. The agreement is mutually beneficial and brings cost savings and other benefits to both companies," said Okware.

He said the matter between Kenya Airways and East African Airlines is under discussion and is separate from the ground-handling contract.

Meanwhile, negotiations for Kenya Airways to forgo one of its four Entebbe-Nairobi routes in favour of EAA stalled.

Sources said Kenya Airways is opposed to the idea.

However, sources close to the negotiations say there is likely to be a ministerial decision on the matter.

Observers say EAA's current flight schedule cannot allow it to stay afloat much longer.

With only one aircraft, a Boeing 737-200, EAA has two flights a week to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Since the collapse of Uganda Airlines, AfricaOne took over the mantle of designation of a national carrier on the Entebbe-Nairobi route, but later collapsed in March 2003.

EAA took over the route, but could not sustain it and had to revert to a code-sharing arrangement with Kenya Airways until earlier last year.

The rivalry seems to be cutting across the region.

Air Tanzania on Monday also announced it had quit the Dar-es-Salaam-Nairobi route owing to what it termed "massive competition from Kenya Airways."

The airline has closed its Nairobi offices and recalled its staff to the Dar-es-Salaam head office.

The South African Airways officials who own 49% of the carrier.

The officials, however, insisted that the withdrawal was not permanent.

The airline's acting commercial director, Mike Bond said Kenya Airways was a strong regional player supported by an inter-continental network, making competion for the East African skies difficult.

Kenya Airways operates double-daily flights on the route, in addition to daily frequencies to Mombasa from Dar es Salaam through its subsidiary, Precision Air.

Air Tanzania's operation to Kenya served only people flying from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi.

SkylineTurbo

January 30th, 2005, 11:40 AM

Kenya Airways’ debt burden up

National carrier Kenya Airways’ debt burden is increasing by the year, threatening to devour its impressive earnings.

A private analysis by Dyer and Blair Investment Bank Limited, a local financial consulting company, shows the airline’s debt portfolio has been steadily increasing – from Sh7.6 billion in 2002 to Sh13.5 billion last year– and projects its creditors will be owed Sh16.2 billion by the end of this year. Kenya Airways has an asset value of Sh29.4 billion, which is seen to rise toSh35.3 billion in 2005.

The report notes that this debt position is ‘precariously high’ and might diminish the firm’s profitability due to increasing financing costs.

In terms of financial performance, Kenya’s flag-carrier has been flying high, posting a phenomenal over-300 per cent surge in its half-year profits for 2004. The debt results from new acquisitions of modern aircraft, two more Boeings (777 and 767), and a staff lay-off programme that Dyer and Blair says has already cost it Sh385 million.

The retrenchment, which targets 260 employees, is part of a major turnaround project dubbed K-TAP, launched late in 2003. This programme was expected to yield Sh4 billion in pre-tax profits at the end of 2005, though Dyer and Blair analysts have trimmed this figure by 48 per cent.

Contacted for comment, Kenya Airways corporate communications manager Hajila Komora said she was not aware of any plans to retrench employees this year.

"I haven’t heard of such plans," she said.

The airline, Dyer and Blair’s analysis shows, realised Sh1.3 billion net profit last year.

The analysts project a profit of Sh2.08 billion in 2005 if last year’s operational environment persists. Even so, its financial position is yet to stabilise, thanks to high oil prices and an increasing debt portfolio.

"The company’s operating profits may be eroded considerably by rising fuel prices as a result of increased consumption occasioned by continued acquisitions of planes and the huge rise in global oil prices," says the report. Oil process rose by over 40 per cent last year to a high of $50 a barrel in August.

Kenya Airways deals in passenger and cargo freight, besides operating a fleet of 19 aircraft, 16 of which are Boeings.

The results show that the airline posted Sh30 billion in revenues last year, an improvement of 10.7 per cent, and sees a growth of Sh3 billion in the current financial year. In spite of this improvement, the report classifies Kenya Airways liquidity position as "somewhat precarious".

The airline’s returns have been impressive and its half-year Sh1.51 billion net profit was its highest, having increased by 324 per cent.

The good performance has been attributed to increased revenue on key routes, with Europe leading at Sh7.4 billion in passenger revenue, or 28.6 per cent of the total, followed by the Middle East/Asia with Sh4.7 billion, West/Central Africa Sh4.2 million and East Africa at Sh3.3 billion. South Africa contributed Sh3.1 billion, while North Africa route and local operations raked in Sh1.3 billion and Sh1.9 billion respectively. Overall passenger revenue grew by 10 per cent to Sh25.77 billion from last year’s Sh23.5 billion.

Even though Europe’s turnover declined by one per cent as Middle East and Asia went up two per cent, Dyer and Blair says that the recovery in the tourism industry may spur growth in the European market this year. A gradual weakening of the shilling will make Kenya a more attractive destination for middle to lower market segment of the tourism sector, say the analysts, who recommend that KQ introduces attractive travel packages targeting this market.

"Given that the airline is generally a low-margin business, KQ has to continue expanding its route network with a view to increasing its revenues," says the report. Recently the airline has opened up new routes to Hong Kong, Thailand and Cape Town and code-shares routes with Royal Dutch Airlines KLM, which has merged with Air France.

While noting that cargo freight handling business has higher margins compared to the passenger division, the report notes that full acquisition of Kenya Cargo will enable it boost its profit potential because "cargo handling activities are expected to increase with increased economic growth".

The economy grew by 1.8 per cent last year up from 1.3 the previous year and the government has projected it will grow by 3 per cent this year. The airline is expected to benefit from increased export of horticulture products, especially cut flowers.

The analysis reveals that Kenya Airways stock is significantly undervalued, though it has a "reasonable" upward potential given that the estimates of its value range between Sh22.8 and Sh30 per share. It is currently trading at Sh19.75.

SkylineTurbo

February 1st, 2005, 12:49 PM

Air flight passenger carried cocaine bullets on board

A 40-year-old passenger arrested yesterday on the Sao Paulo flight to Johannesburg excreted 40 "bullets" containing cocaine in the police cells at Johannesburg International Airport.

SkylineTurbo

February 4th, 2005, 10:46 PM

Lybian airline to order 737NGs

Boeing has a preliminary agreement to sell up to 6 737-800s to Buraq Air of Lybia. The deal, expected to be signed soon, calls for 3 firm aircraft and 3 options for the airline based in Tripoli.

SkylineTurbo

February 4th, 2005, 10:52 PM

Ethiopian Airlines to acquire up to 10 Boeing 787s

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb 4, 2005 (AP) - Ethiopian Airlines will acquire up to 10 Boeing 787s at a cost of US$1.3 billion (euro1 billion), starting in three years time, officials said Friday.

The airline will buy outright five of the Boeings, also called Dreamliners, and will take delivery of the first plane in 2008, said Kagnew Fessaha, spokesman of Ethiopian Airlines.

The fuel-efficient Boeing 787 is due to go into service in 2008.

Sixty-year old Ethiopian Airlines has an option to lease another five Boeings, Kagnew told The Associated Press.

He did not say when the agreement to buy the 10 airplanes was reached with Chicago-based Boeing Co., nor did he give any other details.

Next June, the airline is expected to take delivery of the last of 12 Boeing jets leased in a separate deal that began in July 2002.

Ethiopian Airlines flies more than a million passengers a year. It serves most cities in Ethiopia as well as more than 40 international destinations. It currently has a fleet of about 21 aircraft, mostly jets.

SkylineTurbo

February 8th, 2005, 10:21 AM

BOLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EXPANSION, ETHIOPIA
In 2001, an expansion plan was announced at Bole International Airport at a cost of $130 million. This involves the construction of a new runway, as well as five taxiways linking the new runway to the existing runway. It also involves the construction of a new steel structure to house the airport terminal, a parking garage, a shopping complex and restaurants. In addition to this, the airport expansion involves the construction of a control tower and the installation of electrical and fire-fighting equipment, numerous accessories to the new terminal building and parallel runway, runway lighting, power generation, internal escalators, baggage carousels and conveyors, a public address system and other communication devices and installation.

Bole International Airport is located 8km south-east of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bole Airport is the larger of the two international airports located in Addis Ababa, the second being the Lideta Airport, which is located in the south-west of the capital.

PHASE ONE
The new runway is designed to handle Boeing 747s and Airbus A-340s. The new runway will run parallel to the existing runway and consists of five entrances and exits to the old runway that will serve as taxiways. The cost of constructing the new runway is estimated at $30 million. Dar-al Handasah, a Lebanese company, is project consultant and Kajma Keanganam, a joint Korean and Japanese company is the lead contractor.

PHASE TWO
The second phase consists of the construction of the new international terminal building that consists of a parking garage, a shopping complex and restaurants, is a mainly steel structure. The cost of completing the second phase is estimated to be $75 million with the British firm, Fitchner, in charge of the project management and Al-Kharafi and Sons, a Kuwaiti company, as contractors.

PHASE THREE
The third phase is for the construction of the control tower and installation of electrical and fire-fighting equipment. It will also include the provision of numerous accessories to the new terminal building and parallel runway, runway lighting, power generation, internal escalators, baggage carousels and conveyors, public address system and other communication devices and installation. The cost of completing the third phase of the project is estimated to be $30 million and the German company Siemens is the lead contractor.

EXPANSION RATIONALE
The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, which manages Bole Airport have developed a comprehensive National Airports Development Plan covering the period 1999 – 2017 and the expansion of the airport is a major part of the plan. The airport will have a twelve-fold increase in capacity to handle 6 - 7 million passengers annually from its current capacity of 500,000 passengers.

The airport authorities hoped that the expansion of the airport will turn Bole Airport into the aviation capital of Africa. The provision of easy international connections at Bole is a key element in the ambition of Addis Ababa to become one of the most global cities in East Africa. Good air connections are believed to be essential in attracting a lot of business to the capital.

http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/bole/images/96Bole-1.jpg

SkylineTurbo

February 8th, 2005, 10:25 AM

CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EXPANSION, SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town International Airport is owned by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and is South Africa's second largest airport. Situated in the Western Cape, the airport has become the gateway to one of South Africa's major tourist destinations. Aircraft movements now exceed 60,000 per year. Five million passengers passed through the airport in 2003; it is projected that this figure will increase to 6.5 million by the end of 2004 and to 14 million by 2015. To meet this growing demand, ACSA has committed more than Rand 2 billion over 20 years to extend existing terminal buildings and construct parkades, two new satellite terminals and an expanded runway system. The first phase, a new international arrivals terminal, came on-stream in March 2001. This was followed in February 2003 with a new international departures terminal.

INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS TERMINAL
Phase 1 of the three-stage airport expansion involved demolishing the existing arrivals terminal and replacing it with a new terminal measuring 223m long by 50m wide. It has a light glass and steel structure. It currently has the capability of handling 950 arriving passengers per hour.

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES TERMINAL
Phase 2 of the airport expansion was the construction of a new international departures terminal, which was completed in February 2003. Costing Rand 120 million, the terminal covers an area of 21,000m², of which 2,360m² is retail space. The terminal can process up to 1,300 passengers an hour, or a million passengers a year - three times the capacity of the terminal it replaced.

The terminal is built on three levels. Ticket counters are located on the ground floor, along with 68 check-in counters and luggage return areas. The mezzanine level houses passport control and immigration offices, with the number of passport control desks increased from six to 14. The top floor, with a curved roof similar to that of the international arrivals terminal, contains the 13 retail outlets and passenger refreshment/restaurants.

The east and west facades of the new terminal are made completely of glass, allowing views of the aircraft parking area and the Hottentots-Holland mountains in the distance. The glass facades and the roof are double-glazed and constructed with highly advanced technologies to restrict aircraft noise and prevent glare from the hot African sun.

INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES TERMINAL CONTRACTORS
The new international departures terminal was designed jointly by Associated Airport Architects, ACG Architects and Development Planners, Stauch Vorster Architects, Maggwaka and Associates and dhk Architects. IRIS Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti supplied high performance manufactured marble, which paved the public space floors. Construction was undertaken by a Murray and Roberts and RR Roberts joint venture.

AIR-BRIDGES
Two air-bridges, manufactured in Johannesburg and Holland, were installed at the international terminals in April 2003. Serving both arriving and departing passengers, they link the terminals to the aircraft and are glazed, allowing the passengers to view the aircraft and airfield. The cost of this project totalled Rand 16 million and the contract was awarded to Parinis Airport Services, the company that also constructed air-bridges in Johannesburg International Airport.

DOMESTIC TERMINALS
During 2003 an interim project was undertaken to upgrade the domestic arrivals and departures terminals in an effort to alleviate passenger congestion. The domestic departures terminal was extended by 10m, allowing more space for all the airlines operating in the terminal. It also provides more queuing space for passengers at the check-in counters. This upgrade cost Rand 10 million.

Long-term plans are still being finalised, though it is expected that reconfiguration of the domestic terminals will resume early in 2004 and is expected to take two years to complete. A budget of Rand 300 million has been accounted for this overhaul, which is aimed at doubling the capacity to handle up to half a million domestic passengers a month. Eventually, it is planned to link the domestic and international terminals through a central passenger processing unit.

NEW AIRCRAFT APRONS
Six new aircraft aprons are being constructed. These will be able to accommodate three wide-bodied aircrafts or six narrow-bodied ones. Completion of these is expected in March 2004 at a total cost of Rand 20 million. All work will be carried out at night so as not to cause any unnecessary delays or traffic congestion.

AIRCRAFT PARKING
Despite extending the terminal buildings, constructing new international terminals and the six new aircraft stands, long-term forecasts suggest that Cape Town International Airport will still not offer sufficient aircraft parking alongside the main terminal buildings. Therefore, long-term planning has incorporated remote parking alongside satellite terminal buildings, parallel to the main terminal buildings. These will be linked to the main complex by an underground passage equipped with travelators, speeding up passenger boarding and disembarkation.

AIRPORT PASSENGER PARKING
Increasing numbers of passengers will also mean more car park spaces are needed. ACSA plan to build two new parkades allowing domestic and international arrivals access via elevated walkways, with departing passengers gaining access from the ground level. An additional 850 parking bays are currently under construction, and the multi-storey car park has been fast-tracked for completion by the end of 2004, providing an additional 2,000 bays at a cost of Rand 16 million.

NEW RUNWAY AND WAREHOUSING FACILITIES
The long-term airport plans also incorporates a second runway. This Rand 200 million project is planned for completion in 2015. When completed it will help combat air traffic congestion and will also enable the airport to provide adequate take-off and landing slots to meet the projected traffic demand, until 2050.

ACSA also proposes to develop a Freight City in order to accommodate the requirements of the numerous freight agencies located at the airport. At present there are no warehousing facilities in which to store goods, so it is planned to build a perishable-goods warehouse with facilities to store fish, fruit and vegetables.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Because of the airports prime location, only 15 miles east of Cape Town, the land around the airport is becoming increasingly sought after for commercial property development.

There are currently two development opportunities available. The first has been called the Oval Park and is earmarked for 16,000m² of mixed use development, which is adjacent to the main airport approach road. The second is the North West Precinct, an 80,000m² zone for a distribution and logistics business.

http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/capetown/images/capetown2.jpg
http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/capetown/images/capetown6.jpg

SkylineTurbo

February 8th, 2005, 10:27 AM

JOHANNESBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION, SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) is the air transport hub of southern Africa, catering for over 11 million passengers each year.

The airport recently decided to build a new domestic terminal. This project will further enhance the company's status as the primary air transport hub for sub-Saharan Africa.

TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT
The new terminal forms part of the overall development of the existing terminal precinct. The construction will create a single terminal complex accommodating in excess of 18 million passengers annually, facilitating easy transfer between flights and optimising capacity through the flexible use of airport infrastructure.

Extensions to international departures and arrivals facilities will add 70% capacity to international arrivals, enabling staff to handle 2,800 passengers per hour at peak times.

The new domestic terminal investment is believed to be justified by the significant growth of tourism and business travel to South Africa. This growth encourages innovation in the provision and financing of airport infrastructure since it demands a doubling of facilities at major airports every seven to eight years to handle the expected influx of visitors.

The Airport Company South Africa (ACSA) has awarded the contract for the construction of the new terminal to Concor. Concor has been involved in building airports for decades and ACSA is hoping to draw on its lengthy experience within this sector.

NEW TERMINAL PROJECT TIMESCALE
The preparatory phase of the contract for the new domestic terminal at JIA, was completed on schedule in mid-August 2000 and the project is on track for completion by the end of 2002.

AIRPORT SIZE
This new terminal will have an atrium extending up through three storeys of the building and is designed to accommodate 10 million passengers per year. On completion, the terminal will be able to accommodate a flow of 11 million passengers a year.

The first completed phase of the contract (worth $3.2 million) consisted of enablement work, demolitions, piling and bulk earthworks. Construction commenced in November 2000.

TERMINAL EXPANSION
The terminal building will comprise 80,000m² of floor space distributed over five floors. The mere size of the building is expected to further elevate the stature of the airport with three of the five floors each being roughly the size of three rugby fields.

The design of the building is based on the International Air Transport Association's standards, ensuring sufficient queuing and circulation space for easy access through all facilities.

A major pedestrian bridge will link the new terminal to the existing multi-storey parkade under the upper roadway and onto a retail level consisting of shops, coffee bars and a food court overlooking the arrivals concourse.

A component of the building design is an atrium space between the roadways and the departures, retail and arrivals levels. Pedestrian movement through the building will be by way of inclined travelator ramps located in the atrium linking the arrivals, retail and departure levels.

The new terminal, with an area of 70,000m² catering for the 11 million passengers expected by 2010, is scheduled to be completed in 23 months.

CONCOR
Concor, the main contractor, is the South African associated company of Hochtief, which is one of Europe's leading construction groups. The company focuses on design and planning construction. Concor's share of the $62 million contract is 50%.
http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/johannesburg/images/airport_4.jpg

SkylineTurbo

February 8th, 2005, 10:29 AM

KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EXPANSION, GHANA
Kotoka International Airport serves Accra, which is the capital of Ghana. The massive expansion in usage of the airport has led to calls for upgrading. Passenger usage has increased at an average of 6% per annum throughout the 1990s and cargo usage has risen by as much as 15% per annum. Such a phenomenal rate of growth forces further expansion in the airport facilities to keep pace.

The latest improvements to the airport are part of an ongoing programme. The first phase was financed through international development funding sources and was completed in 1993. The second phase will be financed from commercial revenues, with the aid of the UK export credit guarantee agency.

The sponsor of the airport improvement programme is the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which is an agency of the Ghanaian government. The government’s backing and the involvement of foreign development agencies are both linked to the airport’s importance to the Ghanaian economy as a whole.

PROJECT MAKE-UP

Firms that bid for phase 2 included Bouygues and Dumez from France, Fitzpatrick and Taylor Woodrow of the UK, Bilfinger & Berger from Germany, Dragados from Spain, Skanska from Sweden and Vermeer from the Netherlands. Siemens Plessey, which carried out the first phase in the early 1990s, chose not to bid for the second phase.

The Swedish contractor, Skanska, and its consortium won the contract. The total contract was worth SEK 590 million ($74 million) and Skanska’s share was about 40% (just under $30 million). Skanska International Construction pursued the project through Skanska Jensen International, which managed the consortium comprising the local branch of an Irish civil engineering company, PW Ghana and the Danish Intertec.

PHASE 2

The second phase of the airport improvement originally involved the renovation and expansion of the terminal buildings, fire station and cold-storage facilities as well as the renovation and construction of new platforms. The fire station, cold-storage facilities and taxiway upgrade have all now been removed from the expansion programme in order to concentrate funding on the terminal buildings.

Improvements to the terminal buildings include the refurbishment and enlargement of the departure check-in area, incorporating new conveyors and other equipment to improve passenger handling and comfort as well as the installation of air conditioning in the immigration area. The communication facilities in the terminal will also be renovated. The baggage handling hall for arrivals will be given a new conveyor system in order to maximise efficient throughput and the terminal forecourt will be remodelled with a dual carriage way, departure and arrival vehicular areas, and car parks. The facilities for 'meeters and greeters' will also be improved to make the airport seem less congested.

The 03-21 runway was extended by 150m at the 03 stopway and 400m at the 21 end threshold, to allow a fully laden 747 to take off. This greatly enhances Kotoka's ability to handle air freight.

AIRPORT CITY

In 1998, the GCAA announced plans to develop the 40+ acre site in front of the airport as an 'airport city'. This involves the development of roads, communication facilities, power distribution, lighting, water supply, sewage treatment, parking lots, landscaping, drainage, walkways and other ancillary works. The lots on the site are parcelled out among private developers.

FINANCE

The second phase of the project is being financed by loans from the Hong Kong Chinese bank HSBC, British Paribas and Ghana's Ecobank, with support from the export credit organisations ECGD in the UK, EKN in Sweden and EKF in Denmark. The banks provided a $44.5 million loan, which was underwritten by the export agencies. The two Scandinavian agencies are reinsuring ECGD for the supply of equipment from Europe. The UK loan is the largest element to be supplied by any single organisation.

SkylineTurbo

February 8th, 2005, 10:31 AM

MAURITIUS AIRPORT EXPANSION, MAURITIUS
Mauritius Airport (the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport) is located just outside Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. The island of Mauritius is situated in the Indian Ocean, approximately 855km off the east coast of Madagascar and 1,800km from mainland Africa. The airport expansion and redevelopment has been carried out at a cost of $20 million. The project was started in 1999 with Thales ATM as the lead contractor for the air traffic control system and was completed in 2000. The airport is now capable of handling 1.5 million passengers each year.

CONSTRUCTION
The redevelopment of Mauritius Airport is part of the government’s plan to commercially exploit the increasing number of passengers passing through the airport. The redevelopment also included plans for a new cargo terminal. The management contract for the airport’s redevelopment was awarded to BAA, a company which has considerable experience in managing airports in the UK and around the world.

The original plan drawn up before the involvement of BAA outlined a cost of $48 million for the project. The plans were revised to make use of around 8,500m² of existing, unused space with a saving of $32 million on the original costing.

The project aimed to upgrade all facilities including: new departure and arrival lounges; new conveyor belts to improve efficiency of baggage delivery; new restaurants; improved immigration, customs and police facilities and new duty free shops at departures and arrivals.

Part of the Thales ATM contract included improving the telecoms systems, with: VHF AM ground/air equipment, VHF FM ground/ground equipment, UHF AM point to point link equipment, HF long distance ground/air/ground equipment and VSAT equipment (Remote Island Access).

NEW CARGO TERMINAL
The redevelopment of the airport also included the 5,000m² purpose built automated Cargo Terminal. The terminal caters for existing exports and transit traffic and can accommodate a further 25% growth. The national airline Air Mauritius has invested in five wide bodied extra long range A340 – 300 and two wide bodied B767 – ER aircraft as a commitment to increasing the amount of cargo that the airport handles annually.

AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The project involved the upgrade of the Air Traffic Management System, enabling the Department of Civil Aviation to extend the provision of safe and efficient air traffic and navigational services throughout its vast oceanic airspace. The intention is to position Mauritius as a regional air traffic hub.

MAURITIUS AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION TIMESCALE
The redevelopment of the airport started in 1999 and was completed earlier than expected in August 2000. The original plan envisaged the redevelopment work for the airport lasting over two years, but this time was halved through the use of 8,500m² of existing space within the airport.

An area of 5,000m² was used to build a new cargo terminal. The terminal has separate storage rooms for perishables, dangerous goods, vulnerable and valuable freight. The terminal was equipped with the Sabre Cargo Plus computerised system, which provides facilities for bookings, terminal warehouse control, airway bill data capture, rating and tracking of consignments.

BRITISH AIRPORT AUTHORITY (BAA)
BAA signed a five-year management contract with Airports of Mauritius Co Ltd. to manage the airport operations and related activities. BAA will receive a performance related management fee for the duration of the contract. There is an option for a further five years after the completion of the current management contract.

LEAD CONTRACTORS
Thales ATM was awarded a contract for the provision of an Air Traffic Management System. In addition, comprehensive operator and maintainer training was provided. Equipment was sourced from both international and local suppliers. Thales ATM relied heavily on local companies to install, support and maintain the systems.

nikolaidis

February 11th, 2005, 06:28 PM

On Saturday 12 February it has been exactly eighty years ago since Edmond Thieffry flew for the first time from Brussels to Congo. In that time Thieffry travelled 51 days before reaching the African country, today the Airbus 330-300 of SN Brussels Airlines connects the European capital in less than 8 hours with Kinshasa.

A subway station at line 1 A between Mérode and Pétillon, a modest monument and a street name: this is about everything that reminds of Edmond Thieffry in Belgium.

Tomorrow it will be exactly 80 years ago since the airline pioneer began the adventure that would reach the history books and the world press.

In the early morning of 12 February 1925 navigator Edmond Thieffry, master engineer Jef de Bruycker and pilot Leopold Roger leave from Haren nearby Zaventem with Congo as their destination. The Handley Page, that weighs 6 tons, has an 8.124-kilometer distance ahead. The journey will lead them via Marseille, Oran, Colomb-Bechar, Gao, Fort-Lamy, Bangui, and Coquilhat Ville to Congo.
Only 51 days later, with 75 hours of flight on the meter, the Handley Page lands at the N’Dola airport, in the heart of Leopoldville (today: Kinshasa). A remarkable adventure that immediately showed that it was too early to organize regular services between Brussels and Congo. The regular service did not start before 23 February ’35, almost 70 years ago.

Today SN Brussels Airlines connects the European capital 5 times a week with Kinshasa. While it took Thieffry 51 days to reach the country, the modern Airbus 330-300 is able to arrive in Kinshasa in less than 8 hours. On board a mix of passengers (Belgians, the Congolese people, Europeans, expats, clerks, diplomats, business people, families…) and more than 4 ton cargo freight (food, machine parts, hotel catering…).

Last year SN welcomed more than 50.000 people on the service. The number of passengers is increasing. Thanks to these results, SN Brussels Airlines is by far the largest long haul operator in Kinshasa.

( Source : www.brusselsairlines.com )

SkylineTurbo

February 11th, 2005, 08:27 PM

Emirates is considering flying to Kishasa.

hkskyline

February 12th, 2005, 02:40 AM

Direct Air Services: U.S.-Africa Summit Under Way
Ndubuisi Francis

Lagos, Feb 10, 2005 (This Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- A United States-Africa Air Transportation Summit is under way to stimulate growth on the African continent through direct air services.

The summit which is a partnership to develop direct air services between the United States and African markets is billed for Miami, Florida, United States of America between May 16 and 18.

Already, a team from the United States led by the President of The Foundation for Democracy in Africa/Coordinator, AGOA Civil Society Network Secretariat, Mr. Fred Oladeinde and Deputy Director, Miami Interna-tional Airport, Miguel Southwell are currently meeting with aviation stakeholders in some African countries, including Nigeria to sensitise them on the event.

Organised by the Foundation for Democracy in Africa in collaboration with and hosted by Miami International Airport, the summit is aimed at fostering a partnership between air transport leaders in the United States and Africa to build direct air services between the two markets.

The focus of the summit will be on aviation safety and security in pursuit of Category 1, emerging challenges for U.S/Africa bilateral agreements, the marketing of Africa-to-U.S direct air service and an analysis of aviation infrastructure project profiles to sustain growth in air service.

Collaborating on the summit which would hold at the Sheraton Biscayne bay Hotel in Miami, Florida are the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), U.S. Transportation Security Administration, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the United States Trade and Development Agency.

According to Oladeinde, the summit is aimed at assisting in formulating for African leaders, models to achieving Category 1 status; provide insight to assist government negotiators and airline stakeholders in Africa, Europe and the United States to succeed in air route agreements; provide airports in Africa the tools to market new air service to airlines and an opportunity to collaborate with U.S airports to build routes between them.

The summit also seeks to provide a forum for suppliers, financiers and developers of aviation infrastructure to network as well as act as a catalyst to Africa's economic development through the development of a substantially greater number of direct flights between Africa and the U.S.

The summit is open to aircraft financing and maintenance firms; aircraft manufacturers and leasing companies; African, U.S and European airline officials; airport officials in the U.S and Africa interested in air service development, aviation consultants as well as government air transport officials and regulators.

Foundation for Democracy in Africa (FDA) is a Washington DC based private voluntary organisation registered with the U.S Agency for International Development and focuses on sustainable development, economic growth and plurality throughout Africa.

It has been granted consultative status (special) as a non governmental organisation with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The Miami International Airport is a leading international passenger and cargo gateway in the United States.

Nick in Atlanta

February 12th, 2005, 04:51 AM

Could you guys summarize your articles on your post. I usually only look at the headline. Unless it's a really interesting article, it can usually be summarized with a few bullet lines. :)

SkylineTurbo

February 12th, 2005, 11:10 AM

Airline Launches Flights to South Sudan

East African Safari Air Express (EASAX) has launched scheduled flights to the Southern Sudanese town of Rumbek.

A statement from the airline said the EASAX would initially operate two weekly flights.

The Fokker-27 aircraft will operate return flights to Rumbek every Monday and Friday from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

A privately owned and run Kenyan commercial airline, EASAX also runs two daily flights to Kisumu and daily flights to Lokichoggio on the Kenya-Sudan border.

Two years ago, EASAX made history by becoming the first airline to operate scheduled flights to Lokichoggio, a key transit point to Southern Sudan.

The airline's management said it was looking forward to the upgrading of Rumbek airstrip to enable it deploy larger aircraft to the route.

The airstrip falls under the jurisdiction of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) and upgrading work is expected to begin in the next few months.

Managing Director Adam Ogden said EASAX had continued to grow despite the turbulence in the aviation industry and rocketing fuel prices.

"We are delighted to be spreading our wings to Southern Sudan and are proud to be the first scheduled airline to support peace in the region," he said.

Rumbek has been picked to become the provisional capital of Southern Sudan following the recent signing of a peace deal between the SPLM and the Khartoum government.

dysan1

February 12th, 2005, 05:45 PM

DUBE TRADEPORT - DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

http://www.dubetradeport.co.za/images/plan_large.jpg

hkskyline

February 24th, 2005, 07:47 PM

Unfriendly skies: African airspace leads world in aviation accidents

NAIROBI, Feb 23 (AFP) - Africa accounts for just three percent of world aircraft departures but has earned the dubious distinction of leading the globe in aviation accidents, if not commercial flights, an industry group said Wednesday.

In 2003, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available, African airspace accounted for 28 percent of fatal aviation accidents worldwide, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said.

However, the AFRAA report stressed that the vast majority of mishaps did not involve scheduled passenger flights and maintained that commercial air service, particularly on international routes, was safe.

Instead, it blamed much of the problem on the vagaries of unscheduled flights, poor maintenance, ageing charter airline fleets, untrained crews and the illegal movement of aircraft in war-torn countries.

"Accident rates on the African continent are currently unacceptably high," AFRAA Secretary General Christian Folly-Kossi told the opening of a two-day conference on African air safety here.

Between 1994 and 2003, Africa recorded 210 aviation accidents, AFRAA said.

Almost 60 percent of those took place in four nations, three of which: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola and Sudan, were in the throes of civil war during the period, it said.

AFRAA blamed the high number of accidents there on the use of illegally acquired and often old, unsafe aircraft.

In those and other states, poorly paid pilots, shortages of resources and mechanics as well as a lack of navigation equipment have contributed to the problem as have visibility problems, particularly during night flights which are favored by cargo carriers, it said.

Another factor in the high accident rate is "adventure flying, mostly by adventurers from outside the continent, largely from Europe ... with passengers watching game and other natural attractions," Kossi said.

He urged African governments to ban the import of aircraft more than 20 years old -- particularly those obtained cheaply from the former Soviet bloc -- create autonomous airline regulation bodies and do away with shoddy and corrupt registration systems.

The conference, attended by civil aviation authorities, aircraft manufacturers, navigation system producers and airline representatives from across Africa, is looking at ways to reduce the number of accidents by 50 percent by 2010.

But Kossi said even with such an improvement, aviation safety in Africa will still fall short of world standards.

hkskyline

February 24th, 2005, 07:50 PM

Central African countries, Morocco to launch new airline

LIBREVILLE, Feb 24 (AFP) - Central African officials and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) signed a protocol here Thursday to launch a new African airline as a joint venture under the name Air Cemac.

The new airline will be a regional one for nations in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC in French) and the deal "takes into account the specifics of each member country," RAM chairman Mohamed Berrada announced.

Africa has already seen troubled bids to keep a multinational airline operating and profitable, with costly and often disastrous consequences because of chaotic management and sometimes rampant abuse and corruption.

Much excitement surrounds the new venture for which the royal Moroccan national carrier and central African transport and aviation officials laid the groundwork in Gabon, during a state visit to the country by King Mohammed VI, though the airline was not part of his official programme.

"Each state must give traffic rights to the community company, provide a good safety environment and authorise Air Cemac to be self-operating" with regard to maintenance on the ground, Central African Republic's Transport Minister Sonny M'pokomandji told AFP.

"This is a global accord which lays out the main principles" for the joint venture, Berrada said on behalf of RAM, which will run a holding company in charge of the fleet.

"For Morocco, RAM commits itself to provide Air Cemac with aircraft to ensure flight schedules, aircraft maintenance and technical personnel and whatever else is needed to make the firm viable," M'pokomandji said.

Berrada said the Air Cemac fleet will initially consist of three large long-haul passenger aircraft and regional jets. Alongside the RAM-run holding company, national companies will be set up in which it will be the majority shareholder.

The scheme, first mooted at the end of 2001, involves the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The sixth CEMAC nation, Cameroon, is still hesitant about getting involved.

The main aircraft "maintenance work will take place in Casablanca", where RAM has its headquarters, Berrada said. Each national company to be set up "will ask for flight times with the number of hours and regional and international destinations to be sold by the holding company," he added.

The executive secretary of CEMAC who signed the accord, Jean Nkuete of Cameroon, said the negotiations among states can start "now", in order to see the first Air Cemac plane carry out a scheduled flight "by the end of the year".

"Headquarters will have exclusive control for five years of intercontinental traffic, by far the most profitable, and will run these flights directly," said a source close to the dossier, ahead of the signing ceremony.

"The national subsidiaries will keep their prerogatives in the continental and regional markets and will be able to lease flight hours to headquarters."

RAM flies to some three dozen destinations in Europe.

Promoters say the arrangement will help avert a repeat of errors that doomed Air Afrique in 2002.

"Air Afrique died because of bad management and squabbles among its member states," M'pokomandji told AFP last week.

"We took that into account while creating a structure that will be based in our countries with a management that will be free of all political contingencies."

hkskyline

March 1st, 2005, 06:52 PM

Morocco and Central African countries combine to launch new airline
Air Cemac to initially consist of three large long-haul passenger aircraft and regional jets
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, February 25, 2005

LIBREVILLE: Central African officials and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) signed a protocol here Thursday to launch a new African airline as a joint venture under the name Air Cemac.

The new airline will be a regional one for nations in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (Cemac in French) and the deal "takes into account the specifics of each member country," RAM chairman Mohamed Berrada announced.

Africa has already seen troubled bids to keep a multinational airline operating and profitable, with costly and often disastrous consequences because of chaotic management and sometimes rampant abuse and corruption.

Much excitement surrounds the new venture for which the royal Moroccan national carrier and Central African transport and aviation officials laid the groundwork in Gabon, during a state visit to the country by King Mohammed VI, though the airline was not part of his official program.

"Each state must give traffic rights to the community company, provide a good safety environment and authorize Air Cemac to be self-operating" with regard to maintenance on the ground, Central African Republic's Transport Minister Sonny M'pokomandji told AFP.

"This is a global accord which lays out the main principles" for the joint venture, Berrada said on behalf of RAM, which will run a holding company in charge of the fleet.

"For Morocco, RAM commits itself to provide Air Cemac with aircraft to ensure flight schedules, aircraft maintenance and technical personnel and whatever else is needed to make the firm viable," M'pokomandji said.

Berrada said the Air Cemac fleet will initially consist of three large long-haul passenger aircraft and regional jets. Alongside the RAM-run holding company, national companies will be set up in which it will be the majority shareholder.

The scheme, first mooted at the end of 2001, involves the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The sixth Cemac nation, Cameroon, is still hesitant about getting involved.

The main aircraft "maintenance work will take place in Casablanca," where RAM has its headquarters, Berrada said. Each national company to be set up "will ask for flight times with the number of hours and regional and international destinations to be sold by the holding company," he added.

The executive secretary of Cemac who signed the accord, Jean Nkuete of Cameroon, said the negotiations among states can start "now," in order to see the first Air Cemac plane carry out a scheduled flight "by the end of the year."

"Headquarters will have exclusive control for five years of intercontinental traffic, by far the most profitable, and will run these flights directly," said a source close to the dossier, ahead of the signing ceremony.

"The national subsidiaries will keep their prerogatives in the continental and regional markets and will be able to lease flight hours to headquarters." RAM flies to some three dozen destinations in Europe.

Promoters say the arrangement will help avert a repeat of errors that doomed Air Afrique in 2002.

"Air Afrique died because of bad management and squabbles among its member states," M'pokomandji told AFP.

"We took that into account while creating a structure that will be based in our countries with a management that will be free of all political contingencies."

hkskyline

March 8th, 2005, 06:23 PM

Sudan, Uganda Renew Air Link
by Steven Candia
07 March 2005

Kampala, Mar 07, 2005 (New Vision/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

SUDAN on Saturday resumed flights to Uganda after 10 years, heralding a new chapter in the the two countries' diplomatic relations.

A Sudan Airways Boeing 727 flight SD 320 touched down at Entebbe Airport at about 10:00am, making a historic landing at the airport for the first time since May 1995.

The resumption of direct flight links between Khartoum and Entebbe via Juba was greeted with joy and dance as drums roared in the background at the airport and at the Speke Resort Munyonyo. The flight will be once a week.

On board was a 78-man delegation, comprising ministers, businessmen and a 10-man crew led by Sudan Aviation minister Ali Tamim Fartak. The team was met by the communication state minister, Tom Butiime.

Speaking at Munyonyo, Butiime described the occasion as a "significant turning point in the bilateral relations between Uganda and Sudan."

SkylineTurbo

March 9th, 2005, 06:44 AM

Virgin Nigeria Airline Raises Equity

Nigerian institutional investors have snapped up a majority 51 percent equity stake worth USD$26 million in Nigeria's new national carrier, part-owned by Britain's Virgin Group, the airline said on Tuesday.

The new company, Virgin Nigeria Airlines, is due to begin operations later this year and replaces Nigeria's former flagship carrier, state-owned Nigeria Airways, which was liquidated in 2003 with debts of USD$60 million.

Virgin Nigeria's chief executive Simon Harford said in a statement the investor base of the new company was now in place after the private placement.

Virgin holds a 49 percent stake and the government has no equity. Institutional investors are expected to sell half of their 51 percent stake in an initial public offer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange once the airline gets airborne.

Virgin Nigeria has already ordered a number of aircraft on lease and plans to operate domestic and regional routes in Africa, and international destinations including the Middle East and Europe.

Privately-owned Virgin, whose Virgin Atlantic already operates the lucrative London-Lagos route, was appointed as the technical and strategic investor in the carrier last September after talks with South African Airlines fell through.

The new operator may be prevented from flying direct to the United States, however, because of a dispute between Washington and Britain over competition policy.

hkskyline

March 10th, 2005, 05:55 PM

Work is Underway On Tunisia's Biggest International Airport

Tunis, Mar 07, 2005 (Tunisia Online/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

The Tunisian daily Le Quotidien writes that civil engineering work on an international airport in Enfidha located some 75 kilometres from Tunis, has started. The new airport will ease the pressure on the capital's airport 'Tunis-Carthage' while giving a new impetus to the region's economy.

With a total cost of 600 million Tunisian dinars, the new airport will have a capacity of 30 million passengers a year. It will cover an area of 5700 hectares and will necessitate the participation of several local and international engineering companies. It is expected to be operational by 2008.

Its ideal location at the crossroads between the tourist resorts of Nabeul, Hammamet, Sousse and Kairouan is attracting foreign investors. An Italian engineering company has already started construction work for a nearby industrial area for 180 Italian companies that will relocate in the area. According to Le Quotidien, some Italian investors are planning to build a Marina in Hergla, near Sousse. The newspaper adds that once completed the new international airport whose name is still not known, will be attributed on the basis of a 40- year lease to an international company.

Apart from 'Tunis -Carthage' the country's biggest airport, there are currently 6 international airports in Tunisia, namely in Djerba, Gafsa, Tozeur, Monastir, Sfax and Tabarka. More than 5 million tourists visit Tunisia each year.

hkskyline

March 11th, 2005, 05:41 PM

Heathrow spat could hit Nigeria
Carl Mortished, International Business Editor
10 March 2005
The Times

THE battleground for open skies between Europe and the US is shifting to Nigeria where a new airline bearing the Virgin brand is demanding the right to fly to US airports.

Virgin Nigeria, which will be 49 per cent owned by Virgin Atlantic, wants to take over the Lagos-New York route once flown by Nigerian Airways but the US Government is threatening to block the carrier in a tit-for-tat squabble between Washington and London over landing rights at Heathrow.

A number of Nigerian institutions yesterday subscribed $26 million (Pounds 13.5 million) for a majority holding in the new airline, the latest spin-off of Sir Richard Branson's brand.

The collapse in 2003 of the corruption-plagued and accident-prone Nigerian Airways, ended direct flights between the US and Nigeria, a link that Nigerians have sought to restore.

The Government, led by Olusegun Obasanjo, cut the state link with the new airline and placed Nigerian Airways's former routes up for grabs to a foreign airline partner.

Concerns about safety and drug trafficking led to the loss of the New York landing rights. However, Nigeria's hopes to end its transatlantic isolation are being threatened by a quarrel between Britain and the US. US government officials have hinted that Virgin Atlantic's affiliate might be viewed as a Trojan horse for Sir Richard who is accused by Washington of perpetuating a cartel at Heathrow, that excludes new US entrants. "(It is) very unfair to permit the airlines of an anti-competitive regime such as the UK to benefit from the unrestricted opportunity available under the US-Nigeria Open Skies Agreement," said Joseph Gregoire, a US embassy official in Nigeria.

Virgin said yesterday there was no reason to deny the new airline access to US airports because the new carrier was majority owned by Nigerians.

The new carrier is seeking aircraft from Boeing and will fly to regional capitals as well as domestic routes.

Virgin Nigeria also plans to fly long-haul to South Africa, the Gulf and, alongside Virgin Atlantic, to London.

"The business plan is not dependent on flights to New York," said a Virgin spokesman.

But US flights are key to the Nigerian Government which is keen to tap into the resources and funds of expatriate Nigerians, hoping to entice home a generation that fled a succession of military dictatorships.

The collapse of Nigerian Airways coincided with a rush of new investment into Nigeria's vast oil reserves, a windfall for BA and Virgin.

The European carriers earn big profits from their virtual duopoly, shuttling oil executives on flights to Lagos that are always filled to bursting and Virgin has added twice-weekly flights to Port Harcourt, the capital of the oil producing region in Nigeria.

Virgin Nigeria, however, will not have a free ride. Several entrepreneurs in Nigeria have set up effective domestic airlines, such as Chanchangi Airline and Bellview.

Bellview is seeking to expand with a regional network and flights to India.

FACT FILE
* Nigeria is the largest nation in sub-Saharan Africa, with 137m people
* It ranks 4th, equal with Kuwait, among Opec oil exporters, producing 2.3m barrels per day
* Oil accounts for 95% of foreign exchange and 65% of government revenues
* Most of the population is poor, with per capita GDP of $900 (Pounds 466)

SkylineTurbo

March 16th, 2005, 09:55 AM

"We're Flying!"

Accra Mail (Accra)

March 15, 2005
Posted to the web March 15, 2005

Ghana International Airlines receives IATA code "GO"

...and announces destinations

Ghana International Airlines Limited (GIA) yesterday announced that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recognised the airline and issued the new national carrier with the airline code "GO".

GIA is now able to publish in Computer Reservation Systems, allowing travel agents in every corner of the world to view flight operations during the summer of 2005.

Destinations launched by GIA during the summer will include Lagos, Abidjan, Monrovia, Freetown, Bamako, Ouagadougou, Banul, Conakry and Dakar.

In the winter schedule, GIA plans to add non-stop service between Accra and London and between Accra and Dusseldorf.

"The new national airline will become a flag bearer for Ghana across Africa and indeed, across the world", said J. Ralph Atkin, Chief Executive Officer of GIA. "Ghanaians everywhere will be proud of GIA".

GIA is the new national carrier of Ghana and is a Ghanaian company formed in partnership between the Government of Ghana and a consortium of international private investors.

Operating a fleet of modern and efficient Boeing 767-300ER and MD-90 aircraft, GIA plans to develop Accra as the "Gateway to Africa", providing connections from Europe and North America to Accra and onward within Africa.

Yesterday ADM reported that the schedules would be published "any time from now".

hkskyline

March 16th, 2005, 06:16 PM

Kenya Airways Records Growth in Passenger Numbers
by Kimathi Njoka
15 March 2005
All Africa

Nairobi, Mar 14, 2005 (The East African/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

Improved traffic connections, realignment of the network frequencies and introduction of new destinations have spurred growth in Kenya Airways' passenger numbers, according to chief executive officer Titus Naikuni.

Over the past two years, the company has added new destinations while modernising its fleet under the modernisation programme, which is expected to end in May this year when it receives the last of its ultramodern Boeing 777.

Last year, the company introduced flights to the Far East - Hong Kong and Thailand.

According to the company trading results for the third quarter, the Middle East and Asia registered the highest growth in passenger numbers compared to European and African regions.

Bangkok topped the destinations with 45 per cent followed by Hong Kong at 35 per cent.

Mumbai followed closely at 29 per cent.

With its biggest aircraft, the Boeing 777 flying the European routes, the airline registered modest growth in passenger numbers. The aircraft has 322 seats compared with the 216 available on the B767s.

The B777 now operates three weekly flights to London Heathrow and two to Amsterdam Schiphol in addition to seven and five flights respectively operated to these destinations on the B767.

According to the results, the airline offered 1,867 Average Seat Kilometres (ASKs), up from 1,603 the previous year.

European capacity grew by 19 per cent, mainly from the introduction of the new Boeing 777-200ER on both the London and Amsterdam routes.

Capacity to the Middle East and Asia region achieved a year-on-year growth of 19 per cent as a result of full operations of the Bombay and Dubai evening flights on the bigger Boeing 767s, which was made possible by the acquisition of the sixth Boeing 767.

Southern Africa region registered a capacity growth of 26 per cent following the introduction of the Mombasa - Johannesburg service on Sundays, the operation of the larger B777 aircraft on Sundays to Lusaka-Lilongwe and the increased B767 operations on the Lusaka, Lilongwe and Harare routes.

The West African market grew by 11 per cent after some B737 flights were substituted with the larger B767s to Kinshasa, Accra and Abidjan and due to increased operations to Douala and Abidjan.

Passenger numbers within Africa, but excluding Kenya, grew by 15 per cent from the previous year's figure of 209,626 passengers.

The other regional markets showed minor increases attributable to frequency and equipment adjustments, except for northern Africa whose 8 per cent growth was driven mainly by the introduction of Djibouti as a new destination.

hkskyline

March 17th, 2005, 03:41 PM

E. African Airlines Suspends Its Flights
by Joseph Olanyo
16 March 2005
All Africa

Kampala, Mar 15, 2005 (The Monitor/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

East African Airlines (EAA), has suspended all its flights to Johannesburg, South Africa.

The plane, Boeing 737-200 series that used to fly twice a week to Johannesburg every Tuesday and Saturday, is now parked at Entebbe International Airport's bay 2 near the cargo area.

Johannesburg has been the airline's only route.

It is not clear why EAA stopped its bi-weekly flights to the lucrative Johannesburg market. However, sources at the airport that preferred anonymity say EAA stopped its flights last month due to increasing loses.

The biting competition in the aviation industry is said to be mounting a lot of pressure on the carrier.

"I do not know what they are up to and I do not think they are going anywhere. It is all about capilatisation problem. They are broke. They need capitalisation," the source said.

The airline's woes are blamed on what the sources called poor management problems.

"There is a problem. A serious management problem. The airline lacks proper commercial decisions that can be taken. If you have a person who is sound, he or she can tell you to fly or not to fly. But he cannot allow you to go on gambling like this. They need to have a sound commercial set up to put the house in order," a senior airline official said.

EAA's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Benedict Mutyaba, confirmed the suspension of the flights.

He said the suspension was as a result of what he called "low season" and that they want to concentrate on their expected Entebbe-Nairobi route.

"We suspended operations to Johannesburg route because of the low season. We thought it was better for us to start Nairobi because the returns would be higher here," he said.

Adding "As an airline, you have to decide on the profitability. So we are going to wait until April when we start the Nairobi route. We did an internal appraisal and found out that two flights to Nairobi will be good," Mutyaba said on Saturday.

He said EAA would start operating on the Entebbe-Nairobi route with effect from April 1 2005.

He said the airline has already finalised with arrangements to start flights to the lucrative route.

"We shall dedicate two flights daily on the Entebbe-Nairobi route," he said.

He also refuted allegations that the aircraft is in bad mechanical condition.

"That aircraft is very good. It has just come from a major check. The aircraft goes for major checks every two years whether you fly or not. We got this aircraft from United Airlines in 1987 compared to other Boeings 737s that are flying."

In a bid to cut costs, Mutyaba said the airline has since reduced its workforce from the original 400 to the current 50. Of this 30 percent are the crew.

"Our costs have been low. What we do not want to do is to have flights on routes where you cannot have good yields. We are looking at Juba. We could have started with Congo but because of the bilateral issues, we have not," Mutyaba said.

He said the airline is going into partnership with Air Zimbabwe, which is expected to start flying into Uganda next month (April).

While EAA insists that the future is bright, airline sources say it may take a while before the carrier bounces back to profits.

Some think that the current woes of the airlines could be the final stroke to the airline's operations.

Whereas the idea was to put up a profitable airline following the collapse of the defunct Uganda Airlines, East African Airlines does not get any incentives from the government. Uganda and Somalia could be the only countries in the whole world that do not have a state owned flag carrier.

NO MEMO: Mr Igundura

Unless the airline is supported, chances of having a local carrier are slim.

Globally, many airlines are now seeking to break free from constrains that bilateral negotiations impose on their route networks. They are investing in foreign airlines and forming alliances to gain access to traffic for which they would otherwise not be able to compete.

Many US airlines for example, are making determined efforts to expand their markets by developing their international networks because of intense competition and reduced prospects of profitability in their deregulated domestic markets. At the same time the mounting costs of supporting state owned flag carriers is forcing all governments to examine the prospects of privatisation.

In some cases the prospects for privatisation could be considerably enhanced if existing restriction on foreign ownership were to be relaxed, and more and more governments are beginning to show their willingness to do this.

Aviation experts contend that there is no African airline, which is doing well. It is said that unless they find ways of teaming up and code share, the future remains bleak for the continent.

Airlines spend between $5,000 and $10,000 every one-hour they fly in terms of fuel and maintenance costs. CAA also charges between $15 and $1,000 as landing fees depending on the size of the aircraft.

CAA Director of Air Transport and Regulatory Affairs, Mr Kabbs Twijuke, confirmed that the airline had stopped flights to Johannesburg. He however, did not say why the airline had stopped flights.

"They have not yet told us officially that they have stopped and why they have stopped. What we can say is that they have stopped to fly to Johannesburg at the moment. I would not want to speculate. It would be unfair," Twijuke said.

CAA Manager Public Relations, Mr Ignie Igundura, also says the airline has not sent any official communication.

"They ought to have communicated and called something like a press conference. But they just suspended quietly and sat down," Igundura said.

"We received a memo saying that we shall not be flying to Johannesburg at the moment due to operational reasons," an official of the airline, preferring anonymity, said.

Mutyaba, Mr Justine Okot, former Director of the defunct East African Airways and Mr Patrick Kabunakuki, the proprietor of Sunrise Newspaper, are the current directors of EAA.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Sam Kuteesa and Mr Ramesh Masrani, the Managing Director Speedbird Group of Companies are also named as shareholders of the airline.

EAA started operating in December 2002, following the collapse of the Uganda Airlines, the country's national carrier. In July 2003, it ceased its own flights to Nairobi, and in August 1, the same year, started booking its passengers on KQ's flights through a code-share agreement.

However, the agreement was cancelled last year, after Kenya Airways insisted that East Africa Airlines could not enter similar agreements with other airlines.

In turn, East African Airlines argued that as the only Uganda-owned international airline in operation, it should be given the status of designated the national carrier, including the routes formerly operated by the defunct Uganda Airlines, which collapsed in the 1990's.

Currently, the government, through CAA, is mediating talks between the two airlines aimed at taking away one of Kenya Airway's four weekly flights and giving it to East Africa Airlines. Industry sources argue that this is the only way the young airline can survive.

KQ operates four daily flights to the lucrative Entebbe-Nairobi route.

EAA is the second local airline to suspend flights since the collapse of AfricaOne.

Poor management, wrangles, capitalisation and competition knocked AfricaOne out of business within months of existence. Now EAA has to wait for a while before they may resume operations. As of now, Uganda has to rely on foreign airlines.

hkskyline

March 18th, 2005, 04:48 PM

South African Airways to launch new service from Washington
17 March 2005
Airline Industry Information

South African carrier South African Airways has announced that in July 2005 it will launch new direct service between Washington Dulles International Airport and Johannesburg International Airport in South Africa.

The new flight will be operated four times a week and will include an operational fuel stop in Accra, Ghana. The service will be operated with a Boeing 747-400 in a three-class configuration.

hkskyline

March 19th, 2005, 05:56 AM

Air Tanzania to Add More Flight Routes
Moses Serugo
17 March 2005
All Africa

Kampala, Mar 17, 2005 (The Monitor/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

Air Tanzania will introduce flights to Dubai, Mumbai, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, Ms Catherine Mpanga, the South African Airways (SAA) and Air Tanzania Airport Manager for Uganda has said.

"We also have plans to procure a new generation 737-800 aircraft that can seat up to 157 passengers instead of the 107-seats aircraft that we are using currently," Mpanga told The Monitor recently.

She said this is part of the airline's route expansion plan for this year.

Integrated operations between SAA and Air Tanzania in Uganda began in March 2003.

SAA owns 49 percent shares in Air Tanzania while the government of Tanzania owns 51 percent. Air Tanzania operates four weekly flights out of Entebbe to destinations like Kilimanjaro, Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, the Comoros Islands and Johannesburg with onward connections courtesy of its SAA partner.

SkylineTurbo

March 20th, 2005, 01:06 PM

KLM to resume flights to Addis Ababa via Khartoum at the end of March

ADDIS ABABA, March 19, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) -- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, part of Air France-KLM SA will resume its flights via Khartoum Airport at of the end of current March, the official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported.

The Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, announced at a reception party Friday that KLM Company is going to make two flights a week between Addis Ababa and Amsterdam via Khartoum International Airport.

Effective March 31, 2005, Flight KL555 Amsterdam-Khartoum-Addis Ababa-Amsterdam will be operated twice weekly with Boeing 767-300 ER equipment, departing from Schiphol on Thursdays and Saturdays at 10:30 hrs.

KLM expects that the services to Khartoum and Addis Ababa will not only be attractive to the local market, but also to passengers transfering at Schiphol Airport from the United States, Great Britain and Scandinavia.

hkskyline

March 21st, 2005, 05:20 PM

Kenya Airways targets China, Turkey routes

NAIROBI, March 21 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways is targeting eight new routes in 2005, two of them flying to Shanghai as part of a strategic shift towards the Far East, the airline's Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni said on Monday.

Kenya Airways hopes to establish routes to Shanghai by June, via existing flights to Bangkok and Dubai, after the Kenyan government struck a bilateral air service deal with China.

"We've been colonised to think there is only business in Europe," Naikuni told business reporters in Nairobi.

"It (China) has enormous potential. A lot of traders from Africa are going into China," he said.

Kenya Airways also plans routes to Istanbul in Turkey; Bamako, Mali; Livingstone, Zambia; Dakar, Senegal; Freetown, Sierra Leone and Maputo, Mozambique.

"The vision we have as Kenya Airways is to link up the whole of Africa, not just Africa with the outside. That's my dream to see KQ in every African country," Naikuni told Reuters.
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However, he said expansion into Africa was slow because some governments wanted to safeguard their national carriers from competition.

"Our biggest hurdle, especially in Africa is getting that (bilateral) agreement. There's a lot of protectionism going on," Naikuni said.

He declined to give financial details before annual results are announced in May, but said Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, performed well in the year to March.

"Our passenger numbers have grown in double-digit numbers and for the first time in history of the company we have achieved two million passengers in the year ending this month," Naikuni said.

The carrier, which wants to modernise its fleet, will take delivery of two new Boeing 777s in April and June, and is considering buying more aircraft, Naikuni said.

Kenya Airways is listed on the Dar Es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala stock exchanges. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which is part of Air France-KLM , owns 26 percent of the airline.

Naikuni said the airline, which closed at 22.75 shillings on Monday, was undervalued. "To me, the current price should hover around 30 shillings," he said.

Kenya Airways hit a year low of 5.95 shillings in January.

hkskyline

March 22nd, 2005, 09:53 PM

KLM to Begin Amsterdam - Addis Flight

Addis Ababa, Mar 20, 2005 (The Daily Monitor/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will start flying to Ethiopia with its first flight taking place on March 31, 2005, the airlines officials stated on Friday.

The flight service - Amsterdam-Khartoum-Addis-Amsterdam will take place twice a week - on Thursdays and Saturdays- on an extended Boeing 767 airplane.

"Starting flight services in Ethiopia has been on our minds for the past ten years, but it never happened due to duty constraint and economic downsize," Pieter de Man, General Manager of KLM Eastern Africa said.

"We believe that this new flight service will assist the blooming flower industry in Ethiopia. Our flights have the capacity to transport flowers, vegetables and fruits via its direct return route," he added.

The plane also is equipped with enough space to transport 220 passengers and still has enough space in its belly to carry 15,000 kilos of cargo, assuming that the flight is a full one. If the number of passengers is low, the plane can carry up to 30,000 kilos of cargo, it was stated.

"Our airliner has 500 combined network destinations, making it the biggest in the world and we are proud to add Ethiopia to that number," de Man said.

"Ethiopia has the potential to become a major tourist site and some tour operators operating out of Holland have given me a very positive response by welcoming the idea. Actually, we have 15-20 tour operators working on a small scale," he stated.

The manager also staid that the cargo space on the first flight had already been sold out, showing that there will be more contact with the blooming horticulture market in Ethiopia.

"KLM and Ethiopian have signed an agreement whereby in special occasions, passengers from Amsterdam could arrive in Addis through KLM and be passed on to Ethiopian Airlines to be taken to their destinations and vice versa. This does not mean that we are full fledged partners, but we just have a commercial agreement," de Mont added.

KLM currently has flight schedules to Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Ghana, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.

hkskyline

March 22nd, 2005, 09:54 PM

Sudan Airways to Fly to London

Kampala, Mar 21, 2005 (New Vision/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --

SUDAN Airways will fly the London route, barely a month since it resumed flights to Entebbe Airport.

The airline's country manager, M.A Adam, said on Saturday, the move to be implemented in April, was aimed at popularising the airline and cope with the demand.

"We shall be embarking on the London route. We have already ordered for one Airbus for that purpose.

"We want all those people who choose to fly Sudan Airways to continue enjoying the high class services of their first choice airliner while they also get the opportunity of flying with it to London," Adam said."

"It's just as well though that we also had to introduce the London route since there is an overwhelming demand for it," he said.

Adam who was flanked by the airline's general manager Mustafa Hussein, and the Kampala station manager, Katerega Ntale, said Sudan Airline currently has three planes of special configuration Airbus with a capacity of 350 passengers, a Boeng 707 cargo plane with a 250 tonne capacity and Boeng 737 cargo plane of 200 tonne capacity.

He said other than Entebbe, the airline also plies across the Middle East and the Gulf States.

hkskyline

March 28th, 2005, 11:41 PM

Ugandan light plane crashes onto remote Congo airstrip, kills two
28 March 2005

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - A Ugandan light airplane crashed onto a remote airstrip inside Congo's northeast border, killing two people who were on the ground, the U.N. mission in Congo reported Monday.

One of the Cessna plane's wheels failed to come down as it prepared to land and the plane hit a soldier walking beside the runway with his wife, U.N. spokesman Mensah Aluka said.

The accident occurred Friday at Beni, 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of Goma city.

Soldiers arrested the pilot, Aluka confirmed, but said they did it to protect him from colleagues angered by the death of the officer and his wife. He did not know the name of the pilot.

hkskyline

April 8th, 2005, 10:19 PM

Virgin Nigeria to make Lagos airport African hub

LAGOS, April 8 (Reuters) - Nigeria's new national carrier, part-owned by Britain's Virgin Group, said on Friday it planned to make the oil-exporting country's main Lagos airport an African aviation hub when it begins operations later this year.

Virgin Nigeria said it has secured a section of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport for its exclusive use, from where it would operate all its flights.

"We aim to make Lagos one of the key hubs within Africa," the airline said in a statement.

"All our flights, even domestic flights, will operate from the international terminal at MMIA, enabling smooth transfers between connecting Virgin Nigeria flights," the statement said.

The airline which replaces state-owned Nigeria Airways, liquidated in 2003 with debts of $60 million, has ordered a number of aircraft on lease. It plans to service domestic and regional routes in Africa, and international flights to Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

Virgin Nigeria, 51 percent owned by local investors who staked $26 million and Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic which invested $24 million, is expected to begin operations later this year after successfully raising equity funding.

Nigerian institutional investors are expected to sell half of their holding in an initial public offer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange once the airline begins operations.

Privately owned Virgin Group, whose Virgin Atlantic already operates the lucrative Lagos-London route, was appointed as the technical and strategic investor in the carrier last September after talks with South African Airlines fell through.

Uncertainty still surrounds its entry into the U.S. after American government officials said it would be denied permission because of what it called Britain's anti-competitive aviation policy.

Nigerian officials say the airline is not a British company and should not be treated as if it were.

hkskyline

April 9th, 2005, 05:53 PM

Gabon president determined to save troubled Air Gabon

LIBREVILLE, April 8 (AFP) - Gabon's president has expressed determination to do everything to ensure the survival of the troubled national airline Air Gabon, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, an official statement released Friday said.

Omar Bongo Ondimba had asked ministers to submit measures to the Council of Ministers as soon as possible, according to a summary of the Council of Ministers' meeting held on Thursday.

Gabon's Prime Minister Jean-Fran�ois Ntoutoume Emane on Tuesday said the airline, which has faced serious financial problems for several years, was verging on bankruptcy.

Speaking to the Senate, he indicated that the airline's survival depended on urgent support of 13.5 billion CFA francs for 2005 (26.4 million dollars, 20.6 million euros).

He said the state would not be in a position to release the whole sum.

He also said the outstanding loans owed by the airline, whose capital is held by the Gabonese state, was 21.3 billion CFA francs (32.5 million euros).

Gabon last July launched the partial privatisation of the airline, set up in 1977.

hkskyline

April 12th, 2005, 05:54 PM

Hundreds stranded as British Airways affiliate in Kenya suspends flights

NAIROBI, April 11 (AFP) - Hundreds of air passengers in east and southern Africa were left stranded at the weekend as a Kenyan affiliate of British Airways suspended flights due to a cash shortage, officials said Monday.

Regional Air, which operates services from Nairobi to and between seven international destinations and the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, cancelled all flights for six days on Friday citing "operational circumstances," they said.

Affected international flights include those to and from Khartoum, Asmara, Djibouti, Johannesburg, Lilongwe, Lusaka and Harare, the officials said.

The airline said it was re-booking passengers on alternative flights in an effort to ease inconvenience to its customers but did not say if the services would resume after the suspension.

"An announcement on future operations will be made in the near future," a company statement said.

An airline official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the flight suspensions were the result of a "cash shortage" that affected the firm's ability to purchase aviation fuel.

Industry sources said the Kenyan-owned airline, which has had a franchise and code-sharing agreement with British Airways since 2001, has been hit by cash flow problems for some time, particularly as it faces increased competition from rapidly expanding Kenya Airways, the country's flag carrier.

hkskyline

April 25th, 2005, 09:26 PM

Zimbabwe buys three pasenger planes from China

HARARE, April 25 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's national airline has bought three MA60 passenger planes from China's state-owned AVIC aircraft manufacturer, state radio reported Monday.

The purchase by Air Zimbabwe comes just weeks after the southern African country took delivery of six Chinese-made Karakorum 8 (K-8) military trainer jets.

The 60-seater propeller planes will ply domestic and regional routes that have been serviced by long-haul Boeing aircraft.

Following sanctions and isolation by western countries over the political crisis in the country, Zimbabwe has adopted the "Look East" policy, fostering new relations with Asian countries, particularly China, Malaysia, Singapore.

"With this kind of cooperation at a time particularly when the West, our former masters have decided to sanction us ... China becomes handy, and China as an all weather friend has again once embraced us at a time we needed it most," Zimbabwe's transport minister Chris Mushowe said at a ceremony in China, state radio said.

Delivery of the planes, which is expected to boost tourism, was expected next week.

hkskyline

May 2nd, 2005, 02:27 PM

Uganda, Rwanda in row over Kyrgyzstani plane

Text of report by Emmy Allio and Chris Kiwawulo entitled "Uganda, Rwanda in plane row" published by Ugandan newspaper The Sunday Vision on 1 May

Controversy shrouds the circumstances under which a plane from Kyrgyzstan changed its registration number and insurance policy at Entebbe Airport. The Antonov-28 plane was on 25 March impounded for violation of airspace by Kigali authorities. It is now grounded at Kanombe International Airport in Rwanda, while its crew of six Russians and two Congolese are jailed in Kigali.

The crew reportedly told interrogators that it flew over Rwandan airspace due to bad weather between Entebbe and the eastern Congolese town of Bukavu. Now fresh information from Kigali implicates Uganda in the illegal change of the plane's registration from its original Kyrgyzstan number, EX 28811, to Congo's 289289 QCES. Kigali authorities say the plane had two insurance policies, one issued in Kyrgyzstan and the other in the DRCongo. The policies had the same wording, but different registration numbers.

The New Times of Rwanda quoted Rwandan officials as saying the forgery on the plane's registration was done between 21 March, when the plane landed at Entebbe and 25 March, when it left. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has denied Rwanda's claims. It said that the plane landed in Entebbe for a short moment to refuel on 25 March before flying off.

"The truth is that this plane landed in Entebbe for refuelling and flew off. We are not aware of the so-called fake registration," CAA spokesman Ignie Igundura said.

Rwandan authorities allege that the crew said the plane changed its registration number at Entebbe. Igundura said, "There are proper procedures to follow when there are problems in aviation circles. We expect our counterparts in Kigali to tell us their findings."

Source: The Sunday Vision, Kampala, in English 1 May 05

hkskyline

May 5th, 2005, 03:45 AM

Kenya Airways shows off new livery on its latest Boeing 777
3 May 2005
Airline Industry Information

http://hkadb.no-ip.org/hkadb/forum/files/5y-kqt-hkadb.jpg
@ Hong Kong by Dickson Ching

Kenya Airways has revealed its new livery on the airline's new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

The new design incorporates the African airline's IATA code 'KQ' and is described by Kenya Airways as a striking departure from the previous livery, with a dramatic design change to the tail of the aircraft.

Another Boeing 777 will be delivered to Kenya Airways in time for this summer's peak season. The new aircraft are being used to expand the airline's capacity between Nairobi and London's Heathrow Airport.

Comments on this story may be sent to aii.feedback@m2.com

hkskyline

May 11th, 2005, 06:23 PM

Go-slow hits Cairo airport traffic

CAIRO, May 10 (Reuters) - A go-slow by Egyptian air traffic controllers held up 20 flights out of Cairo for between three and six hours on Tuesday, airport officials said.

Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq told a news conference the go-slow was illegal and the air traffic controllers could be liable to imprisonment or replacement by foreign controllers or by the Egyptian armed forces.

The state carrier EgyptAir lost $600,000 on Tuesday and $31 million over the past 10 days because of the work slowdown, he added.

The air traffic controllers are demanding salary increases and better conditions but the minister said that after recent increases they no longer have any reason to complain.

Newly employed controllers earn 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($345) a month and will receive an increase of 732 pounds starting this month, he said. Public-sector employees in other jobs receive much lower salaries.

hkskyline

May 11th, 2005, 06:24 PM

Egypt warns air traffic controllers over work-to-rule

CAIRO, May 10 (AFP) - The Egyptian government warned air traffic controllers Tuesday that it had lost patience with industrial action that Tuesday saw the pilot of a Spanish Iberia aircraft threatening to land unaided as it ran short of fuel.

An airport source said the air traffic controllers eventually took over the flight, which was carrying around 100 tourists, after the pilot told them he had to touch down and was prepared to do so without their help.

Another aircraft from the United Arab Emirates had to divert to Borg el-Arab, west of Cairo, after circling the airport for more than three-quarters of an hour without receiving aid from the controllers on duty, the source said.

Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shaqiq warned the controllers that the government was prepared to replace them if necessary to avoid any impact on the industry and Egypt's vital tourism sector.

"The civil aviation sector is very sensitive ... and legal action will be taken against dissident workers," Shaqiq told a Cairo news conference.

"We may also resort to hiring foreign or other personnel that demand less money in their place."

The 600 or so air traffic controllers are demanding an improvement on a 30 percent salary increase they won in a first work-to-rule a month ago.

They are also demanding that a cut in salary, imposed on eight colleagues on Monday for calling the work-to-rule, be rescinded.

But Shaqiq said the action had already cost national carrier EgyptAir 600,000 dollars in losses, and warned that foreign airlines were seeking much larger compensation.

"Foreign and Arab companies are demanding 31 millions dollars in compensation for the past 10 days as a result of the work-to-rule," he said.

An air traffic controller's basic salary is around 1,500 Egyptian pounds (about 300 US dollars) a month, rising to some 4,500 pounds (900 dollars) after several years' service. There are also bonuses based on productivity.

The Egyptian staff say that in neighbouring Sudan controllers earn twice as much.

hkskyline

May 12th, 2005, 04:04 PM

Kenya Airways to start direct flights to Turkey next month

NAIROBI, May 12 (AFP) - Kenyan national carrier Kenya Airways (KA) will start twice-weekly flights to Istanbul via Cairo on June 10, the airline said on Thursday.

A statement said the new service was part of KA's strategy to boost profitability and strengthen its market share.

"The service will also give Kenya Airways access to the rest of the Caspian Sea region as well as the potentially lucrative and well developed domestic air transport in Turkey," it added.

"While most of the passengers on the route will be traders from the African sub-continent, the destination also offers us a huge potential for cargo business and tourists from Turkey to East Africa," KA's Commercial Director Hugh Fraser said in the statement.

In March, the airline said it would also launch flights to Shanghai, Bamako, Livingstone in Zambia, Dakar, Freetown and Maputo.

KA also plans to increase domestic flights to the coastal city of Mombasa and western lakeside city of Kisumu from next month to boost its domestic network, according to the statement.

hkskyline

May 12th, 2005, 09:47 PM

Traffic controllers' slowdown disrupts flights into and out of Egypt
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
11 May 2005

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Frustrated travelers leaned on suitcases, stared at monitors announcing delays and cancellations and tried to reschedule flights Wednesday as an air traffic controllers' slowdown snarled Cairo airport. Egyptian officials threatened to jail strikers to put an end to the labor action.

Anna Durst, 21, and her brother Thomas, 16, dashed madly for the Swiss Air counter after they learned Anna's Lufthansa plane back to Germany has been canceled.

"I'll try Swiss Air to go back home today or tomorrow," said Anna, a student who was visiting her brother and the rest of her family, who live in Egypt.

The slowdown by air traffic controllers entered its third day, causing up to 14-hour delays at Cairo International, a key entry hub for Egypt's vital tourism industry, and other airports around the country.

Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafeeq threatened to imprison strikers and hire foreign workers, saying the slowdown has caused some US$31 million (euro24 million) in losses to the Egyptian national carrier. Foreign airlines, suffering a spike in fuel costs as their planes circle for hours before being cleared for landing, are threatening to demand compensation.

"What the air traffic controllers are doing by delaying the flights is a violation of civil aviation law," Shafeeq told a news conference Tuesday. "Imprisonment is an obligatory punishment according to the law."

Calling the controllers' demands "unreasonable," Shafeeq said he might hire foreign air traffic controllers or Air Force controllers to "ensure traffic at a lesser cost."

The majority of Egypt's approximately 500 air traffic controllers took part in the slowdown to demand an increase in benefits, which they say the government has curtailed. The traffic controllers held a 10-day strike last month but called it off after the government promised to review their salaries.

At Cairo International Airport, hundreds waited for delayed flights. At least three arrivals were canceled. Flight-status screeds showed a Kenyan airlines flight for Nairobi was delayed for about 14 hours before it took off. Other passengers were told after they checked in that their planes were delayed by 8 or 10 hours.

Ursula Zueger, 50, from Switzerland, was one of the lucky ones. She had to take a 10- hour train from the southern city of Luxor after her Egypt Air flight to Cairo was canceled -- but her flight home on Swiss Air looked like it would take off on time.

"This doesn't worry me at all," she said.

Gen. Abdul Fattah Badran, a senior airport official in operations, said the delays have improved from an average of eight hours Tuesday, to around four hours Wednesday.

Badran said three controllers, among the organizers of the slowdown, were fired for "negligence and harming national interests."

"This is sabotage to national security and the national economy," Badran told The Associated Press. "Measures were taken to ... return them (controllers) to their senses."

An airline security official in Sharm el-Sheik said some travelers had to return to their hotels Tuesday because of delays. The Red Sea resort is one of Egypt's main tourist attractions and a disruption in flights can hurt the overall tourism industry.

A spat of explosions in Cairo last month-- where three tourists and four bombers were killed-- have caused jitters in the industry, Egypt's main foreign currency earner.

hkskyline

May 15th, 2005, 06:02 PM

Sudan to build new airport at cost of 530 million dollars

KHARTOUM, May 15 (AFP) - Sudan is to build a new international airport costing 530 million dollars at a site some 45 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Omdurman, near Khartoum, the official news agency SUNA reported Sunday.

Aviation Minister Ali Tamim Fertak, quoted by SUNA, said the facility would cover an area of 58 square kilometres (22 square miles).

Work on the first phase of the three-phase project based on designs by a German company will start in early 2006 with the construction of two runways, two passenger terminals, service utilities and administrative offices.

The first phase is due to be completed in three years after which the new airport will begin operations and Khartoum's existing facility will close, said the aviation minister.

He said the airport was designed to handle eight million passengers a year and that several infrastructure projects around the airport, including roads and bridges, would be built to facilitate traffic.

A committee headed by State Finance Minister Ahmed al-Majzoub will study Arab and international offers to finance the airport project, he said.

Fertak also said that the national carrier Sudan Airways had concluded an 82-million dollar contract for the purchase of six Antonov planes from the Ukraine.

Ukraine will also establish an aircraft maintenance center at Khartoum airport at a cost of 8.8 million dollars and run training courses for pilots, technicians and stewards, said the aviation minister.

He said the planes, center and courses would cost 102 million dollars to be financed by the Arab Investment Bank of Bahrain, with Sudan Airways providing the rest.

hkskyline

May 18th, 2005, 06:54 PM

BA Partner BMED Gets Approval For Beirut-Khartoum Flights
17 May 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--BMED, an independent franchise partner of British Airways PLC (BAB), said Tuesday it has received permission from the Governments of Sudan and Lebanon to carry passengers between Beirut and Khartoum.

The additional permit will enable British Airways to provide a non-stop direct service between the two countries, significantly improving journey times for passengers, BMED said.

BMED flies to 15 destinations in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia from London Heathrow. The company is a member of the oneworld alliance.

Company Web site: http://www.flybmed.com

hkskyline

May 19th, 2005, 04:15 AM

Mbeki calls for action plan for Africa's aviation sector

SUN CITY, South Africa, May 18 (AFP) - Africa's aviation industry is fraught by an abysmal safety record and poor services, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday, calling for a "comprehensive programme of action" to help it take off.

Speaking at a three-day meeting of African transport ministers discussing ways to improve aviation in the continent, Mbeki said: "It is self-evident that we need a comprehensive programme of action."

"The parlous state of affairs of the aviation industry leaves a lot to be desired," Mbeki told the meeting, held at the casino resort of Sun City, some 185 kilometres (115 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

"It is alarming that, although the continent accounts for about three percent of total world aircraft departures, Africa witnesses 27 percent of all fatal accidents on its soil," Mbeki said.

"Airlines are often unreliable with frequent cancellations, which are not only inconvenient but also unproductive for our economic growth," he said.

Mbeki said he was worried about airline safety standards across Africa, saying an analysis of global aviation statistics had shown that although 2004 was an "extremely safe year, there is reason for concern in Africa."

Ministers from 24 African countries are meeting in Sun City to find ways of implementing a decision taken in Ivory Coast's political capital Yamoussoukro in 1999 to deregulate airline markets on the continent and to improve appalling safety standards.

In 2003, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available, African airspace accounted for 28 percent of fatal aviation accidents worldwide, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) said in February this year.

Between 1994 and 2003, Africa recorded 210 aviation accidents, AFRAA said.

Almost 60 percent of those took place in four nations, three of which -- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola and Sudan -- were wracked by war during most of that period, it said.

AFRAA has blamed the high number of accidents in those countries on the use of illegally acquired and often old, unsafe aircraft.

In those and other states, poorly paid pilots, shortages of resources and mechanics as well as a lack of navigation equipment have contributed to the problem as have visibility problems, particularly during night flights which are favored by cargo carriers, it said.

The AFRAA report however stressed that the vast majority of mishaps did not involve scheduled passenger flights and maintained that commercial air service, particularly on international routes, was safe.

Instead, it blamed much of the problem on the vagaries of unscheduled flights, poor maintenance, ageing charter airline fleets, untrained crews and the illegal movement of aircraft in war-torn countries.

Mbeki meanwhile said air travel had become a vital form of transport in Africa.

"It is central to our ability to open up areas bedevilled by former conflict, to integrating forest areas or isolated rural regions with mainstream economic hubs, or even allowing our people to travel to and from their home areas," said Mbeki.

Bernard Zomba, the African Union's commissioner for infrastructure and energy, said the aim of the conference was to speed up the Yamoussoukro agreement and find a framework for cooperation between African airlines as well as look at airline safety and security.

"The current state of air transport has, for some years now, been marked by a crisis that is becoming more acute with increasing globalisation. Africa is lagging behind in the liberalisation of the air transport sector," Zomba said.

hkskyline

May 26th, 2005, 03:45 PM

Plane Crashes In Eastern Congo, 26 Feared Dead
26 May 2005

KINSHASA, Congo (AP)--Twenty-six people were missing and feared dead Thursday after a plane crashed in eastern Congo, an aviation official said.

The plane went missing shortly after takeoff Wednesday and was found by U.N. helicopters Wednesday night in the dense forests near Walungu, said Raymond Sangara, coordinator of Congo's civil aviation authority.

All 21 passengers aboard were Congolese traders, including women and children, said Sangara. The pilot was Russian and the four crew members were Ukrainian, he said.

There were no confirmed deaths, and a search for survivors was expected to begin soon, Sangara said.

The plane had lost contact with the radio tower three minutes after leaving the eastern town of Goma. It was bound for Kindu, some 390 kilometers southwest, but never arrived.

Walungu is about 120 kilometers south of Goma, and further east of the flight path. The town was the site of a recent massacre by area militia.

hkskyline

May 29th, 2005, 04:13 AM

Kenya Airways profit triples, passengers rise
By Katie Nguyen

NAIROBI, May 27 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways said on Friday its annual net profit tripled to 3.88 billion shillings ($51 million) from 1.3 billion due to cost-cutting and an increase in passengers.

Posting the highest profit in its 28-year history, the airline said capacity would increase this financial year with the delivery of two additional Boeing 777s. It repeated plans to open six new routes, including one to Shanghai.

Revenues rose by 36 percent to 42.2 billion shillings in the year ended March 31.

"We've moved from turning around to performance improvement," the airline's chief executive Titus Naikuni told an investor briefing.

The airline -- 26 percent-owned by KLM Royal Dutch, part of Air France-KLM -- said the fleet upgrade would boost available passenger seats by over 31 percent on the prior year.

Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, attributed the rise in results to reduced overheads, while passenger numbers grew by 20 percent to exceed 2 million.

Earnings per share leapt to 8.40 shillings from 2.82 shillings. The airline proposed a dividend of 1.25 shillings per share compared with 0.75 shillings the previous year.

Its shares closed at 31.50 shillings on Thursday after touching a year high of 31.75 shillings earlier in the day.

The results, which were released before the market opened on Friday, were welcomed by analysts.

"They've made a phenomenal turnaround. They've been able to pass on principal costs -- oil and fuel -- on to the passenger because of the high demand that exists," one analyst said.

Higher fuel prices hit the results, with fuel costs 63 percent higher than the previous year. However, Kenya Airways said higher prices were offset by a net hedging benefit of 235 million shillings.

"Kenya Airways is benefiting from the hubbing concept, and also the lack of competition from other countries in the region," the analyst said, referring to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania which do not possess a national carrier.

The airline's return on equity rose to 37.4 percent from 16.5 percent the previous year. Its operating margin was 15.6 percent against regional rivals British Airways' 6.9 percent and Air France-KLM's 2.5 percent.

Kenya Airways' profit margin also compared favourably at 9.2 percent, against BA's 3.2 percent and Air France-KLM's 1.8 percent.

It plans to launch flights to Istanbul, Dakar, Bamako, Maputo and Freetown by the end of the year.

"We want to explore codeshare in Air France in West Africa where they are stronger," Naikuni added.

hkskyline

May 30th, 2005, 02:47 PM

South African Airways names new team for turnaround

JOHANNESBURG, May 29 (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA) named a raft of top executives on Sunday to implement a planned turnaround at Africa's biggest airline.

The announcement follows the appointment in April of Irishman Kyrl Acton as chief operations officer as the airline seeks a return to profit after net losses of 15 billion rand in the last two years after massive hedge book losses.

Strengthening risk management capacity was one of the main focuses of the restructure, with Dan Moeti named chief risk officer, state-owned SAA said in a statement. It also targeted cost reductions and improved efficiency, marketing and customer services.

"Risk management has become a separate high priority area for our strategy with dedicated departments for business risks, financial risks, compliance and auditing," the company said.

SAA took 10-year cover against the rand weakening, only to see the currency surge in value, and closed its hedge book in June 2004 at a cost of 5.9 billion rand.

The company, also battling against high oil prices, launched a voluntary redundancy programme in March as part of efforts to save 1.6 billion rand over 18 months in wages and other costs.

SAA posted a pretax net loss of 8.7 billion rand ($1.34 billion) in the 2003/04 financial year, but managed a pretax profit of 132 million rand in the six months to the end of September 2004.

"This new organisational top structure is part of the process that we began last year when we realigned structures at SAA to increase efficiency and remove duplication," SAA President and Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula said in Sunday's statement.

hkskyline

May 30th, 2005, 05:36 PM

Zimbabwe govt slams airline for one-passenger flight

HARARE, May 30 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has criticised the cash-strapped national airline for flying unviable routes, including one trip which saw an Air Zimbabwe jet fly 6,000 km (3,728 miles) from Dubai with a solitary passenger aboard.

The official Herald newspaper on Monday quoted Transport and Communications Secretary Karikoga Kaseke as saying Air Zimbabwe, struggling with chronic fuel shortages caused by the country's acute economic crisis, was a victim of "inept management".

Local media reported earlier this month that Air Zimbabwe's maiden flight to Dubai, a Boeing 737, left with 49 passengers on board and made the return flight with just one.

"Our investigations have revealed that no proper market research was done before they (Air Zimbabwe) engaged on the Dubai trip," the Herald quoted Kaseke as saying.

"It reflects the level of mediocrity of the management at Air Zimbabwe and it also reflects a management that has little knowledge of aviation, a management that acts on hearsay," he added.

Kaseke and Air Zimbabwe officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.

Industry officials say Air Zimbabwe has also been forced to delay several flights in recent weeks because of fuel shortages dating back to 1999 which have worsened over the past month.

The fuel crunch, together with shortages of foreign currency and basic commodities like sugar, cooking oil and milk, are part of an economic slide many blame on President Robert Mugabe's policies, including the seizure of white-owned farms for landless blacks.

Kaseke denied the government, isolated from Western countries mainly over the land seizures, had forced Air Zimbabwe to fly routes to Asia and Arab countries under a "Look East" policy of boosting economic ties with those regions.

Mugabe denies mismanaging the country since taking power at independence from Britain in 1980, and says the former colonial ruler has led an international assault on Zimbabwe's economy through sanctions slapped in retaliation for the land redistribution programme.

hkskyline

May 30th, 2005, 05:37 PM

Kenya Airways shares hit record high on results

NAIROBI, May 30 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways shares rose 9.4 percent to a historic high close of 37.75 shillings on Monday in delayed reaction to the airline's annual results, traders said.

"It is a reaction to the good results on Friday. The company is doing very well. It has been growing its topline and managing costs. Investors are reacting to that," Chris Mwebesa, chief executive of the Nairobi Stock Exchange, told Reuters.

Posting the highest profit in its 28-year history, Kenya Airways said on Friday its net profit tripled to 3.88 billion shillings ($50.37 million) in the year to March 31 from 1.3 billion thanks to cost-cutting and a rise in passenger numbers.

Fred Mweni, financial analyst at Suntra Investment Bank, said the results exceeded expectations.

"Their performance was exemplary. Most of us analysts were expecting 2 billion shillings. When it came to 3.88 billion shillings, that was beyond our expectations," he said.

Revenues rose by 36 percent to 42.2 billion shillings in the year ended March 31.

hkskyline

June 1st, 2005, 02:41 AM

IATA sets up fund to boost airline safety in Africa

TOKYO, May 31 (AFP) - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) which represents the world's airlines said Tuesday it had set up a fund to improve safety in Africa which witnesses a disproportionate number of deadly air crashes.

The fund by the 400 billion-dollar-a-year industry, announced at the end of IATA's annual meeting in Tokyo, will begin with two million dollars.

IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said the program would provide training and tighten standards to help airlines and governments improve safety standards.

"Despite our great record on safety, the regional differences that remain are not acceptable," Bisignani said. "And Africa is the region that needs help the most."

"This program will commence with Africa and will be rolled around the globe," he said.

An IATA study last year found that Africa accounted for 27 percent of all fatal accidents in the world but just three percent of aircraft departures.

IATA during the Tokyo conference forecast that the industry's losses would mount to six billion dollars this year due to high fuel prices and major costs in North America.

IATA said African airlines lost more than 150 million dollars last year in part because of "major safety problems" and a lack of government investment in infrastructure.

hkskyline

June 1st, 2005, 10:56 PM

Egypt plane crash report delayed to year-end

CAIRO, June 1 (Reuters) - The release of a report into an air crash in Egypt which killed 148 people last year has been delayed from June until the end of the year, the head of the investigation said on Wednesday.

Shaker Kelada said investigators needed more time to study what caused the Flash Airlines Boeing 737 to crash, killing 133 French tourists in January 2004. The plane crashed into the Red Sea just after take off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Investigators said in November the plane had gone into a steep turn after take-off and the crew did not fully correct it before the crash.

Samir Abdel Maaboud, head of Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority, said there were new details which needed study but he did not specify what they were, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency said.

He said experts from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) would arrive in Egypt in September to inspect aviation methods and the extent of the Authority's compliance with the annexes of the Chicago international civil aviation convention.

hkskyline

June 2nd, 2005, 11:39 PM

Plane Crashes On Takeoff In Sudan; 3 Dead
2 June 2005

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)--A passenger plane on an internal flight crashed on takeoff in the Sudanese capital Thursday, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen, officials said.

State Minister of Aviation Abdel Karim Abdullah initially said five people had been killed when the plane's engines failed on takeoff at around 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT). Aviation Minister Ali Tamin Fartak later said three people were dead and 16 injured, two of them seriously.

Fartak said an inquiry had been launched to determine the cause of the crash.

The Russian-built Antonov operated by the commercial airline Marsland was headed from the capital, Khartoum, to El Fashir, capital of Northern Darfur, carrying 36 passengers and 6 crew, officials said. Two of the crew were Russian; the other four and all the passengers were Sudanese.

The U.N. refugee agency, which operates in the violence-torn Darfur region, said it had no reports that any of its staff were on the plane.

Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In February a Russian-built cargo plane crashed outside Khartoum, killing the crew of seven. In July 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board.

hkskyline

June 8th, 2005, 02:46 PM

Six lightly injured as Zimbabwe plane makes emergency landing
8 June 2005

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Six passengers were injured on Wednesday after an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737 made an emergency landing at Johannesburg International Airport, authorities said.

Airports Company SA spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan said the injured included a pregnant woman and an epileptic man who were hurt using emergency chutes to exit the plane, according to the South African Press Association.

The plane, with 93 passengers and six crew members on board, made an emergency landing at 8:45 a.m. (0645GMT) when the pilot noticed smoke in the cockpit.

hkskyline

June 8th, 2005, 06:40 PM

Houston, Senegal airport systems sign cooperation accord
8 June 2005

HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Airport System and the National Airports Authority of Senegal have signed a cooperation agreement to share information on airport management and operations.

Senegal has the closest African airport to Houston. The Houston Airport System said in a statement that Senegal could be a popular destination from Houston because of potential growth in its offshore oil exploration region.

The cooperation agreement is one of six between the Houston airport system and African nations. Others with similar accords are Ghana, Togo, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Angola.

hkskyline

June 11th, 2005, 08:01 AM

Cash-strapped Gabonese airline forced to drop long-haul flights

LIBREVILLE, June 10 (AFP) - Gabon's cash-strapped national airline was left without any aircraft to carry out long-haul flights to Europe Friday, after its sole serviceable Boeing 767 was handed back at the end of its lease.

Air Gabon spokeswoman Brigitte Bika said company head Jerome Ngoua Bekala was in Paris trying to find a solution to enable the company to resume long-haul operations, responsible for 70 percent of its revenue.

A second Boeing 767, along with a medium-range Boeing 737, is grounded, awaiting the delivery of engines which will take some two weeks, Bika said.

At present the airline, which is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, only has a Fokker 100 to serve domestic destinations and airports in Gabon's immediate neighbours.

hkskyline

June 12th, 2005, 05:12 AM

Kenya Airways excited to join SkyTeam

NAIROBI, June 10 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways said on Friday that the global airline alliance SkyTeam had selected it to be an associate member, paving way for the airline to access to SkyTeam's extensive route network.

Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, said that when it attains full-member status next year, it would help the other SkyTeam members to access its route network in Africa.

"We are the only African airline that is an associate member of SkyTeam. So at the moment this means that we can offer a lot of value to the other members that don't fly here," Hugh Fraser, the Kenya Airways commercial manager, told a news conference.

Titus Naikuni, Kenya Airways chief executive said that the airline is working towards attaining the associate membership.

"I would like to stress the point here, that we've not joined the team yet. We've only been selected to start the joining process," Naikuni said. "We are very proud that we have been selected and sponsored to start the joining process."

On Thursday, SkyTeam, led by Air France and Delta Airlines , announced that the Kenyan Airline, along with three other airlines, had been granted the go-ahead to start preparing to get associate membership.

Before Kenya Airways can join SkyTeam, it has to meet conditions that the team sets, such as safety and improved information technology.

Among the benefits that Kenya Airways would get from SkyTeam would be joining one of the member airlines' frequent flyer programme, accessing member airlines' lounges for certain passenger classes and code sharing, officials said.

"There will be other SkyTeam members emerging from the Far East as well, which should also suit our purposes because they could then help us develop our Far East business without us having to set up a large sales organisation," Fraser said.

The other airlines selected along with Kenya Airways are Air Europa of Spain, Copa Airlines of Panama and Tarom of Romania.

hkskyline

June 13th, 2005, 10:17 PM

Local flights resume in Nigeria after plane blocks runway

LAGOS, June 12 (AFP) - Local flights into and out of Lagos' domestic airport resumed Sunday afternoon after being suspended or cancelled for several hours after the runway was blocked by an aircraft that failed to take off, a passenger said.

"I am on board the plane now. We will be taking off for Abuja any moment from now. Two flights have taken off from the airport a couple of minutes ago," the passenger told AFP by telephone from inside the plane.

The plane, belonging to Chachangi Airlines, had been trying to take off for the southern oil city of Port Harcourt in heavy rain when it suddenly broke down and jolted to a halt.

The resumption of flights followed the clearing of the blocked runway, the passenger said.

Nobody was injured in the incident, officials said.

hkskyline

June 14th, 2005, 07:04 AM

Govt suspends two 'stubborn' Nigerian pilots over negligence

LAGOS, June 13 (AFP) - The Nigerian government has suspended two pilots who at the weekend allegedly refused to heed the advice of air traffic controllers against landing their aircraft on flooded tarmac, officials said Monday.

Aviation Minister Isa Yuguda on Sunday in Lagos suspended the two pilots of EAS and Chanchangi airlines for three months over alleged negligence in two separate incidents in which the aircraft they flew skidded off the runway on landing following a downpour.

No passengers were injured in the two incidents.

Yuguda said that the pilots of EAS and Chanchangi landed on waterlogged runways respectively at central Jos airport on Saturday and Lagos on Sunday against the advice of air traffic controllers and overshoot the runway by between 40 and 100 metres (yards).

"We cannot watch the safety of the flying public being jeopardised. We are not happy with the risk most of them take," the minister said.

hkskyline

June 14th, 2005, 06:39 PM

Virgin Atlantic new Nigerian venture to launch Lagos-London route
13 June 2005

LONDON (AFX) - Virgin Nigeria, a new airline partly owned by Virgin Atlantic, will begin operations on June 28 with an inaugural flight from Lagos to London Heathrow, the company said.

The return flight will be on July 4. Eventually, flight frequency will improve from twice to thrice weekly.

Virgin Nigeria is also considering short-haul flights, within Africa.

hkskyline

June 15th, 2005, 03:09 AM

Malawi national carrier to double flights to Kenya

NAIROBI, June 14 (AFP) - In a bid to boost Malawi's tourism sector, the country's national carrier, Air Malawi, plans to double its weekly flights to Kenya, officials said Tuesday.

After leasing a new Boeing 737-200 from South Africa's Inter Air pending the arrival of a recently purchased Boeing 737-500 from the United States, the airline will up service on its Blantyre-Nairobi route from three to six times a week starting Wednesday, they said.

Air Malawi will retain a code-sharing agreement with Kenya Airways for the three old flights, but not the new ones which are scheduled for Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, an airline official told AFP.

"Malawi is still an undiscovered jewel, just two hours away from Nairobi," Benson Tembo, Malawi's high commissioner (ambassador) to Kenya, said in a statement.

"The idea is to lengthen the bandwagon of tourists now flocking to Malawi to discover what has been described as one of the largest lakes in Africa," he said, referring to Lake Malawi, which takes up one fifth of the country's total area.

hkskyline

June 15th, 2005, 05:45 AM

Nigeria, U.S. in talks to end Virgin airline row

LAGOS, June 13 (Reuters) - Nigerian and U.S. authorities are in talks to resolve a row over Nigeria's new national carrier, Virgin Nigeria, which is now prevented from flying direct to the United States, the airline's chief executive said on Monday.

U.S. authorities barred the airline, 49 percent owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group , citing the anti-competitive aviation policy of Britain.

A U.S. diplomat told the Nigerian news agency in December that given the interest of Branson's UK-registered carrier in the new airline, it would be unfair to permit Virgin Nigeria to benefit from the U.S.-Nigeria open-skies agreement.

Nigeria countered in April by denying technical permits to Continental Airlines for direct flights into the oil-exporting country, forcing the world's sixth largest airline to scrap plans to service the lucrative Lagos-to-New York route from the second quarter of this year.

Virgin Nigeria Chief Executive Simon Harford said he was confident the dispute would soon be resolved and that the airline would commence flights to the U.S.

"The two governments are in constructive discussions as befits two crucial partners," Harford said at a news conference.

"These things do take time. But we are absolutely confident that we would be flying to the U.S. as soon as all steps are completed," he said.

The business plan of Virgin Nigeria, which was formed last year after the collapse of former state-owned Nigeria Airways and is 51 percent owned by Nigerian institutions, will not be hurt if the U.S. authorities insist on a ban, Harford said.

"There are many, many other routes that we would be flying," Simon said. He added that the airline hoped to service nine international routes within the first nine months of its launch.

The new airline raised initial capital of $50 million earlier this year and is set to begin operations on June 28 from its hub at the Lagos airport to London's Heathrow airport.

hkskyline

June 15th, 2005, 06:50 AM

Kenya Airways to start Mozambique flights
14 June 2005

MAPUTO, June (Reuters) - Kenya Airways will start regular flights to the Mozambique capital Maputo from August as part of its expansion strategy in southern Africa, the airline said on Tuesday.

"As one of the southern Africa emerging economies, Mozambique is a great potential business partner to Kenya," the airline said in a statement, adding its Maputo flights would be via the Zimbabwean capital Harare and would start on Aug. 4.

Kenya Airways already flies to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, Harare in Zimbabwe, Lusaka in Zambia and Lilongwe, Malawi.

Mozambique has become one of the favourite destinations of business executives seeking new investment opportunities on the continent. Its pristine beaches also attract millions of tourists every year.

Kenya Airways is one of Africa's few profitable airlines.

hkskyline

June 15th, 2005, 06:51 AM

Nigeria lifts 18-year ban on Air India
14 June 2005

Excerpt from report by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian website on 14 June

Nigeria has lifted the 18-year ban on Air India. This was sequel to the good gesture from New Delhi, which had earlier granted a Nigerian local carrier - Bellview Airlines - the rights to fly into its airspace.

Under the new Bilateral Air Service Agreement, Bellview will from Monday [20 June] next week operate its maiden flight to Mumbai, India.

The pardon was the aftermath of President Olusegun Obasanjo's state visit to India in 2000 when he promised to grant waiver to Air India.

The airline was barred from flying into Nigeria in 1987 for failing to abide by the rules and regulations guiding the aviation industry, an offence which the aviation minister, Malam Isa Yuguda, described as a security breach.

hkskyline

June 16th, 2005, 05:24 AM

Sudan carrier resumes flights to Kenya after 8 years
By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM, June 15 (Reuters) - Sudan's state-owned airline resumed flights to neighbouring Kenya for the first time in eight years on Wednesday, following a peace deal which ended two decades of war in the south, an official said.

The carrier's first flight to Nairobi since U.S. sanctions were imposed on Sudan in 1997 flew via the future southern capital Juba and onto the Kenyan capital, where the peace deal was signed in January between former southern rebels and the government.

"Today we resumed the Nairobi leg once per week and we are planning to operate a second leg sometime in July," Osman Youssef, deputy commercial director of Sudan Airways, told Reuters.

He said Sudan Airways had to stop all European flights, for which Nairobi was the main connecting airport, in 1997 after the imposition of economic sanctions.

Many Western companies and foreigners withdrew from Sudan because of the sanctions, and business became very poor, forcing airlines to cancel many routes.

Youssef said the company planned to restart flights to Europe maybe as soon as next month.

He said he expected good potential in the leg to Nairobi, because of strong commercial links and good relations between the two countries, and that Sudan Airways was ready to meet the demand even if daily flights were needed.

"Kenya has played a significant role to accomplish the peace between the south and the north and Kenya was hosting the delegations," he said.

Youssef said traffic would also be underpinned by post-war reconstruction in the south, and by aid operations there by the United Nations and other aid agencies.

The United Nations is sending more than 10,000 peacekeeping troops to the south over the next six months. Donors have also pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the south, one of the poorest areas on earth.

Cargo flights were also due to start soon, he said. Infrastructure in the south, including roads, is virtually non-existent so transporting goods by air is big business.

PRIVATISATION BY YEAR-END

Youssef said Sudan Airways was beginning the process of privatisation and said this was likely to be completed by the end of 2005.

"I think before the end of this year it will be a private company," he said. The finance minister said last year the company would be part privatised.

Youssef also said the company had bought two Airbus A300 planes and two A320 planes and were expecting delivery soon. He declined to give details of the deal.

The Minister of Civil Aviation Ali Tamim Fartak told Reuters these were not new planes and had been bought from the market.

But he said Sudan had reached a "preliminary understanding" with Airbus to cancel the Sudanese airline's $25 million debt to the European company if Sudan bought new Airbus planes.

Fartak said Sudan Airways needed between six to 11 new planes to cover future operations but the company could not afford it. Its total debts were $65 million, but the only foreign debt was the $25 million to Airbus.

He said the U.S. government had objected to the understanding with Airbus, which had held up the deal.

Fartak and Youssef both said the company was looking to hold talks with U.S. giant Boeing about buying new planes. They declined to say how the purchases would be funded.

hkskyline

June 16th, 2005, 05:51 PM

Sudanese flag carrier resumes flights to southern Sudan after two decades

NAIROBI, June 15 (AFP) - Sudan's national airline on Wednesday resumed service to the formerly rebel-held south, suspended 20 years ago at the height of a long-running civil war that ended in January, officials said.

The first Sudan Airways flight from Khartoum to the southern Sudanese town of Juba left the Sudanese capital early Wednesday, according to airline officials in Nairobi where the Boeing 737-200 service culiminates.

The flight is scheduled for every Wednesday between the three east African cities, John Okoth, the Sudan Airway manager in Kenya, told AFP.

"We are planning to increase the frequency to two flights a week in the near future as well as introduce a bigger plane," he said.

Sudan Airways suspended its Khartoum-Juba-Nairobi route in the mid-1980s as the war between Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and government troops intensified, compromising passenger safety.

Juba, a government garrison town during the 21 years of war that ended with the signing of a peace deal in Kenya on January 9, is the only town in war-devastated southern Sudan with a fully functional airport.

The town is to eventually serve as the capital of a semi-autonomous southern Sudan for a period of six years after which the south will vote in a referendum on secession, under the terms of the peace agreement.

The former SPLM/A is currently building a big airport in Rumbek, the interim capital of the regional government west of Juba that is currently home to numerous United Nations and other international humanitarian missions.

Juba and Rumbek are now mainly served by charter airlines although a private Kenyan carrier, East African Safari Air Express (EASAX), began scheduled flights to Rumbek in February.

hkskyline

June 20th, 2005, 05:55 AM

Malawi announces plan to build new international airport
19 June 2005
BBC
Text of report by Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) radio on 19 June

Government will build an international airport at Ekwendeni in Mzimba. The airport is under the regional projects scheme of the Mtwara Development Corridor.

Transport and Public works Minister Henry Mussa says the move is part of the relocation exercise of the Mzuzu Airport that was built in the 60s.

The minister says under the same project government will also build a major road from Nkhata Bay to Lundazi in Zambia, he said.

The minister says it is proposed that the new airport be built around Dunduzu area, which he claimed had a vast expanse of empty land.

Mussa says his ministry is doing a feasibility study to establish the economic viability of the move. He says that from a social and political viewpoint, Mzuzu Airport has to relocate, as it is in a residential area.

Two years ago, a taxing plane failed to take off and collided with a minibus killing one person and injuring several others at the same airport.

In other incidences, planes have failed to land because mad people were on the runway or people were crossing it.

But Regional Lands Commissioner for the North Felix Mangani has expressed ignorance on the application.

He says his department is supposed to clear the land with chiefs and then give the Department of Civil Aviation a title deed.

hkskyline

June 22nd, 2005, 02:13 AM

Kenya Airways gets third Boeing 777

NAIROBI, June 20 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways on Monday received its third Boeing 777-200 aircraft, ending the first phase of the national carrier's push to modernise its fleet, it said in a statement.

Kenya Airways, which is 26-percent-owned by KLM Royal Dutch, part of Air France-KLM , said in May the fleet upgrade would boost available passenger seats by over 31 percent on the previous year.

The aircraft has seating capacity for 322 passengers and can carry 30 tonnes of cargo. It has an 11,500 km range.

In 2004, the airline carried over 2 million passengers, a 20 percent increase on 2003.

The airline, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, was this month chosen with four other airlines to start preparing to join the global airline alliance, SkyTeam, a move that would give it access to a greater route network.

hkskyline

June 22nd, 2005, 02:14 AM

Night flights to Ethiopia's main airport to resume after crash
21 June 2005

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Night flights to Ethiopia's international airport were expected to resume Tuesday after they were halted because of the crash-landing of a cargo plane over the weekend, an official said.

Investigators are examining the wreckage of a Boeing 707 that crashed on Sunday as it was landing at Bole International Airport in the capital, Addis Ababa, said Adawork Regassa, the Civil Aviation Authority's acting head of flight safety.

The crash forced authorities to close one runway.

"We expect night flights to resume this evening, but we are still trying to get the plane off the runway," said Solomon Emer, the general manager of Ethiopian Airport Enterprise, a government company that runs the airport.

Adawork said that preliminary investigations found that there was a fault with the plane's landing gear. Officials said that it was leased by Ethiopian Airlines but did not have any other details.

Ethiopian Airlines officials were not immediately available for comment.

None of the five crew members was injured and there were no passengers on board, said Solomon.

Adawork said that this was the first time in 12 years there had been a plane crash at the airport.

hkskyline

June 24th, 2005, 06:31 PM

S.African Airways overpaying for old leases - CEO

CAPE TOWN, June 22 (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA) is leasing at least 4 Boeing aircraft for double their market price under contracts entered into by its previous management, the company said on Wednesday.

SAA Chief Executive Khaya Ngqula said the state-owned carrier was paying $900,000 a month each for the Boeing 747 400s when the current market price was only about $450,000.

The lease contracts were entered into by previous management and would run until the end of 2006, adding to operating costs as the company struggles to return to profitability after years of heavy losses, he said.

"It's a legacy, we just have to swallow it," Ngqula told reporters after a briefing to parliament's public enterprises committee. "These are some of the legacies we have to deal with," he said.

Ngqula said the airline was trying to re-negotiate the leases. SAA posted a pretax loss of 8.7 billion rand ($1.3 billion) in fiscal 2003/04 but made an operating profit of 132 million rand in the six months to September last year.

The company is due to announce its full-year results early next month, and government has indicated that the results are expected to be "good".

Ngqula said profit for the second half of the year should better the first half-year result, without elaborating further.

He also defended SAA's decision to lease planes to India's Jet Airways for a lower price than a competing bid, saying Jet offered the best overall bid of the eight interested companies.

SAA leased 3 Airbus A340-300E aircraft to Jet Airways from April this year for two-years to help raise cash.

The Sunday Times newspaper alleged that the national carrier had agreed to a monthly payment of $925,000 per aircraft compared with $1.15 million that was offered by rival Air Sahara.

The decision meant that the projected total lease revenue was $110 million lower than the original $450 million.

hkskyline

June 25th, 2005, 05:30 PM

Virgin Nigeria spreads its wings
By ROGER BRAY
23 June 2005
Financial Times

Virgin Nigeria will launch flights between Lagos and London, with the service scheduled to start next week. In the first fortnight there will be only one flight in each direction but after that there will be three round trips a week. Flights by Airbus 340-300 with 40 business class, 28 premium economy and 187 economy seats will leave Lagos on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 12.35pm, arriving at Heathrow's Terminal Three at 7.30pm.

Southbound services will depart at 8.10pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving at 3.10am the following morning. The airline is owned 51 per cent by Nigerian institutional investors with the other 49 per cent held by Virgin Atlantic.

hkskyline

June 27th, 2005, 05:43 AM

INTERVIEW-Kenya Airways sees strong growth for 3-4 yrs -CEO
By C. Bryson Hull

NAIROBI, June 24 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways expects to sustain its current strong growth for the next three to four years, especially as African economies are opening up, Chief Executive Titus Naikuni said on Friday.

The national carrier, 26 percent owned by Air France-KLM's KLM Royal Dutch subsidiary, last month posted the highest annual profit in its 28-year history.

Annual net profit tripled to 3.88 billion Kenya shillings ($50.79 million) from 1.3 billion due to cost-cutting and higher passenger loads. Earnings per share leapt to 8.40 shillings from 2.82 shillings.

"We may not be able to sustain, perhaps, the higher numbers we have had in the last one year long term, but in the short term, it is achievable," Naikuni told Reuters in an interview. The opening up of economies in Africa is fuelling the growth, he said.

"The more countries open up, the more people travel. We are seeing a lot of that happening now in Africa. So I'm still confident we will continue to see the growth we've been seen as delivering last year, especially within Africa," Naikuni said.

Naikuni said he expected it to continue "for the three to four years, barring any natural calamity."

The record profits will be spent on modernising the fleet and ground facilities, training staff and increasing the dividend to shareholders, he said.

Kenya Airways on Monday took delivery of its third Boeing 777-200, ending the first phase of its fleet modernisation programme.

No decision has been made on whether to purchase new jets from Airbus or Boeing , Naikuni said, without revealing how many aircraft the company planned to acquire.

"It depends on what the offer is on the table. We are talking to both," he said. "We will be able to make that decision within the next two months."

OPEN BORDERS

For the passenger base to keep growing, African nations must open up immigration and visa rules to permit easier travel, with improved security screening to minimise risk, Naikuni said.

"We talk of open skies, and then we talk of open borders. Perhaps we should talk of open borders, before we talk of open skies. I think we should have freer movement of people," Naikuni said.

"If you look at the history of trade, it is people moving."

Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable carriers, managed to avoid the sting of higher fuel prices that hurt profits across the industry, due to high passenger demand and a successful hedging programme.

But Naikuni said customers will soon have to accept higher fares as fuel prices rise. Oil prices on Friday touched a record $60 a barrel again on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and many analysts foresee prices staying high in the long term.

"I think it's high time people accepted that if you've got to get the services we have been providing as an industry, there will be increased fares," he said.

"We can't go sustaining the growth and modernisation that is required by the industry, or by customers, without people paying for it," Naikuni said, adding that he expected Kenya Airways to continue passing higher fuel costs on to customers.

hkskyline

June 28th, 2005, 06:43 AM

Sudanese airline introduces second weekly Nairobi-Khartoum flight
27 June 2005
BBC

Text of report by Ken Ramani entitled "Airline introduces new flight to Juba" published by Kenyan newspaper The Standard website on 27 June

Sudan Airways has introduced a second weekly flight between Nairobi and Khartoum, a senior manager with the airline has said.

Mr John Okoth Daniel, the regional manager, said the Sunday flight will have a stopover in Juba and will be operational within two weeks. The airline operates one weekly flight to Khartoum. The Sunday flight will pass through Juba enroute to Khartoum. "We are introducing a second flight to make it easier for those visiting Juba to leave without having to wait for seven days," Daniel told The Standard.

He further disclosed that foreigners travelling to Sudan through Juba will not be subjected to normal migration procedures on arriving in Khartoum. "All these procedures will be completed in Juba and the flight will thereafter be considered local," said Daniel.

Sudan Airways resumed flights on the Nairobi-Khartoum routes on 15 June after a nine year break. Daniel promised patrons low fares.

Mr Nasr-al-Din, the managing director, promised to continue flying modern aircrafts along the route. He said the airline was considering introducing flights to Mombasa, which he described as an international tourist hub. "We are confident that the reopening of the Nairobi route will consolidate bilateral ties between Kenya and Sudan," said Din.

Fighting officially ended in the Sudan on January 9, with the signing of a peace agreement between Khartoum and Sudan Peoples Liberation Army. Juba is only accessible from Nairobi through scheduled flights to Lokichogio [northern Kenya] where travellers must wait for unscheduled connecting flights.

The Sudanese flights have become popular with Kenyans who are flocking southern Sudan for a piece of the reconstruction cake. Economic activity is expected to intensify in the region when disbursement of the 4.8bn dollars pledged by the donor community for reconstruction begins.

Daniel said described business and investment opportunities in Juba as immense and urged Kenyans to take advantage of it. "It is only fair that Kenya makes a strong presence in Southern Sudan and Juba in particular since it hosted and chaired the talks that culminated in the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement," said Daniel.

hkskyline

July 2nd, 2005, 03:38 PM

Nigeria plane makes emergency landing - passengers, crew unharmed
29 June 2005

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - A plane made an emergency landing at a Nigeria airport Wednesday, grinding to a halt on the tarmac after one of its wheels collapsed, an aviation official said.

The IRS Airlines plane carrying 91 passengers and crew returned to Lagos airport shortly after takeoff when instrumentation showed a problem with the craft's hydraulic system, according to Sam Adurogboye, spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

No one was injured, Adurogboye said.

As the plane landed, one wheel exploded. Airstrips were closed as a rescue team cleared the runway, he said.

It was the third such incident this month in Nigeria. A Chanchangi Airlines flight careered out of control due to flooding on the runway in Lagos earlier this month, and an EAS airlines plane skid into a ditch at Jos airport further north. Passengers were also unhurt in both these accidents, aviation officials said.

hkskyline

July 5th, 2005, 01:03 AM

S.African Airways launches flights to Washington

JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA) [SAA.UL] will start flights to Washington on Friday as part of a financial turnaround strategy, it said on Thursday.

The state-owned airline said in a statement the Washington service would be operated 4 times a week via Accra in Ghana -- strengthening its position in Africa and across the Atlantic.

The flag carrier posted a pretax loss of 8.7 billion rand ($1.30 billion) in 2003/04, but appears on track to return to profit during the financial year which ended in March. Results are due in July.

"Our American routes have shown tremendous growth and adding a third destination to North America provides a wonderful opportunity for expanding our global route network," it said.

The airline already flies to New York and Atlanta. It hopes to join the Star Alliance of airlines before the end of the year.

hkskyline

July 5th, 2005, 01:03 AM

U.N. says Russian-built passenger plane crash lands in eastern Congo - no injuries
30 June 2005

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - A Russian-made commercial airplane with faulty landing gear crash landed in eastern Congo, but no injuries were reported, a U.N. spokeswoman said Thursday.

The Antanov 26 belonging to the small commercial carrier Mango Airlines crash landed late Wednesday on a runway near the city of Goma after its landing gear failed, said U.N. spokeswoman Jaqueline Chenard.

The plane carrying eight passengers skidded off the runway and stopped 10 meters (33 feet) from nearby houses, said Chenard by telephone from the region. The passengers were shaken up, but no injuries were reported, she said.

The plane was arriving from Kasongo, located about 450 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of Goma.

Many rickety aircraft, often castoffs from old Soviet-bloc nations, are used in Congo, a vast central African nation the size of Western Europe.

Few passable roads traverse the vast country after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing its impoverished people to rely on often-unsafe boats and planes.

In May, an Antonov-12 carrying 26 passengers and crew crashed into mountains south of Goma, killing all aboard. Earlier that month, an Antonov-26 clipped a treetop during its landing approach and crashed in central Congo, killing 10 of the 11 people aboard.

hkskyline

July 5th, 2005, 05:29 PM

Gabon court adjourns fatal air crash trial

LIBREVILLE, June 30 (AFP) - A Libreveille court opened and adjourned Thursday the trial of four men accused of responsibilty for the crash of an airliner which killed 19 people a year ago.

Judge Jacques Lebama put off the case after procedural objections from the defence and lawyers for the victims of the crash of the twin turboprop HS-748 of private airline Gabon Express.

The defendants are the airline boss Robert Sobeck and pilot Mbia, who have been held in custody charged with manslaughter and wounding, along with the head of the Gabonese civil aviation department at the time, Jean-Pierre Obiang Zue, and the local head of the certification agency Veritas, Bernard Dabezies.

The plane, with 30 passengers and crew aboard, crashed into the sea off Libreville shortly after taking off on June 8 last year. Investigators allegedly found serious deficiencies in its maintenance and checks.

hkskyline

July 8th, 2005, 07:11 AM

South African Airways posts 966 mln rand net profit

JOHANNESBURG, July 6 (Reuters) - South African Airways confirmed on Wednesday that it had posted a net profit of 966 million rand ($141.3 million) in 2004/05 compared to a 8.6 billion rand loss in the previous period.

The results had been partially announced by parent company Transnet when it released the group's results for the year to end-March on Monday. The flag carrier's shock loss in 2003/04 was triggered by a nearly 6 billion rand hedge book loss and impairment charges on aircraft.

The hedge book was closed during the year under review. SAA Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula said the airline was on track to cut costs by 1.6 billion rand by 2007.

"In the year under review our operational costs have increased much slower than our revenue -- a simple formula we intend to pursue going into the future," said Ngqula in a statement.

He said the airline was reviewing its business model for the domestic market, following competition from budget carriers charging very low prices. It was also looking at its long-haul fleet strategy because of declining yields.

SAA is to be removed from the Transnet stable by March 31, 2006 -- operating as a separate company and reporting directly to the Public Enterprises Minister.

hkskyline

July 9th, 2005, 02:02 AM

Air France jet hits cow on landing in southern Nigeria

LAGOS, July 7 (AFP) - An Air France jet ran into a stray cow as it landed among a herd roaming the airport in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the firm said, adding that no-one was hurt.

The Airbus A330 passenger liner was arriving overnight from Paris with 196 people on board when it drove into a group of cattle which had somehow strayed on to the tarmac, said Air France's spokeswoman in Nigeria, Moyo Areola.

"No passenger or crew was injured. The aircraft taxied safely to the gate on time at 04.34am local time (0334 GMT)," she said, in a statement.

"The aircraft is presently on the ground for safety reasons and will not be flown until all necessary safety precautions have been taken," she continued.

"A maintenance team is locally checking the aircraft and, in addition, an Air France mechanical team are on their way from Paris to further certify the safety of the aircraft," she said.

"Our flight for tonight, AF 875 to Paris, has been cancelled."

Airport workers were trying to round up the surviving cattle more than three hours after the accident and an investigation has been launched into how the herd breached the airport perimeter, said officials in Port Harcourt.

Passengers at Lagos airport said their flights to Port Harcourt had been delayed by three hours and that a tannoy announcement had said that at least five cows were loose in the airport and were being chased by ground crew.

Port Harcourt is the main centre of Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil industry and several international and domestic carriers serve its small, single-runway airport.

The incident is only the latest in a series of freak accidents in Nigeria involving stray cows.

Last month police in Lagos arrested a cow after it attacked and killed a bus driver who had stopped to urinate by the side of the road.

And 25 people were killed in May when a truck carrying traders to market swerved to avoid a cow and ploughed into a crowded cross-country bus.

hkskyline

July 10th, 2005, 01:03 AM

Air France resumes flights from Nigerian city after crash with cows

LAGOS, July 8 (AFP) - Air France has resumed flights from the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt, the airline said Friday, two days after an airliner arriving from Paris ploughed into a herd of cows on the runway.

None of the 196 passengers on board the Airbus A330 jet was injured in Wednesday's accident, which left at least six cattle dead on the tarmac, but the incident has increased concerns about Nigeria's aviation safety record.

Air France spokeswoman Moyo Adeola said that the A330 was still grounded at Port Harcourt while being checked over for damage but that a Boeing 777 had been diverted to cover the firm's four flights a week to and from Paris.

Nigerian press reports said that Aviation Minister Issa Yuguda has ordered an investigation into who was responsible for allowing the herd to stray and said that any other cows spotted near the runway would be shot on sight.

Nigeria's aviation industry has a patchy safety record and minor accidents and damage to planes is a regular occurrence. Last week a domestic jet airliner crash-landed on the tarmac at Lagos after its landing gear failed to deploy.

The last serious accident was in May 2002, when pilots lost control of a flight out of the northern city of Kano and scythed into an inner city district, killing around 100 passengers and dozens more on the ground.

hkskyline

July 11th, 2005, 05:33 PM

New boss named for Gabon's ailing airline

LIBREVILLE, July 11 (AFP) - Gabon's President Omar Bongo has named a new managing director for near-bankrupt state airline Air Gabon, as the government hesitates between winding the company up or privatising it.

The state-owned daily L'Union said Monday Jean-Robert Ngoulongana, former secretary general of the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group of countries, had been appointed by a presidential decree to succeed Jerome Ngoua Bekale, who was in office for some 15 months.

Set up in 1977, Air Gabon has debts estimated at 21 billion cfa francs (32 million euros, 38 million dollars) and is unable to pay its bills or its some 1,100 employees.

It has only two ageing planes, one of which was grounded for weeks for repairs, halting services to other African destinations until last week.

Long-haul routes to Europe, which account for 70 percent of turnover, have also been suspended for the past month after the lease expired on the Boeing 767 which operated them.

skipperBill

July 12th, 2005, 10:22 PM

GIA to Fly Next Month

14 June 2005 (ghanaweb.com)The Ghana International Airline Limited (GIAL) has put in place all the necessary logistics and facilities to enable the airline to begin its operations next month.

It will start off on the regional routes, plying Conakry, Bamako, Ouagadougou, Banjul, Freetown and Monrovia.

The airline would also ply the long haul in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, one of the continent’s most reliable airlines.

Presently, Radixx International, an international reservation software and hosting company based in Florida, has been engaged to complete the automation of the airline’s operations.

Radixx International will automate the ticketing, reservation and sales operations of the airline.

In line with this, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Radixx, Mr Ronald J. Peri made a dummy presentation of the system to members of the Ghana Distribution System Limited (GDS), which oversees the distribution of reservations for airlines in the country.

He said the airline would make it possible for people, especially agents to buy tickets or book reservations electronically.

“Radixx has helped resurrect six airlines that were almost on the verge of collapse through the automation of their systems,” Mr Peri said.

“When an airline’s system is automated, travellers would have the opportunity to buy their tickets with either credit, debit or re-load cards through the various Western Union money transfer systems currently in operation in the country,” he added.

Mr Peri said automating the systems would enable GIAL to have better control of the airline’s finances. He said automating the system would also help to solve the problem of overbooking as well as eliminate fraud in the airline’s operations.

According to Mr Peri, “installing the software will also help GIAL to keep track of its inventory as well as eliminate hidden cost that is predominant in the airline business.”

The software expert also said, it would be possible for the airline to make tickets less expensive since the system would eliminate the chain of middlemen that currently existed.

Mr Peri, however, stated that travel agents would not be left out when the airline commences its operations. He added that the services of the agents were a crucial element in making the airline survive, particularly at a time when the industry had become very competitive.

The Media Relations Officer of GIAL, Mr Sammy Crabe, said GIAL was still at the implementation stage and was doing everything possible to ensure that it commenced operations on schedule.

He said currently the Special Assistant to the CEO, Mr Sean Mendis, was in Berlin, Germany, participating in a slot conference, where he would negotiate for schedules in Frankfurt, Heathrow, Dusseldorf, Johannesburg and Accra.

The GIAL’s Vice-President, Operations, Mr Albert Vitale, who is also in the country to help finalise measures for the take-off of the airline, assured Ghanaians that GIAL would be the best thing to happen to the country’s aviation industry.”

skipperBill

July 14th, 2005, 08:31 PM

Now you can fly to London via Namibia

July 12 2005 at 10:26AM(Independent Online) Air Namibia's new service to London offers South African passengers the double benefit of finding extra seats from increased capacity on the most popular route from South Africa along with more convenient connections than are provided by other non-direct airlines, according to Air Namibia's regional manager, Corné de Waal.

Air Namibia's new Johannesburg and Cape Town services to London via Windhoek offer passengers a great alternative route to the UK. The inaugural special fare of R3 880 from Johannesburg (R3 990 from Cape Town) has been extended for bookings made by September 30.

The inaugural northbound flight to London via Windhoek departed last Saturday and Air Namibia's feeder network will provide easy links for the overnight northbound flights.

De Waal said: "What is different to the previous London service is that, with just one quick and easy connection at Windhoek, you arrive in London fresh from your overnight long haul, without the need to reconnect to your final destination, unlike other non-direct carriers who offer the one-stop hop from South Africa."

'You arrive in London fresh from your overnight long haul'
Air Namibia is offering special introductory fares for the route, and prices will stay highly competitive throughout the year. Additionally, for the youth market it remains the only airline to offer tickets that are extendable to two years' validity, perfect for working holidaymakers.

For more information about Air Namibia and holiday destination information, call: 011-390-2876/7 or check out: www.airnamibia.com.na

skipperBill

July 16th, 2005, 09:13 PM

Nigeria, Ethiopia sign air service agreement

UPDATED: 10:00, July 08, 2005 (Addis Abeba) Nigeria and Ethiopia, both air traffic hubs in its own region, have signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement to boost commerce and tourism between the two countries, according to a statement issued here on Thursday.

Under the agreement, the Ethiopian Airlines, the national flag carrier of Ethiopia, will use the Lagos international airport as one of its operational hubs for other international destinations.

"The agreement marks a significant step in the implementation of the 1999 Yamoussoukro decision to an unhindered access to the air in Africa," said the statement.

Nigerian Aviation Minister Isa Yuguda, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Nigerian government, said the agreement was also in the spirit of the New Partnership for Africa's Development ( NEPAD) and African integration.

"This agreement epitomizes the beginning of good economic interaction between the two countries and seamless movement of their nationals," he said.

The minister expressed the hope that the agreement would further strengthen the mutual cooperation and relationship between the two countries and enhance economic development.

According to Estifanose, director of Air Transport and Planning Department of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the agreement "is a great manifestation of the political will of the two countries to implement the Yamoussoukro protocol on unhindered access to air movement within the continent."

The air link between the two countries would further promote tourism and boost trade relations, he said, adding that the designate airlines would benefit maximally from the agreement.

The Ethiopian Airline currently flies into 44 cities across Europe, the United States, Asia, Middle East and Africa. In Nigeria, it operates in Lagos and was formerly flying into Kano before it suspended operations there. It is currently expanding its network, which it said, aims to "bring Africa together."

Source: Xinhua

hkskyline

July 17th, 2005, 12:55 AM

Airbus seeks to boost market edge in Africa as airlines replace ageing fleets

NAIROBI, July 13 (AFP) - European aircraft giant Airbus said Wednesday it intends to increase it market edge in Africa over bitter US rival Boeing as the continent's leading airlines move to replace their ageing fleets.

Despite competition from Boeing which has won recent contracts from Kenya and Ethiopia's fast-growing flag carriers, Toulouse-based Airbus said it planned an active campaign to boost its 56-percent hold on the African aviation market.

"Airbus intends to build on its lead in Africa," said Hadi Akoum, the company's vice president for Africa. "We intend to win more than half of the estimated future African market with our family of modern, cost-efficient aircraft."

"Africa is set to experience unprecedented growth in the air transport sector," he told a news conference here. "Demand will be driven by the increasing trade and tourism ties between Africa and Europe, the Middle East and North America."

"I believe there is a big potential with many airlines operating used aircrafts which will be facing tough price increase ... they have to change and this is where we expect there will be potential for new airplanes," Akoum said.

He noted African airlines currently own some 280 planes. Many of the ones that are more than 20 years old and in need of replacement were manufactured by Boeing whose production base is in Seattle.

Presenting Airbus' market forecast for the next 20 years in a country whose national airline, Kenya Airways, flies an all Boeing fleet, Akoum said his company was determined to woo Kenya into the Airbus fold.

"Our relations with Kenya have been slowed down because they were finalizing the order and deliveries of those airplanes," he said, referring to Kenya Airways taking delivery this year of two long-haul Boeing 777 jumbo jets.

"What we are looking for is to ensure that Kenya Airways benefits from our experience worldwide experience in order to enhance their commercial an doperation capabilities," Akoum said. "We are looking to increase this relationship."

In addition to Kenya, Airbus is known to have made overtures to Ethiopian Airlines which also flies a predominantly Boeing fleet, according to industry sources.

hkskyline

July 17th, 2005, 12:56 AM

New plane, flight routes for Air Senegal International

DAKAR, July 12 (AFP) - Air Senegal International on Tuesday announced the purchase of a new airplane and an expansion of the routes flown by the partially state-owned airline.

The 50 million-dollar purchase expands to five planes the size of the fleet of the Dakar-based airline, and will help service new routes linking the west African state to Ghana, Spain and Italy, communications director Makhtar Diop told AFP.

Air Senegal International currently also flies to Paris and Marseille in France, to Niger and to Burkina Faso.

The nearly five-year-old airline, which is 51 percent owned by Royal Air Maroc, boasted a passenger load of 420,000 people in 2004 and is on track to reach its goal of 490,000 passengers for 2005.

hkskyline

July 17th, 2005, 12:56 AM

Nigeria cannot secure cow crash airport because of shrines: official

LAGOS, July 12 (AFP) - Nigerian officials investigating how an Air France passenger jet crashed into a herd of cows said Tuesday they could not fully protect the airport concerned without disturbing traditional African shrines.

Last week an airliner arriving from Paris in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt with 196 people on board ploughed into a herd of cattle that had strayed onto the tarmac, which is not fenced off from neighbouring villages.

No-one was hurt in the incident, but it has nonetheless proved an embarrassment to the Nigerian authorities, who have ordered an investigation.

"Local residents around Port Harcourt airport have insisted that we cannot cut the bush because their shrines are located there," said Adamu Abdullahi, a spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Simple shrines and sacred groves dedicated to local deities are a common feature of life in rural Nigeria.

"The bush is not helping matters at all as it constitutes a serious security risk. The bush shields animals that stray into the airport," he told AFP.

"We are in talks with the authorities in Rivers State and representatives of the local community on this problem and we hope that it will soon be solved."

Port Harcourt is the main centre of Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil industry and its single-runway airport is served by several international and domestic carriers, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air France.

Abdullahi said that of Nigeria's four international airports only Lagos was fully fenced off. Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano airport remain unenclosed and that the government is seeking funds to complete the job, he added.

In order to comply with international safety regulations the runways must be protected by 2006, he said, adding that it would cost 2.8 billion naira (21 million dollars / 17 million euros) to fence in just two of the three.

hkskyline

July 17th, 2005, 06:15 PM

New Ghana route for Virgin Nigeria
By ROGER BRAY
14 July 2005
Financial Times

Newly launched airline Virgin Nigeria is scheduled to start flying from Lagos to Accra, the capital of Ghana, next week. From July 20 it will operate two round trips a day using Airbus A320 aircraft.

Virgin Nigeria began flying to London last month. Since then it has launched domestic services from Lagos to Abuja and Port Harcourt. Schedules allow day trips to and from all three short-haul destinations. Simon Harford, chief executive, hopes the airline, which is majority-owned by Nigerian investors with the balance held by Virgin Atlantic, will be operating on about nine routes by spring 2006.

hkskyline

July 18th, 2005, 02:40 AM

Flights resume in Nigeria after plane cleared off runway, minister visits

LAGOS, July 14 (AFP) - Normal local and international flights resumed Thursday after disruption that lasted almost 24 hours following the closure of the Lagos airport tarmac by a heavily laden cargo jet from Dubai which overshot on landing, an airport spokesman said.

"Normal flights have resumed today (Thursday). We have been able to remove the aircraft that blocked the tarmac. Right now, the aviation minister is visiting the scene of the accident," Adamu Abdullahi, spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said.

A Calabar-bound passenger stranded in Lagos since Wednesday following cancellation of her trip due to the accident, Agbo Adede, confirmed to AFP from the airport that normal flights have gradually resumed Thursday.

The DAS Air plane, which arrived the airport in heavy rain Wednesday from Dubai overshot the tarmac in the latest in a series of accidents to shake confidence in Nigeria's aviation industry.

No-one was reported hurt in the accident but many flights were cancelled or delayed as ground crews worked several hours to unload the plane and drag it away from the runway.

DAS Air is a British-based cargo airline serving Africa and the Middle East.

Lagos Airport's main runway was already undergoing repairs at the time of the accident and with the second runway currently used by both its domestic and international terminals the accident triggered many cancellations.

Last week an Air France jet arriving at the southern oil city of Port Harcourt with 196 passengers on board was damaged when it ran into a herd of cattle that had strayed onto the runway, killing several of them.

In recent months at least three airliners operated by domestic carriers have been damaged in bumpy landings caused by faulty landing gear.

hkskyline

July 18th, 2005, 03:05 PM

Thieves steal generator of Nigerian airport invaded by cows

LAGOS, July 15 (AFP) - Unidentified thieves have stolen a back-up generator at the international airport in Port Harcourt, southern Nigeria, less than a week after an Air France passenger jet crashed into a herd of cows that strayed into its tarmac, an official said Friday.

"The generator has been stolen by unknown thieves. I have just received the report. The police are investigating it. The incident is unfortunate," Adamu Abdullahi, spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said.

Last week Wednesday, an Air France jet arriving from Paris in the oil-city with 196 people on board ploughed into a herd of cattle that had strayed onto the tarmac, which is not fenced off from neighbouring villages.

No-one was hurt in the accident.

The generator, owned by the state-run Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, mysteriously disappeared from the airport on Tuesday, forcing security to be tightened within and around the airport, the Punch newspaper reported Friday.

Nigerian officials had told AFP on Tuesday they could not fully protect the airport without disturbing traditional African shrines.

"Local residents around Port Harcourt airport have insisted that we cannot cut the bush because their shrines are located there," Abdullahi said.

Simple shrines and sacred groves dedicated to local deities are a common feature of life in rural Nigeria.

"The bush is not helping matters at all as it constitutes a serious security risk. The bush shields animals that stray into the airport," he told AFP.

"We are in talks with the authorities in Rivers State and representatives of the local community on this problem and we hope that it will soon be solved," he said.

Port Harcourt is the main centre of Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil industry and its single-runway airport is served by several international and domestic carriers, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air France.

hkskyline

July 18th, 2005, 10:58 PM

Cairo air traffic controllers threaten strike

CAIRO, July 16 (AFP) - Air traffic controllers at Cairo's international airport are threatening to strike on August 4 if a number of grievances, particularly over salaries, are not resolved, a union statement said Saturday.

Two similar actions in April and May severely disrupted traffic at the airport.

The controllers are unhappy with the 30 percent pay rise they received at the beginning of the year. Starting salaries are now 1,500 Egyptian pounds (250 dollars) a month, rising to 4,500 pounds with several years' seniority.

Controllers also receive productivity bonuses.

They also want two of their colleagues, including the head of the union, to be reinstated after being sacked because of the last strike and for salary cuts imposed on eight others because of their calls for a strike to be lifted.

A general assembly of the union, which represents some 600 controllers, voted to walk of the job for four hours on August 4 unless their demands are met.

SkylineTurbo

July 19th, 2005, 07:43 AM

Oman Air stops flights to Zanzibar
19 July, 2005

MUSCAT — Ziad Karim Al Haremi, Oman Air CEO, has announced that effective from today and till further notice, Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, shall stop all scheduled flights to Zanzibar International Airport. Oman Air will continue to operate non-stop flights to Dar-Es-Salam.

“Due to this unexpected operational situation, Oman Air regrets to its valued passengers any inconvenience that may be caused and the same time assures Oman Air’s commitment to safeguard the passengers’ liabilities,” he added. Al Haremi confirmed that Oman Air would take any measures that would help eliminate the impact of this decision. Such measures included the possibility of refunding the price of the issued ticket or providing transportation from Dar-Es-Salam to Zanzibar for which Oman Air operates five weekly scheduled flights. More information on this can be had from any of the offices in 20 Oman Air destinations.

SkylineTurbo

July 19th, 2005, 07:46 AM

Bitou issues ‘developer’ of airport a final ultimatum
20 July, 2005

Indications are that the Bitou Council is losing patience with developer Willie Malan and will soon be taking action to relaunch the future of Plettenberg Bay’s airport which has been stalled for more than a year.

Because of the continuing delays and uncertainty, a number of Garden Route entrepreneurs and business groups have had to put their plans on hold.

The Pretoria-based attorney who is advising the council, Phatudi Maponya, said Malan “has not played ball with the council”.

“If my client (the council) is not happy by the end of July, we will cancel the deal,” said Maponya.

However, according to DA councillor Johan Brummer, Malan’s bid has already “lapsed”.

Brummer said that, in terms of a decision taken by the council on June 29, the bid had lapsed because a 10-day extension granted to Malan to come up with a business plan and other documents had passed.

DA councillor Pierre Koep has also said that, because Malan did not comply with the council’s demands for a business plan and various other documents by July 10, the bid would have to be revoked.

However, Malan said he was not concerned and was confident “things will be sorted out” when he met senior Bitou officials and Maponya.

Municipal manager George Seitisho has confirmed Malan has requested a meeting with municipal officials and Maponya. But Brummer said the council’s decision, confirming a decision by the mayoral committee, was specific: after July 10 the bid would lapse.

“They (senior council officials) can meet him if they want to, but in terms of the council’s decision, it’s too late. Only the council can change that decision, and it can only reconsider its decision in six months,” Brummer said.

(The Herald)

SkylineTurbo

July 19th, 2005, 07:52 AM

TAAG Angola orders up to nine Boeing jets
July 19, 2005

TAAG Angola Airlines reached a definitive agreement with Boeing for the purchase of two 777-200ERs and four 737-700 Quick Change aircraft.The agreement also includes options for an additional 777-200ER and two more 737-700QCs. According to Boeing, the firm order is valued at roughly $649.6 million at list prices and approximately $990 million with options included.

The aircraft will be delivered next year, with the first 777-200ER and 737-700 scheduled to arrive in July. They will replace the current fleet of two 747-300s and five 737-200s.

hkskyline

July 19th, 2005, 06:13 PM

Remains of Egyptian crew buried 18 months after Flash crash

CAIRO, July 19 (AFP) - The remains of the 13 Egyptian crew members who died in the January 2004 crash of a Flash Airlines aircraft packed with French tourists were buried Tuesday, an AFP correspondent reported.

The crash off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh three minutes after take-off had killed a total of 148 people, including 134 French.

During a brief ceremony, the remains of the men and women were grouped in two separate coffins and laid to rest in a crypt at a burial site some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Cairo.

skipperBill

July 19th, 2005, 10:27 PM

Major Changes Underway in Aviation, Says Obasanjo

Taken from ThisDay Online News Source:

By Ndubuisi Francis, 07.18.2005

(Abuja, Nigeria) President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday expressed his administration's resolve to embark on a complete restructuring of the aviation sector, saying that to jump-start the process, a comprehensive management audit is imminent.

Obasanjo who spoke on the need to take bold and proactive steps in building and maintaining an aviation infrastructure that meet global standards of safety and industry best practices, noted that "too often have we been criticised for failing to rise to the occasion as a nation in areas where we posses comparative advantages."

In an address presented by the new Aviation Minister, Babalola Borishade at the formal launch of new national flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria at the Presidential lounge of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Obasanjo said that his administration will not shy away from the challenges associated with the reforms of the aviation sector.

"We must endeavour to build and maintain an aviation infrastructure that meets global standards of safety and industry best practices. Too often have we been criticised for failing to rise to the occasion as a nation in areas where we posses comparative advantages. We therefore intend to engage in the restructuring of the entire sector with emphasis on institutions responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies.

"Government will not shy away from the challenges associated with the reforms of the Nigerian aviation sector, with the objective of improved infrastructural development and service delivery. We will work tirelessly towards creating the right environment for Foreign Direct Investment.

"We will begin in earnest to mobilise required expertise to undertake a comprehensive management audit of the aviation sector. This will commence with a functional review of the Ministry of Aviation towards sharpening its capacity for strategic policy intelligence. We will reinforce the ministry's capacity for result-oriented monitoring, evaluation and performance reporting using modern management techniques

The president noted that "we plan to evolve a ministry and agencies adequately equipped and properly staffed to respond to the magnitude of private sector activities that will establish Nigeria in the leadership position in this sector."

Obasanjo affirmed that his government would achieve this transformation through a deliberate and constructive collaboration of efforts between all the industry stakeholders, including policy makers, regulator, service providers and operators.

"We all have a common goal of achieving a rapid and successful transformation of the physical and institutional infrastructure from its present form to international standard. We believe that this joint effort will go a long way in improving our image and reinforcing the gains we made in the areas of debt relief, market liberalisation and institutional reforms", the President said.
On Virgin Nigeria, Obasanjo who spoke against the backdrop of defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways, noted that state enterprises suffer from fundamental problems of defective capital structure, excessive bureaucratic control or intervention, inappropriate technology, gross incompetence and management as well as blatant corruption and crippling complacency which monopoly engenders.

These shortcomings, he said, inevitably take a heavy toll on the national economy, adding that it was therefore in the realisation of this that his administration resolved to positively redress the situation as successive ministers of aviation were charged with the task of midwifing an exclusively private sector funded flag carrier for the country.

He observed that the birth of a carrier in any nation of the world is typically a challenging and onerous task and becomes even more challenging in a kind of environment like Nigeria that is undergoing major reforms at different fronts.
Obasanjo said the launch of Virgin Nigeria was another remarkable stride in the reform effort, adding that it was therefore with a sense of fulfillment that he was flagging off "the nation's new and totally privately owned flag carrier."

"Today, we are proud beneficiaries of the birth of a world class carrier. This feat involves on the one hand, significant investment from one of the world's most enterprising and successful airlines-Virgin Atlantic Airways-and a group of top quality Nigerian institutional investors on the other. This is truly one of Nigeria's finest hour.

"It is our determination to continue to grow the private sector and sustain the momentum for wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction. We have now struck a happy medium of achieving these objectives of having a world class Nigerian airline flying the national flag with its operational, commercial and administrative headquarters located in Nigeria and partnered by a first class world renowned airline.

"Let me state at this juncture that the birth and floating of a flag carrier itself does not capture the overall objective of our aviation policy. This administration is determined to sustain the tempo of rapidly developing the aviation sector and capitalise on the multiplier effect on investment output and employment. It is therefore imperative that we develop new and collaborative initiatives to sustain this process", he said.

He expressed the hope that just like Singapore and Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Nigeria will use the development of hubs in Lagos and Abuja to attract a significant amount of international trade and investments from the west and central African regions to boost her earnings and strategically position the economy in the global aviation industry.

The President said that it is expected that one million passenger throughput would create about 7000 additional jobs in any market and generate an economic impact of about U$650 million.

"Therefore, the development of our airport infrastructure and the elevation of the Lagos Airport into a truly international hub is not just an economic necessity but it is central to our strategic objectives within the next 24 months. Achieving these goals will not only help our domestic airlines but also foreign carriers to develop the confidence required, to enhance our image and economic interest.

"It is not our intention to promote a national carrier that will just dominate our domestic routes. Our expectation and indeed our vision is that Virgin Nigeria will quickly establish itself as a champion on regional routes and a force in the international arena", Obasanjo said.

In his address, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Sir Richard Branson, expressed appreciation for the support of the people and government of Nigeria in the launch of Virgin Nigeria, "which, as the name suggests, is a synergy of the globally renowned Virgin brand and the resilience of the Nigerian spirit."

Branson said he was proud to say that the results of the commencement of operations by Virgin Nigeria on June 28 have started manifesting, adding that in terms of employment, for instance, about 200 Nigerians have already been engaged.

The number, he said, is expected to rise to about 1,000 in the next few months, stressing that in terms of actual flight experience, Virgin Nigeria is currently focused on achieving its goal of creating a new dawn of air travel in Nigeria which would offer passengers both value-for-money and the quality of service to rival the best international airlines.

Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recalled that it was in April last year that Obasanjo put together a presidential task force, with her as the chairman, to see to the birth of a national flag carrier.
She noted that what made it possible for Virgin Atlantic Airways to emerge as the preferred choice was the way it approached the issue of giving Nigeria a national flag carrier.

The minister said that it was the intention of the government to impact significantly on the overall economy, adding that aviation industry has become the economic mainstay of some countries, citing Ethiopia as an example.

hkskyline

July 20th, 2005, 12:22 AM

Egyptian charter cleared for flight after passengers refused to board over safety concerns

PARIS, July 17 (AFP) - An Egyptian charter plane resumed flying Sunday after aviation authorities at Charles de Gaulle airport examined the aircraft that around 100 French passengers had refused to board in Egypt over safety concerns, airport officials said.

The plane, a McDonnell-Douglas aircraft owned by the Egyptian charter company AMC Airlines, was declared sound by France's civil aviation authority DGAC and took off with 83 passengers bound for Luxor, Egypt, the DGAC said.

French authorities grounded the aircraft after it arrived in Paris late Saturday upon hearing about the complaints of the passengers, who spent an extra night in Luxor rather than fly with AMC. Fifty other tourists did however board the plane bound for Paris.

The protesting passengers are now scheduled to return to Paris late Sunday on a plane with Star Airlines, airport officials said.

SkylineTurbo

July 20th, 2005, 02:19 AM

Emirates Airline offers $70 duty-free vouchers to Tanzanian customers
19 July 2005

The international Emirates airline has launched a unique offer of rewards for all its customers in Tanzania, the airline’s Area Manager, Khalid Al Serkal, has said in Dar es Salaam.

He said that the airline, which operates daily flights between Dar es Salaam and Dubai, would reward all its economy class passengers with a $70 duty-free, free shopping vouchers.

The shopping voucher could be redeemed at all Dubai airport duty-free shops.

’Offering free shopping vouchers is one of a long series of value added offers that we present to our clients,’ he said.

Serkal said that the Dubai duty free shop was in state-of-the- art shopping complex located at the centre of Dubai International Airport.

Last year the airport proved to be a remarkable year for the Dubai duty- free shops with sales surpassing all records to across $500 million.

The half-billion-dollar milestone represented a 32 per cent increased over the previous year and underlined the operation’s global status among the top three airport retailers in the world, he said.

Since its launch in 1985, Emirates Airline has received more that 250 international awards in recognition of its efforts to provide unsurpassed levels of customers service.

Earlier this year the airline was adjudged the Best International Airline and Best Economy Class carrier in East Africa by travel and lifestyle, East Africa’s leading travel publication noted.

* SOURCE: Guardian

hkskyline

July 20th, 2005, 04:02 PM

60 dead in Equatorial Guinea plane crash: president

MALABO, July 18 (AFP) - Sixty people were killed when a Russian-built Antonov plane crashed in flames in Equatorial Guinea shortly after takeoff from the capital Malabo, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said Sunday.

In a radio message to the nation, Obiang declared a three-day period of national mourning following Saturday's crash which, he said, had killed mostly young Equatorial Guineans and women.

The plane, which went down on a domestic flight in thick jungle, "was completely destroyed, burned and there were no survivors," national radio announced earlier, playing somber music as it reported the news.

Thousands of distraught family and friends besieged Malabo airport and later the hospital after the confirmation of the crash.

"Our people are going through the worst moments of grief, consternation and sadness ever known in their history," Obiang declared.

"This tragedy affected many families to whom we send our condolences ... and our solidarity," the president continued.

At first the government had said a total of 55 people were on the ageing 48-seater Antonov-24, while the operating company, the private airline Ecuatair, said its records showed there were 35 passengers and 10 crew.

Airport sources said crews in the west African country are often bribed to take additional people on board.

The radio said many of the victims were Malabo college students going on holiday from the island of Bioko where the capital is situated to their homes in the continental part of the country.

The funerals of the 60 victims would take place on Monday, television said quoting official sources. A presidential decree said flags would be flown at half-mast during the mourning period, starting at midnight (2300 GMT Sunday).

President Obiang called for an inquiry into the causes of the accident to "take eventual measures that would avoid similar events in future."

It took rescuers until Sunday to reach the crash site in a remote area some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Malabo, as they had to skirt the 3,007-meter (9.923-foot) high Mount Basile which overlooks the capital and slog several hours through the jungle.

Bad weather, including nonstop rain, made the operation even more difficult.

Some of the remains of the dead, charred beyond recognition, were taken in plastic bags to the main hospital in Malabo.

Authorities quickly abandoned an impromptu identification process when after holding up the purse of a female victim, the crowd surged forward, prompting clashes with police.

It took the government some 24 hours to officially confirm the crash, and until Sunday afternoon to announce that no one had escaped with their lives.

"They didn't want to alarm people before they knew what had happened to the plane," a transport ministry official, who did not want to be named, said.

Officials have now have set up a crisis unit, including several government ministers, charged with overseeing the salvage operation, identifying the dead and reporting on developments.

An eyewitness said Saturday that he saw the aircraft go down shortly after takeoff at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) from Malabo for the city of Bata on the Equatorial Guinea mainland.

The wreckage was not located until eight hours later near the district of Baney, the government statement indicated.

The plane skidded over trees for a distance of about a kilometer (half a mile) before it crashed, according to aerial photographs, the statement added.

Ecuatair, which is among a handful of companies serving domestic routes in the west African country, has only one other plane, a Soviet-built Yak-40.

Most of the planes, piloted mainly by Russians, Ukrainians and Armenians, are Soviet-era aircraft that often no longer meet international flight standards and are not allowed to land at airports in other countries in the region.

Several international organizations ask their employees not to use the airlines.

In April Equatorial Guinea authorities grounded another local company, the Union de Transportes Aereo de Guinea Ecuatorial, for safety reasons after a series of technical breakdowns.

Equatorial Guinea, with a population of just over one million, is in the midst of an oil boom, and has seen double-digit growth since the mid-1990s.

hkskyline

July 21st, 2005, 11:51 PM

Zimbabwean planes grounded by fuel, spares shortages

HARARE, July 21 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's national carrier has cancelled several flights this week because of a shortage of fuel and spares, a state-run daily said Thursday.

"A critical shortage of Jet A1 fuel has hit Air Zimbabwe forcing it to cancel some of its domestic and international flights," The Herald newspaper said.

"Some flights were suspended while some are operational as usual," the newspaper quoted Air Zimbabwe spokesman David Mwenga as saying.

Mwenga refused to name the flights which were either cancelled or delayed but The Herald quoted an official as saying Air Zimbabwe had suspended some flights to its premier tourist destination, the Victoria Falls, as well as flights to London and South Africa.

The newspaper reported that a London flight that was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was delayed for more than eight hours as officials scrambled to get fuel.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing fuel shortages in the last five years blamed on shortages of hard currency.

The shortages reached their peak in the last two months.

The Herald reported that two Air Zimbabwe planes failed to take off two weeks ago because of shortages of spares while another was grounded as it was said to be overdue for routine maintenance.

Air Zimbabwe officials told the newspaper that spares for the planes had been phased out by the manufacturer, Boeing.

Following sanctions and isolation by western countries over the political crisis in the country, Zimbabwe has adopted the "Look East" policy, fostering close relations with Asian countries, particularly China, Malaysia and Singapore.

In April, Air Zimbabwe took delivery of three MA60 passenger planes from China's state-owned AVIC aircraft manufacturer.

The planes came weeks after Zimbabwe bought trainer jets from China.

hkskyline

July 23rd, 2005, 01:14 AM

South African Airways operations badly hit by wage strike
Fri Jul 22, 2:06 PM ET

CAPE TOWN (AFP) - South African Airways operations were badly hit as crew and cabin staff launched an open-ended strike for higher pay, leading to 75 percent of its flights being cancelled and causing mayhem at airports.

"Since this morning, out of 96 scheduled flights, SAA cancelled 72 domestic, regional flights and international," SAA said in its latest update on the strike.

Ten of the cancelled flights were destined for faraway locations such as Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Lagos, Nairobi, and Port Louis in Mauritius.

Two leading unions launched the strike early Friday to press their demand for an eight percent wage increase instead of the five percent offered by SAA management.

"At this stage we advise our customers to postpone their travel arrangements where possible over the next few days," said SAA chief operations officer Kyrl Acton.

Several thousand passengers were left stranded around the country after cabin crew and ground staff downed tools from early this morning.

In Cape Town, members of the Under-18 French rugby team were among those milling around the airport as several hundred passengers were left stranded.

"Its been a good tour for us so far but now this is really a problem," said Under-18 rugby chief of the delegation Guy Piera, adding that he was not sure when his team was likely to get a flight to Johannesburg.

The French side has been touring South Africa since July 15 and was due to fly to Johannesburg where they were expected to play a match against a Pretoria school next week.

A southern Cape businessman from George, near Cape Town, walked into the strike after returning from a trip in Canada.

"Its hopeless, the whole thing stinks and I have no other words to describe it," J.A. Visser said as he waited for a connecting flight to George.

Another passenger, Advocate Jaga, told AFP: "This strike has affected everyone badly. It is very frustrating especially when there is no one to assist you."

Other passengers resorted to reading novels and newspapers as they bottled their frustration.

A disgruntled businessman in Johannesburg airport said he would not be flying SAA again, an AFP photographer reported.

"They have been so unhelpful that I am shifting my loyalty to one of the competitors," he said as many others around him voiced similar sentiments. Long queues were seen at airports all over the country.

A group of American tourists started shouting in Johannesburg airport, Africa's busiest, when they were informed that their flight to Zambia had been cancelled.

"Why didn't you put it on the flight information screen?" they screamed when upon going to the information desk they were informed that their flight to Lusaka had been cancelled.

An incoming passenger from Singapore said he thought there was a "revolution" in South Africa and people were fleeing, the SAFM radio channel reported.

Among the victims of Friday's protest was South Africa's fast-pace bowler Makhaya Ntini who missed a date with Nelson Mandela to attend an event linked to ongoing celebrations marking the icon's 87th birthday.

The airports where flights have been disrupted include the eastern seaboard cities of Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London and George near Cape Town.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, one of two unions participating in the strike, said they did not know when the protest would end.

SkylineTurbo

July 23rd, 2005, 01:42 AM

SAA Cancels Flights As Strike Starts
July 22, 2005

South African Airways (SAA) cancelled most of its domestic and international flights on Friday, causing chaos at major airports across the country, as ground staff began a strike over wages.

"SAA has cancelled some of its domestic flights following industrial action by cabin crew and ground staff from early this morning," SAA spokeswoman Sarah Uys said in a statement.

SAA management and unions said late on Friday there were no immediate plans for talks to end the strike.

The carrier said that by early afternoon about 75 percent of its scheduled flights had been cancelled, including flights to a number of African cities such as Lusaka in Zambia and Nairobi in Kenya.

Other cancellations included flights to Sao Paulo and Mumbai, it added.

SAA cabin crew and ground staff went on strike from early on Friday after unions and management failed to reach agreement on wages at a final meeting on Thursday. The union is demanding an 8 percent annual wage increase while SAA is offering 5 percent.

Leon Grobler, spokesman of the United Association of South Africa, said the union was seeking a meeting with SAA management and added that the strike would continue until an agreement was reached.

"We will strike over the weekend. It's impossible to call off the strike at this stage when there is no reasonable offer on the table," Grobler said.

The union's umbrella federation approached the national ministry of labour to facilitate a meeting with SAA management, but no talks were planned.

"They (SAA) are saying they will only interact with us when we call off the strike," Grobler said.

The national Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration said in a statement SAA management and the union had rejected intervention.

Local media reported that passengers waited in queues of up to 200 metres (yards) at Johannesburg Airport while at Cape Town some passengers took to sleeping on their luggage on the airport floor. All outbound SAA fights from Durban were cancelled, South African Press Association reported.

"We have been waiting here since 7 o'clock this morning. The flight was supposed to leave at 9am but it hasn't gone yet," Emily Schwarz, a member of a British school netball team, said at Cape Town airport shortly before noon.

"I am quite annoyed because we have a game tomorrow (in Durban) and now it doesn't even look like we will get there until tomorrow. Does this happen often?"

The Australian national rugby team -- in South Africa to play the Springboks in the final game of the Mandela Charity Cup on Saturday -- had to charter a special flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg for the game due to the extensive delays.

But others said they understood the SAA staff action.

"It is quite annoying to have to stand here in queues but you can sympathize with the union... the company has just reported big profits," Manie Wessels said while waiting for a flight to Johannesburg.

UASA argues that SAA can afford an eight percent raise after it disclosed a ZAR966 million rand (USD$146.2 million) net profit for the 2004/05 financial year earlier this month. It suffered a ZAR8.6 billion (USD$1.3 billion) loss the previous period.

(Reuters)

hkskyline

July 23rd, 2005, 06:22 AM

Oman Air cancels flights to Zanzibar over shoddy airport: officials

ZANZIBAR, July 22 (AFP) - Oman Air this week cancelled its flights to Tanzania's offshore island of Zanzibar as a result of poor airport conditions, officials said on Friday.

"Oman Air has cancelled its operations in Zanzibar because of the poor condition of our airport, mainly after developing potholes in the runway. This is a big business loss to us," Zanzibar Communication and Transport Minister Adam Mwakanjuki told reporters here.

Mwakanjuki did not specify when the airline stopped flying here.

The minister said work on the runway would start next week at a cost of 500,000 dollars, which is part of the World Bank's 9.5 million dollar project to revamp the airport.

The cancellation has dealt a blow to Tanzania's semi-autonomous island, "specifically at this high season when tourists are visiting Zanzibar," Mwakanjuki explained.

The tourism sector contributes about 21 percent to the island's annual revenues.

hkskyline

July 24th, 2005, 02:39 AM

Sunday July 24, 3:32 AM
Strike forces South African Airways to cancel all international flights

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - South African Airways said it had suspended all international flights because of a strike by its staff that began on Friday morning.

"SAA has cancelled all its regional and international flights until further notice following industrial action by the airline's cabin crew and ground staff," the national carrier said in a statement.

It called on passengers to postpone their travel plans or make alternative arrangements.

The company said it had no option as "cabin crew failed to turn up for duty" and it did not have the necessary personnel to comply with aviation safety regulations.

On Friday, the airline was forced to cancel 75 percent of all international and domestic flights.

Labour unions are demanding an eight-percent wage increase instead of the five percent offered by SAA.

The secretary general of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, Randall Howard, told AFP the strike was considered a success and would continue.

"The strike is well supported. As long as the SAA management remains arrogant, the strike will continue. There are no negotiations at the moment."

SkylineTurbo

July 25th, 2005, 11:40 AM

Zanzibar govt acts over poor state of airport
25 July 2005

Zanzibar International Airport is to undergo emergency repairs to stave off a mass boycott of the facility by airlines.

Zanzibar Minister of Communications and Transport Adam Mwakanjuki said at the weekend that the government had taken measures to have the airport’s runway repaired.
He spoke just days after Oman Air suspended its flights into and out of Zanzibar due to the poor state of the airport.

Mwakanjuki said more airlines would stop using the airport if emergency repair work that would bring it up to acceptable standards would not be carried out in the near future.

He added that the government had contracted the Kenyan construction firm, SS Mehta, to repair the runway and taxiways at a cost of US$500,000 (550m/-) before major repairs were carried out.

The emergency repairs would involve the filling of cracks and potholes on the runway and taxiways including levelling of the surfaces.

Mwakanjuki said the tender for major rehabilitation work had already been floated after the government terminated its contract with the Chinese company, Chico, earlier this year.

Several companies had expressed their interest in undertaking the work, the minister said and added that it would not be long before a contractor was picked in accordance with ompetitive bidding procedures specified in the World Bank’s guidelines.

The rehabilitation is to be financed by the World Bank ranging to the tune of US$9.5m.

Mwakanjuki said cancellation of Oman Air flights was a blow to Zanzibar in that the decision was made during the current high tourist season.

He added that the airport had to be repaired before other airlines flying into Zanzibar followed suit and decided to suspend their flights.

’We have to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements and this is why the government is doing all it can to ensure that the airport is repaired as soon as possible,’ Mwakanjuki said.

He, however, scoffed at reports that the airport was in a ’very bad’ state and that services offered at the facility were equally poor.

He said: ’We cannot deny the fact that our airport needs to undergo extensive rehabilitation, but it seems that reports about its state are being grossly exaggerated.

’Reputable carriers, such as Kenya Airways and South African Airways, are still using the airport and this shows that the safety of passengers and aircraft has not been compromised.’

Mwakanjuki also added that US First Lady Laura Bush and Former US President Bill Clinton would not have visited Zanzibar had the airport been in a ’terrible’ state of disrepair.

SkylineTurbo

July 25th, 2005, 11:43 AM

British Airways diverts Lagos flights to Abuja
25 July 2005

WITH public confidence waning on the Lagos airport, the British Airways yesterday diverted its flight 075 coming into Nigeria to Abuja.

A Lufthansa aircraft had on Saturday skidded off the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, after running into a pot hole on touch down.

A source told The Guardian last night that the flight diversion was to ensure safety of its passengers and crew.

And the returning flight for the diverted plane to Abuja, according to the airline, will be tomorrow evening out of Abuja, instead of Lagos.

It was learnt that the boycott of the Lagos airport will continue till tomorrow after the bad spot may have been rectified.

The management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), according to a source, inspected the bad portion of the runway yesterday with some technical team of British Airways and some other foreign airlines.

The Lufthansa A330-300 aircraft on Saturday skidded off the Lagos Airport runway, after its front tyres burst due to some pot-holes on the only functional runway of the airport.

The aircraft's front tyres were said to have burst shortly after touch down on the runway 18L.

A pilot said the control tower was already alerting pilots on the part of the runway that was bad to avoid any mishap.

The bad state of the Lagos airport runway has been on the front burner in recent times.

The project was awarded to PW and work on it was scheduled to be completed in March this year.

Aviation Minister, Prof. Babalola Borishade, will today inspect some of the facilities at the Lagos airport.

The British Airways had to make an arrangement with Aerocontractors and Virgin Nigeria to fly their passengers out of Lagos to Abuja today for the delayed flight.

All expenses will be borne by the British carrier, according to its officials.

hkskyline

July 25th, 2005, 03:49 PM

Fourth day of strike at South African Airways

JOHANNESBURG, July 25 (AFP) - Two unions on strike at South Africa's national airline on Monday rejected a new offer by management, taking the stoppage into its fourth day and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

South African Airways management over the weekend sweetened its offer of a five percent annual wage increase with a five percent increase on housing and medical benefits as well as a once-off 1,600-rand (240-dollar, 198-euro) bonus.

"The offer has been rejected and the strike continues," said Leon Grobler, chief operating officer of the United Association of South Africa (UASA), which represents SAA's ground and cabin crew.

Several thousand passengers have been stranded around the country after about 5,000 SAA staff walked off the job on Friday at all South Africa's major airports demanding an eight percent wage increase.

The national carrier suspended all international flights Saturday, but some flights resumed on Sunday and Monday, said SAA spokeswoman Sarah Uys.

"Eight planes have left for international destinations like London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Washington and Atlanta, while six flights have left from Cape Town and one from Johannesburg on our domestic routes," Uys told AFP.

"All our flights on routes in Africa, for instance, remain suspended," she added.

Uys said the airline would do a cost calculation once the strike was over, but UASA estimated that the airline had lost about 200 million rand (30 million dollars, 24 million euros).

Grobler said UASA was entering negotiations with management later Monday and planned to bring a new proposal to the table.

"We are hopeful that we will move closer to a settlement once management has seen our proposal," Grobler told AFP.

Ronnie Mamba, spokesman for the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (SATAWU), said his union would be willing to negotiate a salary increase around the seven-percent mark.

"What we don't understand is that last year, SAA made a huge loss and we got a six percent increase. This year, they had a turnaround of one billion rand and they are offering five percent," Mamba said.

"We have worked our backsides off to help with this turnaround. To then be offered five percent makes everybody a bit despondent," he said.

hkskyline

July 26th, 2005, 07:07 PM

Equatorial Guinea allows flights to resume after plane crash

MALABO, July 26 (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea has given the green light to all airline companies to resume passenger flights between Malabo and Bata, after some aircraft were grounded following a July 16 air crash, national radio reported Tuesday citing a government statement.

Prime Minister Miguel Abia Biteo Borico had suspended passenger flights on Soviet-built Antonov and Yak planes after an overloaded Antonov aircraft went down shortly after takeoff from the capital Malabo, killing 60 people.

No details of the government's inquiry into the crash were released.

Since the suspension of the antiquated planes, only two companies, the national carrier Air Guinea and the Canadian airline Air Service based in Gabon, maintained fights between Malabo on the island of Bioko, and Bata, the economic capital on the continental part of this west African nation.

hkskyline

July 28th, 2005, 05:53 PM

South African Airways 'back in business' after crippling strike

JOHANNESBURG, July 28 (AFP) - A nearly week-long strike at South African Airways (SAA), Africa's biggest airline, which left thousands of passengers stranded, ended Thursday with the signing of a six-percent pay deal.

"The difficult process that we started off resulted in the parties having reached an agreement," said mediator Edwin Molahlehi, who was called in to break the deadlock.

"They are signing, all of them," Molahlehi told reporters after 12 hours of marathon negotiations between SAA management and two unions representing 5,000 staff.

SAA cabin and ground crew went on strike last Friday, staging the worst labour action in 71 years at the airline and keeping both international and domestic flights on the tarmac.

SAA chief executive Khaya Ngqula said operations were expected to return to normal by Saturday after having to cancel most flights over the past days, causing mayhem at airports and leaving thousands of passengers in the lurch.

"Starting today we are back in business and expect to be fully up and running by Saturday," Ngqula said.

Flights were still disrupted on Thursday, including those destined for Europe and to African destinations.

"We still have a problem with Europe and at least one flight, the one to Italy has not taken off," said SAA spokeswoman Sarah Uys.

Six other flights including to destinations like Harare and Nairobi were also cancelled, while some 25 domestic flights managed to take off.

SAA declined to give a figure of how much the strike had cost, with Ngqula saying Thursday that "this is a competitive airline and nowhere in the world do airlines give figures."

But one union, the United Association of South Africa (UASA), said the carrier had already lost about 200 million rand (30 million dollars) by the start of the week, or around 25 million rand in revenue per day.

SAA's ground and cabin crew belonging to UASA and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) walked off the job amid demands for an eight-percent annual wage increase. SAA was offering a five-percent pay hike.

Over the weekend, SAA management sweetened its offer with a five percent increase in housing and medical benefits as well as a one-off 1,600-rand (240-dollar, 198-euro) bonus.

SATAWU leader Randall Howard said his members were not fully satisfied with the agreement, but added: "We can live with the results under the circumstances."

"It's been an extremely difficult strike. From the reports back from our members I think there was a feeling that they should have achieved more," said Howard, whose union had some 3,600 members on stoppage at airports around the country.

"I can't stand here in front of you with honesty and say that we have reached an unanimous decision. It was very difficult to persuade our membership," he said.

UASA accepted the six percent offer late Wednesday said its workers would be returning to their jobs on Thursday.

"UASA accepted the settlement by the majority of its members. In a strike situation there are no winners," added UASA spokesman Leon Grobler at the press conference.

hkskyline

July 28th, 2005, 05:54 PM

South African Airways fined in competition probe

JOHANNESBURG, July 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's competition watchdog on Thursday fined South African Airways (SAA) 45 million rand ($6.8 million) for abusing its dominant position by operating an illegal incentive scheme for travel agents.

The fine, the biggest yet from the Competition Tribunal, came as SAA [SAA.UL] struggled to reach a deal with two unions to end a strike which has crippled Africa's largest airline for almost a week.

Budget airline Comair , part-owned by British Airways , and Nationwide Airlines had both filed complaints over SAA's incentive scheme, and the country's competition authorities last year declared that the payments were anti-competitive.

The tribunal, in its final verdict on Thursday, said the incentive schemes "were unlawful and a prohibited practice", meaning that Comair and Nationwide will be able to take SAA to court if they can prove they suffered damages.

The tribunal noted that both Nationwide and Comair operated their own incentive schemes, but that neither had the dominant market position of SAA and were therefore unable to use the schemes to exclude rivals.

"Because the market share of SAA's rivals was so much smaller it would have been prohibitive for them to have compensated travel agents on their lower volume of sales to match SAA's incentives," the tribunal said in a statement.

"The tribunal found on the evidence that the override schemes gave travel agents a compelling commercial incentive to sell tickets of SAA in preference to that of its rivals, and secondly, to a significant extent, they were able to influence customer preferences."

The tribunal added that while it had no direct evidence that consumers suffered through SAA's practices, it could be inferred that because competitors suffered significant decline in growth customers ended up facing both higher prices and less choice.

The tribunal said the 45 million rand fine represented 2.25 percent of SAA's domestic ticket sales through travel agents in 2000/01. The maximum possible fine would have been 200 million rand, or 10 percent of SAA's annual turnover.

SAA was ordered to pay the penalty within 20 business days.

The order came as SAA sought to reach a final deal with two striking unions which have grounded an estimated 75 percent of the airline's flights since workers walked off the job on Friday.

Unions representing SAA ground staff and cabin crews had demanded an 8 percent annual increase, while the airline had offered a 5 percent increase.

Analysts said the strike was costing SAA about half of its daily turnover of 50 million rand ($7.49 million), and could have an increasingly serious knock-on effect on South Africa's tourism industry.

hkskyline

July 28th, 2005, 05:56 PM

Mozambique Boosts Anti-Terrorism Security At Airports
28 July 2005

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP)--Special security brigades started operating at Mozambique's airports Thursday in a drive to prevent terrorism and drug trafficking.

The Mozambique News Agency said the force was made up of 57 agents trained by the Portuguese Public Security Police to control public and restricted areas of the airports, electronically inspect luggage and prevent of armed attacks, hijackings and other terrorist acts.

The chairman of the Mozambique Airports company, Solomone Cossa, said that the new force would improve passenger safety and boost the fight against the narcotics trade.

Mozambique is a known corridor for drug trafficking in southern Africa. Like many other developing countries, it suffers from lack of security equipment and expertise, making it a potential soft target for terrorism.

The deployment of the anti-terrorism force comes three weeks after the London subway and bus bombings killed 56 and in the wake of the bombings in an Egyptian tourist resort.

hkskyline

July 28th, 2005, 06:02 PM

British Airways to suspend cargo flights to Zambia

LUSAKA, July 28 (AFP) - British Airways is suspending cargo flights to Zambia as of August 9 due to the high cost of fuel, country manager Manatunga Nilanthi said Thursday.

Nilanthi said the cost of fuel in Zambia was significantly higher than other countries in southern Africa.

"It was becoming difficult and uneconomical to maintain the freight service," Nilanthi said in a statement.

She said British Airways was spending over four million dollars (3.3 million euros) a year in fuel costs in Zambia, which she said was very high compared to other countries.

The Export Growers Association of Zambia (ZEGA) said the suspension of the cargo flights by British Airways was likely to affect exports of fresh vegetables to Europe.

"We used to export about 40 tonnes a week of vegetables and fresh flowers to the European market. The suspension will negatively impact our business," said Luke Mbewe, chairman of ZEGA.

hkskyline

July 29th, 2005, 05:32 PM

Kenya Airways passenger numbers up in Q1

NAIROBI, July 29 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways carried 524,029 passengers in the first quarter of its fiscal year ended June 30, a nearly 19 percent increase over the same period the previous year when it carried 441,781 passengers, the airline said on Friday.

"The achieved cabin factor of 70.8 percent shows better performance than prior year's level of 69.1 percent," the airline said in a statement.

"This has been the result of an improvement in the passenger traffic and the airline's efficient capacity management."

The airline attributed the growth to introduction of new bigger Boeing 777 planes to flights on routes in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Southern Africa.

Kenya Airways, one of Africa's few profitable airlines, said that it had the biggest rise in passenger traffic on its West Africa route after it replaced some of its Boeing 737 planes to Kinshasa, Accra and Abidjan with Boeing 767s.

The route recorded a growth of 22 percent compared to the previous year.

The number of domestic passengers jumped by 24 percent compared to the previous year, driven by higher traffic to Mombasa as a result of more tourists visiting the east African country due to relaxed travel advisories, the airline said.

The company's shares ended trading on Friday at 66.00 Kenya shillings ($0.867) from 65.50 shillings on Thursday.

Kenya Airways is listed on the Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala stock exchanges. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which is part of Air France-KLM , owns 26 percent of the airline.

hkskyline

August 6th, 2005, 01:23 AM

Airbus backs off tendering for Morocco jets

RABAT, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Airbus said on Friday it would not take part in tendering for the supply to Morrocan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) of four long-haul aircraft, leaving the potential $790 million deal to Boeing .

The European planemaker said it had "regretfully" decided not to put in an offer by a July deadline because the airline's needs were not clear.

"We are ready and willing to continue consultations and to discuss all proposals by RAM," an Airbus spokeswoman said in France, where the company is based.

Airbus had initially offered its future A350 mid-sized carrier against Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in the tender to replace RAM's 757 and 767 Boeing aircraft, Airbus officials said.

The purchase is part of a programme launched in 2000 for the purchase of 22 to 24 aircraft to renovate RAM's fleet of 32.

The A350 and 787 are at the heart of a transatlantic fight between Boeing and Airbus for control of the novel mid-sized, long-range segment of the jet market.

After redesigning its original concept for the A350 to include more seats, Airbus has been waging a counter-offensive against the 787 since the Paris Air Show in June, with the two rivals battling for every last plane order.

"It's with regret that we withdraw our bid for this RAM deal," David Dufrenois, Airbus sales manager for Morocco, was quoted by the semi-official Le Matin newspaper as saying.

"The terms of this tender are not clear and bid deadlines are too short," he added.

Dufrenois spoke during a private lunch with a handful of journalists from local newspapers in Casablanca on Thursday.

Some analysts say the rival jetmakers are treading carefully to avoid being played off against each other to depress prices as the industry recovers from a damaging recession.

Aside from a previous order for four A321-300 short-haul Airbus jets, RAM's loyalties have mainly been with Boeing.

Two of the A321s ordered in 2000 have been delivered and the other two will be delivered in 2007, Airbus said.

Le Matin and business daily L'Economiste said RAM will make a decision on the long-haul deal in September and has set a July deadline for the two manufacturers to make their bids, without precise details.

hkskyline

August 10th, 2005, 11:31 PM

Thursday August 11, 2:45 AM
Royal Air Maroc Selects Boeing Dreamliner

AP - Morocco's national airline plans to purchase up to five Boeing 787 jets, officials said Wednesday.

Royal Air Maroc and Boeing Co. said they signed a memorandum of understanding on July 31 for the airline to buy the fuel-efficient, long-range aircraft. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Moroccan carrier and Chicago-based Boeing, which builds most of its commercial planes in Washington state, expect to finish negotiations in September.

The 787 is slated to enter commercial service in 2008. Boeing said it has 257 total orders for the jets and commitments from 21 airlines.

hkskyline

September 5th, 2005, 05:07 PM

Eleven dead in DR Congo plane crash

KINSHASA, Sept 5 (AFP) - Eleven people were killed on Monday when an Antonov 26 freight aircraft struck a tree near Isiro airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), aviation offials said.

The death toll of 11, issued by the national aviation authority (RVA), was higher than a provisional figure of seven given by local officials and the UN-funded Okapi radio.

"The accident has caused 11 deaths -- seven passengers, three Russian crew members and an escort, a member of the company that owned the aircraft," RVA director Emmanuel Mokoko told AFP.

Deputy governor of Orientale province, Autsai Asenga Medard, earlier said the Antonov, owned by private airline Galaxie, caught fire after apparently hitting a tree as it came in to land at about 0630 GMT.

"The weather was very bad at Isiro and that may be one of the reasons for the accident," Medard told AFP by telephone from the provincial centre, Kisangani.

The plane crashed 1.5 kilometres (about a mile) short of the runway after flying from Beni, a town in eastern Nord-Kivu province, Okapi radio reported.

hkskyline

September 6th, 2005, 01:33 AM

Zambia reduces jet fuel price by five percent to avert aviation crisis

LUSAKA, Sept 5 (AFP) - Zambia has decided to cut the price of jet fuel by five percent to deal with an aviation crisis that has seen British Airways cancelling its cargo flights to the southern African country, a senior state official said Monday.

Energy Minister George Mpombo said the government had decided to slash the fuel price in order to allow passenger and cargo carriers to uphold their Zambian routes.

Several commercial airlines had complained to Lusaka over the high fuel price, which was allegedly making the Zambian route unprofitable.

British Airways last month stopped its cargo flights to Zambia, which are by farmers to export fresh vegetables and flowers to the European Union, citing high jet fuel prices.

"We have decided to reduce the price of jet fuel by five percent. We now hope that the British Airways will resume their cargo flight to Zambia," Mpombo said.

Mpombo said the reduction would make Zambia one of the southern African countries offering cheaper jet fuel.

The price of jet fuel in Zambia before the reduction was about 75 dollars (60 euros) per litre.

hkskyline

September 11th, 2005, 02:37 AM

DR Congo moves to improve disastrous air crash record

KINSHASA, Sept 10 (AFP) - After four plane crashes, three of them fatal, in a week the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday announced tighter safety measures, but operators warned there were no quick fixes for the aging mostly ex-military fleet.

The latest crash on Friday killed thirteen people when a Ukrainian Antonov 26 operated by Air Kasai crashed during a storm near Brazzaville, on its descent to Kinshasa airport across the river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This fourth crash since September 5 pushed the government to announce a tightening of the country's aviation regulations.

Transport minister Mwakasa told AFP on Saturday that of the 51 companies operating in the country 33 have now been banned from flying and "will remain nailed to the ground until they meet the regulatory requirements."

The government also announced more frequent aircraft inspections and the banning of all aircraft more than 20 years old.

But this regulation will be difficult to enforce in a country where more than half the aircraft are more than 20 years old and where, more than age, poor maintenance is one of the main causes of plane crashes.

The DRC's aircraft fleet is largely composed of Ukrainian Antonov and Russian Ilyushin aircraft acquired by both civil organisations and military groups during the Congolese wars in between 1996 and 2003.

"Most of these planes were bought during the war by the rebel groups in the east of the country, while DRCongo was under an international embargo, which included planes," said Stavros Papaioannou, president of Hewa Bora Airlines, one of the rare reliable airlines in DRC.

"After the war, these planes were shoddily reconverted into civil aircraft, without regulation, and without adequate maintenance," he told AFP.

"Their crews, Russian or Ukrainian, are generally badly paid and regularly accept an excess of freight for extra money. Their reserves of fuel are often insufficient, to provide more space for freight," he said.

In addition there is a long list of other violations of the law including the corruption of government officials to register faulty aircraft.

"There a number of planes which do not meet the regulations but which get authorisations to fly anyway. The companies buy them (authorisations)" an airport technical officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Papaioannou condemned these practices and regretted the poor image they cast over the entire Congolese aviation fleet, which has been collectively banned from a number of international airports including those in the United States and Britain.

"Each crash raises our insurance premiums. We have to get our planes licensed in other countries to avoid this penalty," said Papaioannou.

Another problem is the condition of the runways which are often badly marked with few airports having guidance systems for the pilots of landing planes which is especially dangerous in bad weather, according to a pilot working in the central city of Kasai.

Friday's crash was the fourth in less than a week involving commercial airlines in DR Congo.

On September 5 another Antonov AN-26 belonging to the private Galaxie company struck a tree as it was landing at Isiro, in the east of the vast country killing all 11 people aboard.

The following day, a Beechcraft Baron 58 of the Flying Air Service company crashed on landing at Goma airport in the eastern DRC after a test flight with the French pilot later dying from his injuries.

On Thursday, three people were slightly injured in the forced landing of an aircraft belonging to Transport de Message du Kivu at Murandi airport, also in eastern DRC.

There have been six crashes by commerical airlines in DRCongo since the beginning of the year with a total of 63 people killed.

The worst was on May 25 when all 26 people on board an Antonov 12 were killed when the aircraft, operated by Victoria Air, crashed soon after takeoff from the eastern city of Goma on May 25.

hkskyline

September 11th, 2005, 02:45 AM

Congo grounds 33 local airlines for safety violations after rash of plane accidents
9 September 2005

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Congo's government on Friday pulled operating licenses from dozens of the central African nation's airlines, grounding their planes after a spate of air accidents.

Transport Minister Eva Mwakasa did not name the 33 prohibited airlines, telling reporters only that the companies were all registered in Congo.

Some of the airlines flew cargo planes fitted with plastic chairs in the hold for passengers traveling around a country the size of Western Europe with few passable roads, Mwakasa said.

Two planes crashed Wednesday and Thursday in the east, Mwakasa said, killing one pilot and leaving numerous passengers injured. On Monday, a Russian-made airplane crashed elsewhere into the forest in eastern Congo, killing seven, including three Russian crew members.

hkskyline

October 1st, 2005, 12:02 PM

Cargo plane makes emergency landing in Kenyan capital, blocking morning flights
2005/10/01

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A cargo plane carrying 120 metric tons (132 tons) of flowers and fruits made an emergency landing at Kenya's main international airport when it developed engine problems an hour after takeoff, Kenya Airports Authority said Saturday.

The Air Atlanta plane, which was destined for the Netherlands from Kenya, developed the problem while still in Kenyan airspace and made an emergency landing at 1:56 a.m. (2256GMT Friday) at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from where it had taken off, said George Muhoho, the authority's managing director.

No one was injured, he said.

All flights to and from the airport have been stopped because the cargo plane is still on one of the runways. Engineers are working to remove it, said a policeman, who did not want to be identified further because his rank did not allow him to talk to the media.

hkskyline

October 4th, 2005, 01:43 PM

IATA urges African airlines to merge to survive
By David Mageria

NAIROBI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - African airlines must consolidate and increase efficiency to cope with losses due to high fuel prices and increased competition, the head of the international airlines association IATA said.

"The African aviation industry is not different from (the) aviation industry in the rest of the world. (It) is going through a very difficult moment," said Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

State-owned South African Airways [SAA.UL] is the continent's biggest carrier. Other airlines serving the region include Kenya Airways , Air Mauritius and Ethiopian Airlines [ETHA.UL].

European carriers British Airways and Air France also have a big presence, usually linking their former colonies with Europe. IATA has forecast airline losses in 2005 of $7.4 billion as soaring fuel costs outstrip measures by airlines to cut costs.

"We have to increase efficiency, bring down the cost and try to build consolidation in the industry," Bisignani told reporters late on Monday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Bisignani said most of the losses will be recorded in the U.S. while Europe and Asia will show some small profit.

He said Africa, where IATA represents 39 airlines most of them in sub-Sahara Africa, will show a small loss.

IATA was working with its members in Africa to increase efficiency in their system and was negotiating with airports to lower their user charges, Bisignani, a former Alitalia CEO said.

A key measure is helping airlines in Africa to switch from paper tickets to electronic ticketing ahead of the association's targeted deadline of 2007.

ELECTRONIC TICKETS

So far Africa has achieved 36 percent usage of electronic ticketing. But the figure is misleading because only airlines in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe have made progress.

"The other parts of Africa, we have to really work closely together with our members in order to achieve a level of penetration that will be more satisfactory," he said.

Experts say Africa's challenge is to improve the image of its aviation industry. Bisignani said IATA was working with its members in Africa and other aviation organisations to rectify the problem through safety training and auditing.

Safety concerns have led some countries to ban suspect airlines from landing at their airports, with some African airlines included on the list.

But Bisignani said IATA was not convinced by the process for blacklisting airlines from landing in some European countries. He said the system needed to be transparent with a harmonised international set of standards.

France and Belgium have announced their blacklists, including a number of African airlines.

"I think the blacklist, like, how it is conceived now, it is not very efficient," Bisignani said. "It is difficult to evaluate the performance of an airline by just checking one aircraft on the spot ... in an hour."

TOURISM BOOM

He said the future of African airlines was bright despite the current difficulties with booming tourism expected to drive the continent's aviation industry growth.

But he said only airlines which are best managed will reap the benefits. He cited Kenya Airways as an example of an airline that could provide leadership to others in Africa. The Kenyan carrier this year posted the highest profit in its 28-year history of 3.8 billion shillings ($51.6 million), up from 1.3 billion due to cost-cutting and a rise in passengers.

"It is important that certain countries which have achieved good success can help other airlines around the continent in order to upgrade their system because we want to see an industry in Africa to be profitable and to develop at the same rate as we have experienced in other parts of the world," he said.

hkskyline

October 16th, 2005, 09:56 AM

Morocco ends migrant airlift, set to start new one

GUELMIM, Morocco, Oct 14 (AFP) - A five-day airlift to repatriate hundreds of west Africans from Morocco in a crackdown on clandestine immigration ended in the north Friday and foreign diplomats headed south to monitor a new one.

A last chartered flight by Royal Air Maroc took off carrying 102 Malians to Bamako from the airport of Oudja, an official in the district administrator's office said, bringing to more than 1,600 the number of people flown to Senegal and Mali.

With that, attention has turned to Guelmim, another desert town around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away, as often destitute west Africans are brought or flocked here instead, not far from the Moroccan-annexed Western Sahara where convoys of buses dropped expulsees early in the week.

Oudja, a generally placid town near the northwestern border with Algeria, had served as road transport hub, bureaucratic processing centre and a last stop in Morocco for west Africans who abandoned any dream of escaping poverty and famine somehow to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

The ambassadors of Senegal and Gambia came straight to Guelmim from Oudja on Friday, along with a diplomat from Mali, to participate in monitoring the next airlift and dealing with hundreds of their nationals.

The airlifts are part of the north African kingdom's response to a surge of violence in a permanent human drama of mainly west Africans who make dangerous treks in the hands of costly guides north across the vast Sahara desert, hoping often to get into Spain.

Senegal's ambassador, Ibou Ibou Nidiaye said before leaving Oudja that 827 of his compatriots had been flown out and he was told 309 people who said they were Senegalese had gathered in Guelmim.

Morocco has come under fire from human rights bodies, aid organisations and a domestic charity that helps families of clandestine migrants once reports of brutality became tv footage and the security forces had dumped expulsees in desert areas to fend for themselves.

Ndiaye, however, said that "Morocco made an immense considerable financial and human effort to resolve this affair, which could have had drastic consequences."

An armed separatist movement that wants self-determination for the Western Sahara, the Polisario Front, said Friday through its new agency and envoy to Madrid, Abdullah Arabi, that Polisario fighters had rescued a group of 25 lost, starving and dehydrated people in an area strewn with landmines.

A UN mission posted in the territory to monitor a 1992 ceasefire amid years of effort to break a political deadlock has also sent troops seeking Africans last known to be at large there after being dumped off buses. "They've taken a lot of risks crossing the minefields," Arabi said.

The Moroccan government has said in a statement that "none of the hundreds of clandestine people staying illegally in Morocco was abandoned in the desert or left to their fates at the gates of the kingdom."

Initially in Morocco full of hope, some take to small boats, dozens drown each year and in recent months at least 14 people have died violently while an unknown number has been wounded in mass bids to take the razor-wire fences surrounding two Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan coast by storm.

This constant influx has come to a head.

On October 7, Moroccan police shot dead six of around 500 people who launched an assault on Melilla, one of the enclaves. The government defended the killings as legitimate self-defence and Rabat and Madrid simultaneously started summary expulsions of people without papers.

About 1,000 other former dreamers of a new life south have gathered, one way or another, at Guelmim. Mali's ambassador, Moussa Coulibaly, said 741 of his compatriots were flown home from Oudja by RAM and aboard one plane charted by the International Office for Migration.

He was expecting 300 more here.

SE9

October 21st, 2005, 05:43 PM

Kenya Airports Authority Profit Soars

Summary of Article

> In the financial year 2002/2003, KAA made a pre-tax loss of Sh364 million on revenues of Sh2.5 billion.

> KAA's revenues have grown from Sh2.5 billion in 2003 to Sh4 billion in June 2005 and pre-tax profits have improved from Sh40 million to Sh1.2 billion in the same period.

> A marketing campaigning aimed at attracting foreign airlines to use Kenya's three airports have been successful.

> This has seen Nairobi's Airport (JKIA) attract airlines like: Air Plus Comet, Sudan Airways, Pakistan International Airlines, Qatar Airways and Imaatong. Moi International Airport in Mombasa has attracted 11 new airlines and the Eldoret International Airport has nine new airlines.

> The KAA will over the next two years expand and improve its facilities at JKIA to handle 9 million passengers annually, as opposed to the current capacity of 2.5 million.

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Main Article

When Mr George Muhoho took over the reins at Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) in 2003, he inherited a weighty mess.

On any given day, travellers who used Kenyan airports - particularly Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) -were exposed to the worst that only a government owned firm would be expected to give its customers.

If it was not the offensive smell and poorly cleaned toilets, the four million travellers that use the airport every year were familiar with the ungainly sight of scores of passengers on transit who, because they could not get proper lounge facilities commonly available in foreign airports, slept on the floor.

To access the many duty free shops - which never seemed to attract enough customers despite squeezing out most of the space that could be used to set up lounge facilities - one literally had to do a hop, step and jump over the sleeping travellers.

In the financial year 2002/2003, KAA made a pre-tax loss of Sh364 million on revenues of Sh2.5 billion.

Though the company held Sh817 million in cash and investments, most of this money was being swallowed in a debt repayment, which had reached Sh431 million.

Most important, the management already knew that the situation at JKIA needed to be sorted out, but the Sh8 billion cost looked too steep.

"What surprised me most when I came here is that they kept on telling me there was no money to fund capital projects, says Mr Muhoho, "Yet when I looked at the numbers, there were all indications that the job could be done."

But to transform the KAA, Mr Muhoho said that the business needed an urgent management shake-up and the work ethic within the organisation needed to change. Within a short time, the top management was changed and infused with talent from the private sector.

"Then we went with the team to a long meeting where we mapped out the strategy for this organisation," says Mr Muhoho.

Though this may sound just like any other humdrum exercise that marinates corporate bureaucracies around the world, at the KAA, corporate planning was a big problem. The previous management, appointed by the Kanu regime, seemed to have ignored all the problems faced by the organisation.

For instance, the KAA was not collecting on time all the money it was owed by customers, and in some cases did not know what it was owed. Revenue contracts were also poorly negotiated and supervised. In one case, KAA was only getting a fraction of the money that it should have been getting from outdoor advertising.

"The first thing we did was to contract Kenya Revenue Authority to collect the various levies for us," says Mr Muhoho.

"This eliminated the need for us to maintain 18 cashiers and the complexity of cash management. We also tightened our contracts," he says, "There were people whose contracts had not been renewed for months. This meant that they were being charged the old rates."

"Basically, we did a lot of house cleaning and plugged all the holes where the airports were losing money," he says.

These changes were happening at the worst time for KAA, when airlines like British Airways and Brittania had suspended flights to Kenya after the US and European governments imposed travel bans on Kenya because of suspected threats from terrorism. Despite this, the results have been impressive.

KAA's revenues have grown from Sh2.5 billion in 2003 to Sh4 billion in June 2005 and pre-tax profits have improved from Sh40 million to Sh1.2 billion in the same period.

"Revenue growth has come from capturing passenger service charge revenue of Sh900 million, additional business from new airlines, more frequencies from existing airlines and growth in concessionaires turnover. Reduced revenue leakages and improved collection and strict cost management through elimination of wastage and due to improved efficiency," says Mr Muhoho.

A marketing campaigning aimed at attracting foreign airlines to use Kenya's three airports have been successful.

This has seen JKIA attract airlines like: Air Plus Comet, Sudan Airways, Pakistan International Airlines, Qatar Airways and Imaatong. Moi International Airport in Mombasa has attracted 11 new airlines and the Eldoret International Airport has nine new airlines.

"Long before the public performance contracts were put in place, we had already passed that bridge and achieved most of the milestones," says Mr Muhoho.

While funding for capital projects could have been a problem in the past, it is not now with the KAA holding Sh2.5 billion in cash.

This has allowed the authority to undertake the modernisation and expansion of the airport at the cost of $100 million (Sh73 million).

KAA will generate $50 million (Sh3.6 billion) to fund the project from its cashflows and then it will borrow $40 million from concessional lenders and banks and the World Bank will provide $10 million.

KAA is now preparing a future where it intends to be a major regional hub player in Africa by both chasing a Federal Aviation Agency Category 1 status that will allow airlines to fly directly to Nairobi from American cities and expanding the capacity of the airport.

According to Mr Muhoho, the KAA will over the next two years expand and improve its facilities at JKIA to handle 9 million passengers annually, as opposed to the current capacity of 2.5 million.

"To address this, we are increasing space at the terminal building from the current 25,662 square metres to 55,222 square metres," says Mr Muhoho.

"Aircraft parking, which is currently constrained, will be increased from 200,000 square metres to over 300,000 square metres, and additional taxiways will be included."

SE9

October 21st, 2005, 06:02 PM

Kenyatta Airport Expansion

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a332/mattkimemia/kenyattanow.jpg

and...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a332/mattkimemia/kenyattafuture.jpg

SE9

October 22nd, 2005, 05:51 PM

Kenyatta Airport - Nairobi, Kenya could have a Second Runway

Nairobi, Oct 2005

The Government is considering building a second runway at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The announcement comes three days after airline schedules were disrupted for hours last weekend when a plane crash-landed on the runway.

The Government and the Kenya Airports Authority, the aviation regulator, had accepted the proposal, Kenya Airways managing director Titus Naikuni told journalists on Monday.

International Air Transport Association director-general Giovanni Bisignani said air transport was facing hard times with the rising cost of fuel.

"Despite improved efficiency, which resulted in a 3.2-per cent cost reduction and a 4.3- per cent fuel use decrease, the sector is experiencing challenges due to the fuel price increases," Mr Bisignani said.

He said the organisation was focused on improving efficiency and safety among its 265 member-airlines that handle 94 per cent of the global air traffic. Thirty-nine African airlines are members of the association, 32 of them in Africa.

Mr Bisignani said the association's officials were negotiating with governments to shorten routes to reduce transport costs.

They also wanted members to adopt e-ticketing by 2007 to improve efficiency, he said.

The organisation, Mr Bisignani said, was working on harmonising safety standards. "There will be evaluation of safety procedures since spot-checking is inefficient for assessing safety," he said.

He said next year Africa's aviation industry would make a "small loss", while airlines in Europe and Asia would realise a "small profit". He said the organisation's hands were tied from improving airport efficiency in because most air navigation providers were state-owned

hkskyline

October 23rd, 2005, 08:51 AM

Airport authority says Nigeria plane gone down-CNN

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Federal Airports Authority has confirmed a missing Nigerian airliner carrying 114 people has gone down after take-off from the commercial capital Lagos, CNN television reported on Sunday.

The station's reporter in Lagos said by telephone: "The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is confirming that the flight has indeed gone down ... maybe just after take-off from Lagos."

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

hkskyline

October 23rd, 2005, 03:44 PM

South Africa and China on Gulf Air flight plan
Carrier may come to market for cash when its restructuring is completed
Russell Barling and Neil Gough
22 October 2005
South China Morning Post

Gulf Air will give Cathay Pacific Airways a run for its money on the Johannesburg route from December and its top executive says the Gulf's oldest airline is aiming to enter the China market next year.

Chief executive James Hogan yesterday said the Bahrain-based carrier was in the process of receiving final proposals from rival manufacturers to supply aircraft that would allow it to serve long-haul markets such as China from its Middle Eastern base.

"China is a strategically important region for us. We are currently meeting with the airport authorities and officials with a view to starting services to either Beijing or Shanghai within the next six to eight months," Mr Hogan said. "I am very keen to launch a service next year but all the elements have to add up."

Kay Yew Koh, general manager for Hong Kong and Northeast Asia, said Gulf Air valued both markets equally and that the strategy was to roll out the second service a year after the first.

It will launch flights from Hong Kong to Johannesburg and Dublin - via Bahrain - on December 2 and hopes to capture market share with discount fares of up to half the published rates offered by carriers plying the route.

To Johannesburg, for example, Gulf Air's initial fare will be $4,400 including a night's stay in Bahrain. Cathay, which flies direct in code-share arrangement with South African Airways, will charge $8,470 on December 2, its website shows.

Gulf Air is in the second year of a three-year restructuring programme driven by a pending defection of a major shareholder and a strategy to reposition the airline from a "public utility mentality" to a full commercial enterprise, according to Mr Hogan.

Part of that restructuring involved a new composition for its fleet. Mr Hogan said the airline had narrowed the options for new long-haul aircraft down to Airbus's A330-200, which is listed at an average price of US$158 million, or Boeing's new B787, which costs about US$130 million per unit.

From March, the airline will lose the government of Abu Dhabi as a shareholder, a move that will leave Oman and Bahrain as equal partners.

Mr Hogan said the airline was talking to lenders about funds to complete some of the operational restructuring and for "deposits for aircraft".

He held out the possibility that the carrier would approach the capital markets for cash once oil prices stabilised and its restructuring was complete.

"One of the factors driving higher oil prices is the pressure on refineries. I expect those operations to improve and then there will be a correction," he said. "The key thing over the next two years is generally to restructure the business. The pullout of Abu Dhabi is sure to have an impact.

"After that, it's possible we will approach the markets, either through a private placement or some kind of offering. My owners have the appetite for it."

hkskyline

October 24th, 2005, 07:59 AM

Nigerian airliner crash: black boxes found

LISSA, Nigeria, Oct 24 (AFP) - Nigerian police have recovered the black box flight recorders of a passenger airliner which crashed just north of Lagos killing all 117 people on board, the most senior officer at the scene said.

"The boxes were found this morning and handed over to the appropriate authorities," said Police Commissioner Tunji Alapini, whose men were the first to arrive after the plane disintegrated as it fell from the sky during a thunderstorm.

"There is nothing more to rescue. The destruction is total," he said late on Sunday as he left the crash site at Lissa village near Otta in a cocoa farming area north of Nigeria's commercial capital.

Already as night fell Sunday, 24 hours after the mystery disaster, the huge hole gouged out by the falling plane was enveloped in the foul stench of dozens of dismembered and rotting corpses.

Local villagers said that the Boeing 737 jet appeared to have exploded in mid-air as it fought its way northwards through a thunderstorm shortly after nightfall on Saturday.

Nigerian investigators had no early explanation for the disaster, but the flight data recorders should allow experts to begin piecing together the final minutes of the Bellview Airlines jet.

The director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Fidelis Onyeriri, said in a televised press briefing that the plane was 24 years old and had had a full technical inspection, which is valid for 18 months of flying, in February 2005.

Ten hours before it took off on its final journey it had had an additional check, he added.

"The plane didn't come in radio contact when it should have reached 13,000 feet (3,900 meters), which is the normal procedure. So we were alerted, and as there couldn't be any radio contact the plane was declared presumed missing," he said.

"When we came to the wreckage site, the aircraft was completely broken into pieces. There could be no survivors," he added.

Nigeria has a chequered aviation safety record and has seen several crashes in recent years.

But Bellview -- a private Nigerian-owned airline mainly serving domestic and west African routes -- has never had a serious accident in 12 years and is widely considered one of the more reliable and professionally run firms to operate here.

hkskyline

October 25th, 2005, 05:48 AM

Nigeria punishes TV station that found air crash site

ABUJA, Oct 24 (AFP) - Nigerian authorities banned then re-opened Monday the private television station whose reporters were the first to find the site where an airliner crashed killing all 117 on board.

Reporters from Lagos-based African Independent Television (AIT) were the first to reveal on Sunday that the Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 had come down a short distance outside Lagos in the village of Lissa, a cocoa-growing area near President Olusegun Obasanjo's farm in Otta.

Earlier, several Nigerian officials had incorrectly told journalists that the crash site was in Kishi, a remote rural area 400 kilometres (245 miles) further north. AIT's report allowed many reporters travelling to the scene to alter course and head for the true location.

Later, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) accused Nigerian outlets in general of causing "confusion" in the international media through their reporting and AIT in particular of breaching reporting standards in its filming of dismembered bodies at the crash site.

"The commission is constrained to order the temporary shut down of the operations of Daar Communications Ltd, operators of AIT National and International and Raypower FM stations, pending further professional assessment of the status of their licences," the statement said.

AIT and Raypower were off air on Monday, but the commission later released a second statement "sequel to the interventions of many well-meaning Nigerians" permitting the outlets to recommence broadcasting but warning "stations to be fully aware of their social responsibilities.

Broadcasting resumed at around 6:00 pm (1700GMT) after an 18 hour gap.

In a statement Monday, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA), a media rights body, condemned the temporary closure, saying that the punished stations were not given a fair hearing as stipulated in the NBC regulation.

"It is not clear what procedure the NBC followed in deciding to shut down the radio and television station. The sanctions procedure in the Commission's guideline book...requires that an erring station should first be served with a notice and given a hearing before the application of sanctions," the MRA said.

The chairman of the network, Raymond Dokpesi, said: "The NBC is punishing Daar Communications for disclosing the site of the Bellview accident."

Since Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999 journalists and citizens have theoretically enjoyed freedom of expression, and a lively and combative private media sector has developed.

Authorities do, however, often employ heavy handed tactics to silence particular outlets or punish their owners.

hkskyline

October 25th, 2005, 03:24 PM

Nigeria to plug 'safety loopholes' after air crash

LAGOS, Oct 25 (AFP) - Nigeria is to review the safety of the ageing fleet of passenger jets operated by its small private airlines following a crash which killed 117 people, President Olusegun Obasanjo said Tuesday.

An investigation has been launched to find out why a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 plunged to the ground and disintegrated shortly after taking off from Lagos on Saturday, but the president said that checks must also be carried out on the maintenance standard of other planes.

"I have already ordered a full and thorough investigation into the cause of the air crash with a view to ensuring that this sort of calamity does not repeat itself," Obasanjo said, in a televised address to the nation.

"In addition, I have directed the aviation ministry to ensure strict compliance with maintenance and operations requirements and standards for all aircraft in order to plug loopholes and ensure passenger safety," he said.

Domestic routes between Nigeria's larger cities are connected by a network of passenger flights run by almost a dozen private airlines operating second hand jets, mostly Boeing 727 and 737 airliners.

Most of the airlines are not licensed to fly internationally but some, including Bellview and the country's new British-owned flag-carrier Virgin Nigeria, serve west African capitals and fly to London. Several major international airlines operate flights to Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

The Nigerian aviation industry has a bad safety record and minor accidents are relatively common. In July alone three airliners were damaged on landing on Lagos' poorly surfaced runway while an Air France jet ploughed into a herd of cows as it touched down in Port Harcourt.

In May 2002 a Nigerian passenger jet crashed into a crowded suburb shortly after taking off from Kano airport in the north of the country, killing 115 on board and scores more on the ground.

hkskyline

October 27th, 2005, 04:31 PM

Egypt to present report on Flash air crash next week

CAIRO, Oct 26 (AFP) - Egyptian authorities will next week release a draft final report into the January 2004 crash of a Flash Airlines plane in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.

"The 1,000-page draft contains full information about the aircraft, crew and the performance of instruments before and during the crash," said the head of the Egyptian crash investigation committee, Shaqir Qalada, quoted by MENA.

The crash off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh three minutes after take-off killed 148 people, including 134 French nationals.

A definitive report will be published after a 60-day period for France and the United States where the doomed Boeing 737 was manufactured to make their comments on the findings, according to Qalada.

He said the Egyptian investigation had determined a series of incidents "which happened at the same time and led to crash of the aircraft", without giving further details.

An initial report published by Egyptian authorities in November 2004 detailed the flight's final moments before the plane crashed into the sea but it remains unclear whether machine or human error was to blame.

The flight was chartered by Egypt's Flash Airlines company which has since gone bankrupt.

hkskyline

October 28th, 2005, 01:07 PM

Kenya Airways half-year profits rise, oil a threat

NAIROBI, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways posted a rise in profits for the first half of its financial year, but warned on Friday that high oil prices and competition could depress profits in the second half.

The airline, one of Africa's best performing airlines, said after-tax profits jumped to 2.2 billion shillings ($29.90 million) in the six months to September from 1.5 billion in the same period the previous year.

Income was boosted by a 23 percent increase in passengers to 1.2 million, the most Kenya Airways has carried in any six-month period, due to its use of bigger Boeing 777 planes and growth in tourism in the region.

But high oil prices, an appreciating local currency and the increased cost of financing two new Boeing 777s, delivered in April and June this year, weighed on profits.

The airline, which is 26 percent owned by Air France-KLM's Dutch arm, said it was "cautiously optimistic" about the reminder of the financial year, albeit with concerns over a potential increase in competition as well as continuing high fuel prices.

"The cost of jet fuel still remains the greatest threat to profitability, while part of this cost is likely to be passed to customers by way of fuel surcharges, the airline will still have to absorb the balance," Chairman Evans Mwaniki said in a statement to shareholders.

Kenya Airways has faced tough competition from airlines such as British Airways and Emirates.

More competition is seen from a small local airline expected to start operations in November.

The airline lost 320 million shillings on foreign exchange in the six months to Sept. 2005, compared with a gain of 139 million shillings the previous year, due to a continued strengthening of the Kenyan shilling.

The currency has gained 6.7 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the year, supported by robust inflows from the tourism, horticulture and tea sectors amid depressed demand for dollars from the corporates.

"The loss on the foreign exchange is mainly due to the impact of the depreciating USD (U.S. dollar) to the Kenya shilling on the USD denominated deposits," the airline said.

hkskyline

October 29th, 2005, 05:57 AM

Somali warlords threaten to shoot down planes in airport row

MOGADISHU, Oct 28 (AFP) - Warlords in control of the lawless Somali capital threatened Friday to shoot down planes that obey a new directive from the war-shattered nation's transitional government not to use airports they run.

Mogadishu warlord Musa Sudi Yalahow, who serves as trade minister in the splintered administration, said the bar on flights into the airstrips was an illegal attempt by embattled President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to undermine his foes.

"This is aimed at undermining Mogadishu," he told AFP. "Any plane which diverts its flight because of this announcement will be punished. Our anti-aircraft weapons will not be silent and any plane that undermines it will be downed."

"This is not to attack anybody, but is aimed at protecting the value of the Somali capital and to protect the interests of the people," said Yalahow, who said he spoke on behalf of other Mogadishu-based warlords opposed to Yusuf.

He did not explain how they would shoot down aircraft which avoided the territory they controlled.

The threat came after Yusuf's faction of the government, which is based in Jowhar about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the capital for security reasons, announced it would no longer allow flights into two warlord-controlled airports.

The ban affects Mogadishu's Daynile airport on the outskirts of the capital and the El-Ahmed airport in Merka about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south and takes effect November 1, officials said.

The transport ministry, under control of Yusuf's allies, said it had taken the move as part of efforts to boost the penniless government's near non-existent tax base as revenue from the airstrips in question currently goes to warlords.

"The ministry of transport has ordered flights not to land at the Daynile and El-Ahmed airports," it said in a statement released in Jowhar and sent to authorities in neighboring countries.

"Instead, flights will be diverted to other airstrips at which the government is able to collect tax," it said.

An official in Jowhar said the notice had been sent to civil aviation authorities in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen and United Arab Emirates from where most flights into Daynile and El-Ahmed depart.

The official said the five other nations had agreed to enforce the ban as part of a broader package of measures aimed at strengthening the fledgling government.

Somalia has been without a functioning central administration since the 1991 ousting of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre.

Yusuf's government is the latest in more than a dozen attempts to restore stability to the nation but a dispute over the seat of the administration has left it virtually powerless.

hkskyline

November 1st, 2005, 12:16 AM

After crash, Nigeria bans air ticket transfer, racketeering

LAGOS, Oct 31 (AFP) - The Nigerian government on Monday banned the transfer of airline tickets and all forms of racketeering at the nation's airports in the aftermath of this month's plane crash in which all 117 people on board were killed.

"We will no longer tolerate touting of air tickets at the airports or allow the use of tickets that do not bear passengers' names," the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Fidelis Onyeyiri, told state-run NTA television.

"Some touts buy tickets in advance and create unnecessary scarcity in order to make profit. This will no longer be allowed. A lot of anomalies were discovered after the latest incident (crash). Many people did not travel with tickets bearing their names," Onyeyiri said.

These anomalies make it difficult for accident victims' families to lodge insurance claims, he noted.

Meanwhile, the NTA reported that excavation work began Monday on the fuselage of the Abuja-bound commercial plane that crashed in the village of Lisa on the northern outskirts of Lagos on October 22.

Members of the public, including journalists, are being barred from the exercise to dig out the main body of the Bellview 737 jet which was thought to still hold the black box and the bodies of some of the victims.

The work is being supervised by a team of US accident investigators, the television said.

President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Abuja on Sunday that the government would erect a remembrance garden at the site of the crash "with the names of all the victims of the unfortunate accident inscribed, indelibly inscribed. Lest we should forget."

The president attended a memorial service in Lisa last Thursday.

hkskyline

November 2nd, 2005, 01:58 AM

Nigerian plane skids off flooded runway

LAGOS, Nov 1 (AFP) - A Nigerian passenger plane was damaged as it skidded off a waterlogged runway on landing at Lagos airport Tuesday, an aviation offical said, reviving safety fears about 10 days after a deadly crash.

"At about 11:00 am (1000 GMT) today, an Associated Airlines plane coming from Benin City ran into bad weather on arriving in Lagos. It landed on the flooded tarmac and skidded, damaging its front nose tyre," said Sam Adurogboye, a spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

"All the 17 people on board the plane are safe," he told AFP, adding that after "the collapse of the wheel, it got stuck on the tarmac and blocked it. The tarmac was blocked for about an hour and 25 minutes before it was cleared to allow for the free flow of traffic."

Adurogboye said an investigation had been launched into the cause of the crash, but he could not confirm a television news report that the pilot had ignored an order from air traffic control not to land because of the water on the runway.

The Shorts SD-3-60 passenger turboprop which was damaged can carry 19 passengers and is 18 years old, Adurogboye said.

The incident was one of a series involving Nigerian planes in recent months.

On October 22 a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet bound for Abuja crashed in the village of Lissa, just north of Lagos, killing all 117 passengers and crew on board.

Aviation experts were Tuesday still investigating the scene of that crash.

hkskyline

November 3rd, 2005, 04:41 PM

Morocco signs deal with Boeing to buy five planes

RABAT, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Moroccan flag carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Boeing to purchase five long-haul Dreamliner aircaft for $650 million.

"The contract on buying the five planes was signed on Wednesday in Casablanca. The first plane is due to be delivered in October 2008," the airline said in a statement.

RAM will use the five aircraft for its long-haul flights to Canada and the United States.

The airline selected Boeing in a tender it launched in June to buy the planes as part of drive to renovate its Boeing-dominated fleet of 32. RAM said the Dreamliner jets will help it save on fuel costs.

mic of Orion

November 3rd, 2005, 07:43 PM

great stuff,

SE9

November 4th, 2005, 12:20 AM

Plans for Second Runway at Nairobi put before Parliament

2nd November 2005

Story by NATION Team /Parliament
Publication Date: 11/2/2005

The Government plans to build an alternative runway at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to cope with emergencies.

Transport assistant minister Andrew Ligale said the project was suggested after an accident on October 1 in which a cargo plane crashed-landed, forcing the Kenya Airports Authority to suspend the use of the sole runway for eight hours.

He denied claims by Mr Jimmy Angwenyi (Kitutu Chache, Ford People) that the airport was closed for 24 hours to local and international flights.

Asked why the authority needed eight hours to clear the runway, Mr Ligale said the plane was loaded with 110 tonnes of fresh produce bound for Amsterdam.

Mr Angwenyi accused the assistant minister of misleading the House, saying he was on a trip to South Africa on the day of the accident and his flight to Nairobi was delayed for 48 hours.

"Can the minister tell us why it had to take eight hours just to clear the runway after the cargo plane crash-landed at the end of the runway?" Mr Angwenyi asked.

Mr Davies Nakitare (Saboti, Narc) asked the assistant minister to explain if the delay was caused by inefficiency on the part of the KAA.

"JKIA is the busiest airport in Africa. What plans are there to cater for such emergencies?" he asked.

Mr Ligale denied claims that the authority was inefficient and blamed the delay on the heavy cargo that had to be offloaded.

Mr Angwenyi said he was surprised to watch a television news bulletin showing airport workers physically clearing the huge aircraft from the runaway.

"The Government is not serious about JKIA. Can we be told what was the real cause of the long delay in clearing the cargo plane?" he asked.

Meanwhile, Finance minister David Mwiraria said 145 parastatals had been privatised in the past decade.

But he was unable to tell Mr Mwandawiro Mghanga (Wundanyi, Ford People), how man employees had been retrenched or the total amount of funds raised from the bidders.

Mr Mwiraria said the list was long and that a number of the affected corporations such as Kenya Cashewnuts had been closed.

The minister singled out Kenya Airways as the most successful of the privatised parastatals that had not only made huge profits, but had increased the number of employees over the years.

Mr John Sambu (Mosop, Kanu) demanded a breakdown of the number of employees retrenched and the total revenue collected by the Treasury after selling the corporations.

"Is he in order to say that I was in government at that time therefore I should know the answer?" he asked.

Reported by Owino Opondo and Odhiambo Orlale

hkskyline

November 5th, 2005, 02:15 AM

France lifts flight ban on Cameroon Airlines

PARIS, Nov 4 (AFP) - French civil aviation authorities on Friday lifted a flight ban on Cameroon Airlines (Camair), imposed in mid-September for safety reasons.

"We consider that they have carried out the required audit, which has allowed us to remove them from the list of banned companies," said a spokeswoman for the national aviation authority, the DGAC.

The DGAC banned Camair flights on September 16 after tests of its aircraft revealed a number of safety shortcomings -- notably poor tyre maintenance, badly secured loading areas, and outdated navigation documentation.

The French authority had asked Camair for an audit of its operating conditions by September 15, but the company had failed to comply.

Camair passed an agreement with France following the ban which has allowed it to continue flights to the country using chartered aircraft from other airlines.

SE9

November 6th, 2005, 09:30 AM

First Choice returns to Mombasa, Kenya

Flights were suspended after a terrorist attack in 2002

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/images/news/News061105tourism.jpg

Tourism received a major boost yesterday when a charter flight arrived at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, with 258 visitors.

The charter company, First Choice Airways of the UK, resumed its flights to the coastal town after suspending them for the past five years following the terrorist bomb attack on Paradise Hotel, Kikambala, in 2002.

Maasai traditional dancers welcome 258 tourists at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, yesterday. The visitors had arrived on board a First Choice Airways flight from the United Kingdom.
Photo/Jack Owuor
The firm's Kenya area manager, Mr Jon Hilton, said Kenya's tourism attractions were extremely popular in Europe, with more of his company's partners expressing the desire to fly in their clients.

"We are extremely happy with the resumption of our flights to Kenya after the five years of absence," he said. "This shows that Kenya is a top tourist destination, and it is very popular in Europe at the moment."

Mr Hilton said his company had invested about Sh60 million in marketing four leading tourism destinations across the world, including Kenya.

"First Choice has set aside £0.5 million for marketing purposes in Europe of our main destinations, including India, Mexico, the Maldives and Kenya. "

"We have already started seeing signs from our partners that more tourists will be coming to Kenya this year," he said.

Mr Hilton said building a dual carriageway from the airport to the Mtwapa creek on the North Coast would improve the infrastructure and attract more tourism investors.

"The rehabilitation of roads in Mombasa will go a long way to attract more European investors to the local economy, and this will tremendously contribute towards rebuilding confidence of many players in the tourism industry," he said.

Tourism minister Morris Dzoro braved the chilly early morning weather to welcome the visitors amid chants and ululations from Maasai warriors and other leading tourism interested parties.

The minister treated the visitors to palm juice, while traditional dancers entertained them.

Leading interested parties who accompanied the minister, included Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers Coast chairman Mohammed Hersi, Kenya Association of Tour Operators vice-chairman Michael Muriithi and the chairman of the Hotels and Restaurants Authority, Mr Zul Harunani.

Mr Dzoro said the country was committed to diversifying its tourism by moving into new areas such as eco and cultural tourism which, he noted, were not yet exploited.

"Besides our efforts towards developing our roads infrastructure, we are committed to exploring new tourism attractions in the country such as historical tourism," he said.

"These new attractions will give impetus to existing traditional attractions such as beaches and wildlife."

Somak Safaris who are handling the tourists’ holiday, said there will be two charter flights every fortnight from December 21.

The operations director, Mr Joash Olum, said tourism was recovering, and urged the Government to step up marketing to maintain the momentum.

"The industry is picking up quite well, and we urge the Government to keep its promise and ensure that the state of the infrastructural facilities is always maintained at high standards," he said.

hkskyline

November 7th, 2005, 03:41 AM

Egypt French jet crash report clears pilot

CAIRO, Nov 6 (AFP) - A preliminary report into the January 2004 crash of a Flash Airlines plane into the sea near the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh exonerates the pilot of any error, an Egyptian official told AFP Sunday.

"The (draft) report was submitted to the French and American sides for their remarks. A final report will be published two months from now," said the head of the Egyptian crash investigation committee, Shaqir Qalada.

While he would not detail the probe's findings, he said that "any wrongdoing by the pilot has been discarded."

The crash of the doomed US-made Boeing 737 off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh three minutes after take-off killed 148 people, including 134 French nationals.

An initial report published by Egyptian authorities in November 2004 detailed the flight's final moments before the plane crashed into the sea but was unclear whether machine or human error was to blame.

The flight was chartered by Egypt's Flash Airlines company which has since gone bankrupt.

hkskyline

November 7th, 2005, 03:41 AM

Lagos airport closure leaves thousands stranded

LAGOS, Nov 6 (AFP) - The closure of Lagos international airport for runway repairs on Sunday left thousands of passengers in Nigeria's economic capital stranded.

"The airport is closed since 7:00 am (0600 GMT) and should reopen at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), an official from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told AFP.

Repairs to the runway lighting and tarmac were being carried out, the official said.

"Thousands of passengers are stranded as no plane can land or take off. The other runway is on repair for a long time and cannot be used."

The closure comes two weeks after a Bellview Boeing 737 crashed north of Lagos soon after take-off, killing 117 people.

On its Internet site ( www.ba.com ), British Airways warned passengers: "Due to runway problems at Lagos airport there is some disruption to our schedule."

Those with non-urgent travel needs were asked to contact the airline.

Flights had been rearranged "in agreement with the Nigerian authorities", an official from another international airline in Lagos said.

Schedules had already been altered to allow maintenance work overnight Friday but then more substantial work was undertaken, the official added.

Murtala Mohammed airport has relied on a single runway for domestic and international flights for over a year as the second runway has long been closed for maintenance.

Most international airlines fly to Lagos, as well as the federal capital Abuja and Port Harcourt in the south, the centre of the country's oil industry.

But the west African state has been plagued by a series of catastrophic air disasters, including a plane crash at the northern airport of Kano which killed 149 in May 2002.

On July 6 this year, an Air France Airbus A330 hit a cow as it landed in Port Harcourt, after a herd strayed onto the runway.

On September 5, the head of Nigerian airline Virgin Nigeria called on the authorities to improve air travel security, capacity and services.

hkskyline

November 7th, 2005, 04:25 PM

Lagos airport reopens after repairs of runway

LAGOS, Nov 7 (AFP) - Nigerian aviation authorities have reopened the Lagos airport after carrying out some repair works at the runway, officials said Monday.

Thousands of local and foreign travellers were stranded at the weekend following the closure of the runaway for several hours to enable authorities to fix the faulty runway.

"We have resumed normal flight operations. Planes are now landing and taking off from the airport," a spokeswoman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria told AFP.

She said the temporary closure was to ensure safety of both local and foreign travellers in the Nigerian airspace, which has suffered some mishaps in recent weeks.

A Nigerian passenger plane was damaged as it skidded off a waterlogged runway on landing at Lagos airport on Tuesday, barely two weeks after after a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet bound for Abuja crashed in the village of Lisa, north of Lagos, killing all 117 passengers and crew on board.

hkskyline

November 8th, 2005, 05:26 PM

Another air mishap averted in Nigeria

LAGOS, Nov 8 (AFP) - Another air mishap was averted in Nigeria as a private commercial plane developed engine problem on take-off from the country's capital Abuja, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"It was a minor incident involving our aircraft. There was a bird strike as the plane attempted to take off," a spokeswoman for AeroContractors airline told AFP.

She said a bird entered one of the plane's engine compartments, forcing the pilot to abort the Lagos-bound flight on Monday.

"We cancelled the flight because of the safety of our passengers. No-one was hurt and we inspected the aircraft to ensure nothing was damaged," she said.

She said more than 100 passengers were on board.

The Nigerian aviation industry has a bad safety record and minor accidents are relatively common.

Last Tuesday, a passenger plane was damaged as it skidded off a waterlogged runway on landing at Lagos airport.

On October 22, a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet bound for Abuja crashed in the village of Lisa, north of Lagos, killing all 117 passengers and crew on board.

In July alone three airliners were damaged on landing on the poorly surfaced runway at Lagos while an Air France jet ploughed into a herd of cows as it touched down in southern oil city of Port Harcourt.

hkskyline

November 9th, 2005, 08:59 PM

Moroccan airline says to add 40 aircraft by 2012

CASABLANCA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Royal Air Maroc (RAM) will double its fleet to 80 aircraft by 2012, its chairman and CEO Mohamed Berrada said late on Tuesday at a conference organised by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morocco.

"Our strategy for 2006-2012 aims at turning RAM into a group that will be a vehicle of growth for Morocco," he said.

Berrada, a former finance minister, said RAM would "expand its fleet from 40 currently to 80 planes by 2012", but did not say whether the jets would be bought or leased, nor whether Boeing or Airbus would be the supplier.

RAM currently operates a Boeing-dominated fleet.

Berrada said RAM's passenger traffic rose 20 percent to about 4.5 million this year to the end of October, but he said he sees RAM future in diversifying its operations at home and expanding its presence in Africa and elsewhere.

RAM already owns a maintenance business, a training academy and a call centre, as well as hotels in Morocco.

Berrada said diversifying business would cushion RAM against cyclical swings in travel activity, which is sensitive to factors like terrorism or diseases such as bird flu.

Berrada also said RAM plans to expand its presence within Africa by setting up more joint-venture airlines, citing Cameroon as a possibility. RAM has a majority stake in Air Senegal International.

He said RAM passenger traffic in Africa grew by 30 percent in 2004 and more than 70 percent so far this year and he expected the steady growth to stay at around 70 percent in the two following years.

RAM plans to invest about 2 billion dirhams ($219 million) a year for the next six years, having invested around 7 billion in the 2001-2005 period, he added.

He forecast RAM group revenues would be 12 billion dirhams this year, rising to 25 billion in 2012.

hkskyline

November 11th, 2005, 06:41 AM

S.African Airways says improves workers terms

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 9 (Reuters) - South African Airways (SAA) has raised workers' allowances by up to 19 percent and extend employment for pilots by increasing the retirement age from 60 to 63 years in a bid to mend relations with staff following a crippling strike early this year.

But Chief Executive Officer Khaya Ngqula said on Wednesday the 35 million rand ($5.18 million) package would not have a negative impact on efforts by Africa's largest airline to save 1.6 billion rand on wages and other costs over 18 months.

"It's not very significant at all in terms of the capital, but for our people it's a lot of money. We are trying to give incentives to our people, the savings that we have spoken about will achieved," Ngqula said in response to a question.

Workers at the state-owned airline were on strike for nearly a week in July to demand higher salaries, improved benefits and working conditions. SAA declined to give figures but economists estimated the flag carrier lost about 25 million rand per day.

The strike was resolved after both sides agreed on a 5 percent increase on pensionable salaries, medical aid and housing allowances backdated to April 1, 2005.

Under the new package, cabin crew on international routes will get a daily allowance of $107 from $90. Daily allowances for cabin staff on domestic routes have been raised to 150 rand from 135 rand. Allowances were last reviewed five years ago.

Ngqula said SAA would next year move away from annual wage negotiations in favour of multi-year agreements to ensure the stability needed for the airline's turnaround.

He acknowledged that labour relations at the airline had been deplorable and blamed the situation on management's focus with profitability, following a pretax loss of 8.7 billion rand in fiscal 2003/04.

APPEASE PILOTS

It reported an operating profit of 935 million rand in fiscal 2004/05.

"Profitability cannot be sustainable if our workers are not happy. That is the challenge we have responded to and we know that efficiency and productivity will increase," said Ngqula.

SAA moved to appease pilots who have previously threatened to strike, extending their retirement age to 63 from 60 years and appointing a former pilot to oversee their operations.

Ngqula said SAA was also considering setting up a low cost airline in response to stiff competition from budget carriers, who have grabbed 25 percent of the domestic market share.

Budget airlines have ignited an airfare war, with tickets to some destinations costing less than what is charged by buses.

"We have to come up with an appropriate response ... to save jobs and the airline," said Ngqula.

He said SAA did not feel threatened by Virgin Nigeria entering the South African market next month.

SAA's strategy is focused on establishing a dominant position on the continent, its major source of revenue, and tapping the South American market.

"We are ready. What we will not be getting into is a price war. We are quite comfortable that we will be able to hold our ground," said Ngqula.

The airline is considering buying Airbus's new A380 superjumbo aircraft. But there are concerns that it would not be fully utilised and SAA is also looking at products from Boeing as an alternative, he said.

"Our board has looked at the issue. We are viable enough to buy one if we need to. We are very cautious. It is a huge investment," said Ngqula.

hkskyline

November 14th, 2005, 01:35 AM

Nigerian air crash: site probe ends without answers

LAGOS, Nov 13 (AFP) - Nigerian and US air accident investigators ended their inspection of the site of an airliner disaster on Sunday but still have no idea why the plane crashed and killed all 117 people on board, an official said.

Recovery teams have yet to find the flight's data recorders, three weeks after Bellview Airlines flight 210 from Lagos to Abuja lost contact with air traffic controllers and plunged into a cocoa grove minutes after take-off.

"We couldn't find the black box. Nothing has been found which indicates the cause of the crash," Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the Nigerian federal government's National Emergency Management Agency, told AFP.

"The US experts will continue to work with the little, little part of the aircraft that we found," he said, referring to a team of American investigators from both the US government and the manufacturers of the ill-fated Boeing 737.

Asked to comment on Nigerian press reports that local experts were beginning to take seriously the idea that the jet was brought down by a bomb attack or sabotage, Farinloye said simply: "Nothing is ruled out."

On October 21 the crowded passenger airliner took off on a scheduled domestic flight between Lagos and Nigeria's capital Abuja in a powerful electric storm. Air traffic control lost contact three minutes later.

Almost 24 hours afterwards, Nigerian television journalists found the wreckage of the 24-year-old two engined aircraft on the outskirts of the farming village of Lissa a short drive north of Lagos.

Wreckage and dismembered corpses were spread over a wide area and in some cases buried deep in the ground by the force of the impact. Witnesses said that the jet appeared to have exploded in mid-air prior to plunging to earth.

More than 900 people have died in Nigeria over the past 12 years in more than 30 aviation accidents.

Since last month's fatal crash one plane has been damaged while landing on Lagos's badly maintained runway and another has aborted its take-off from Abuja after sucking a bird into its jet engine.

International airlines have threatened to cancel their lucrative Lagos flights unless the government improves safety at Lagos, where only one runway is serviceable and where ground radar is turned off at weekends.

SE9

November 15th, 2005, 07:13 PM

Qatar Airways Maiden Flight to Nairobi, Kenya Today

Kenyan born manager leads new crew to Kenyan skies

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When it comes to making manoeuvres for business in the local airline industry, Fatma El-Maawy probably knows all the tricks. It explains why she has taken her latest job as the area manager of Qatar Airlines – the newest entry to Kenya's crowded skies – in her stride.

"I know that it is already big, being the only five-star airline that flies to Africa, but I will make sure that it offers jobs to Kenyans and make it the preferred carrier locally," she says.

Not that she will be cruising against any mild corporate turbulence. Besides taking charge of the airline's entire operations in the country, Fatma is expected to see to it that Qatar's flag-carrier delivers an attractive travel package and steer it to growth.

But experience, management skills and pride are clearly on her side. She cut her teeth at Kenya Airways, where she was recruited as a management trainee in 1985.

"We were the first lot of management trainees and that was when the airline wanted to grow and decided to get graduates to help improve its workforce," recalls Fatma.

It was while at the national flag-carrier that her creativity and ambition became evident. She was appointed the coordinator of the newly launched Hajj package, targeting Muslims going for the annual pilgrimage.

"When I joined, Muslims going for Hajj in Mecca used every other airline but Kenya Airways, and so I started attracting travellers to the airline. Being a Muslim myself helped a lot," she said.

Fatma also takes pride in introducing KQ's first holiday package to promote domestic tourism.

"I always wanted to be the best I could be and that included my place of work. I wanted to make it a place I would be proud to be associated with and that saw me again introduce the Msafiri Club (for regular flyers)," Fatma says.

Just like her other projects, it remains a success to this day. Her efforts did not go unnoticed. She was given the responsibility of handling the Middle East route. But 11 years later, the airline asked all employees to reapply for their positions. Fatma was not offered her job back, like many others, and she decided to move on.

But luck was on her side. Four weeks later, a job with Emirates Airlines came knocking.

"Although I never got the position I was while at Kenya Airways, I took it up. It is good once in a while to take a step back and reassess where one wants to go," recalls Fatma.

The entry of Emirates to Kenya meant stiff competition against Kenya Airways, her former employer.

"I was handling Mombasa and Nairobi routes. The competition was high, but after a while, we brought up sales by 10 per cent and started eyeing Arusha where I got several agents before I went to Dar es Salaam and Entebbe. Everywhere I went, the airline got new routes," says Fatma.

Emirates expanded to Zambia, Lagos and Congo. Fatma was appointed sales manager in charge of the Indian Ocean Islands, West and Central Africa – overseeing operations from Arusha.

But since her family was in Kenya, she would fly to work in the morning and back home in the evening for a full year, something she says took a toll on her and her family.

"It was really good but I did not have time to be with my family. The strain was really big but we managed to pull through," she says.

After nine-and-a-half years, she decided to take a break from the airline industry. She joined her husband at the family business, Auto Village, a car repair shop.

But two months later, another airline job surfaced.

"At Emirates, I had reached the ceiling and I felt that it was time to move on. When Qatar Airlines had an opening, I felt there was room for growth," she added.

Born in Mombasa to a family of eight, the mother of three says that her upbringing and growing in a large family initiated her into the competitive spirit. Even when she was young, she never let anyone to underrate her.

Her childhood dream to become a doctor was shattered when she failed in physics. Although her high school grades were good enough for admission to the faculty of law at the University of Nairobi, she missed the deadline for registration in the early 1980s.

Eventually, she settled for a degree in economics and Arabic. After college in 1984, she got a job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she worked for one year before joining the airline industry.

hkskyline

November 21st, 2005, 04:42 AM

Cape Verde has no plans to privatize national airline TACV: president

LISBON, Nov 19 (AFP) - Cape Verde has no plans to privatize its flag carrier TACV, the president of the west African island nation said Saturday in an interview published in Portugal.

"The privatization process is practically complete. There is talk about the air carrier but TACV is strategic to Cape Verde and we are not going to privatize it for now, despite the pressures to do so," President Jose Maria Nves told weekly newspaper Expresso.

TACV, founded in 1955, is detained entirely by the government of Cape Verde and has about 750 employees.

The airline has played a key role in the development of the tourism industry in the former Portuguese colony, a key motor of economic growth since the early 1990s.

TACV transported some 560,000 passengers last year, 345,000 domestically and 215,000 internationally.

It has a fleet of three ATR 42 turboprops and two Boeing 757-200-ER jets which cover destinations in Europe, Africa as well as North and South America.

Cape Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and began privatizing its economy in the 1980s.

It has sold off banks, an insurance company, the electricity company, the port, and the main foodstuff marketing company.

The number of visitors to the archipelago, located some 500 kilometres (300 miles) off the coast of Senegal, has increased seven-fold over the last decade to more than 180,000 a year.

hkskyline

November 21st, 2005, 04:43 AM

Nigerian president accuses aviation officials of corruption

LAGOS, Nov 19 (AFP) - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has accused aviation officials of corruption, threatening to bring in foreigners to clean up the department, after a series of aviation accidents including a crash that claimed the lives of 117 people, according to press reports Saturday.

"I want to say that part of the problems with the aviation in Nigeria is human. All the parastatals (state agencies) are corrupt from top to bottom. But we are going to fight it, whatever it takes," Obasanjo reportedly told a meeting of ministers and senior officials on Friday.

"Life is too precious and too sacred to be played with. I have told the minister (aviation minister Babalola Borisade) that if we are not prepared to get Nigerians to man the civil aviation department, I'm ready to bring in expatriates from abroad."

Concerns about Nigeria's air safety record were highlighted by the October 22 crash, shortly after take-off from Lagos international airport, of a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 which killed all 117 passengers and crew on board.

Ten days later, a turbo-prop passenger aircraft was damaged as it skidded off the waterlogged runway at the airport.

More than 900 people have died in the west African country over the past 12 years in more than 30 aviation accidents.

In July, three aircraft were damaged landing on the poorly surfaced runway at Lagos while an Air France jet ploughed into a herd of cattle as it touched down in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt.

International airlines have threatened to cancel flights unless the government improves safety at Lagos, the country's biggest city, where only one runway is serviceable and where ground radar is turned off at weekends.

hkskyline

November 22nd, 2005, 11:06 PM

Zimbabwe national airline grounded by fuel shortage
By Cris Chinaka

HARARE, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's state-owned national airline was forced to temporarily ground its entire fleet after running out of fuel, but managed to resume some flights on Tuesday, company officials said.

Critics blame President Robert Mugabe's controversial policies and government mismanagement for a long-running crisis that has left a once vibrant economy struggling with shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency and a decaying infrastructure.

A senior Air Zimbabwe official said the carrier grounded all seven of its planes on Monday, and cancelled domestic and international flights "until further notice" due to fuel shortages.

But airline officials later said it managed to get some fuel on Tuesday and resumed flights to Johannesburg, Singapore and the southern Zimbabwe city of Bulawayo.

"The other flights are expected to resume in the next two days," one official said.

Transport and Energy Minister Christopher Mushowe said the airline had "managed to secure fuel to resume normal services," state radio reported.

People were caught unaware at Harare airport on Monday, leaving passengers milling at check-in counters, airline officials said.

AIRLINE CHIEF SUSPENDED

Air Zimbabwe's board of directors responded to Monday's grounding by suspending Chief Executive Officer Tendai Mahachi and two other top managers. Transport officials said Mugabe's government felt embarrassed by the halting of flights.

A statement said the board had suspended the three "pending investigations into the serious disruptions of the national airline's operations and services to customers".

The carrier's vice-chairman, Jonathan Kadzura, said the board was working to restore services.

The airline also has long-haul flights to London, China and Dubai, and management was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year for allowing a plane to carry just one passenger to Harare from Dubai.

Critics say it is a victim of mismanagement and government interference in its operations, including by Mugabe who has sometimes commandeered planes for his business trips abroad.

Air Zimbabwe had 15 airplanes when Mugabe assumed power at independence from Britain in 1980, but the fleet has dwindled to seven, including two small planes bought this year from China.

Mugabe's critics say he has wrecked one of Africa's most promising economies through his policies, including seizures and redistribution of white-owned farms to his black supporters.

But the 81-year-old Mugabe says his southern African country's steep six-year economic recession is due to sabotage by domestic and Western opponents trying to oust him over his nationalistic policies.

hkskyline

November 24th, 2005, 04:14 AM

Air Zimbabwe Resumes Flights Following Fuel Shortage
22 November 2005

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)--National airline Air Zimbabwe resumed flights Tuesday after receiving a shipment of fuel, airline officials said.

Zimbabwe ran out of jet gasoline and grounded all its services Monday. The country in southern Africa is suffering acute shortages of all types of gasoline in the worst economic crisis since independence from the U.K. in 1980.

State radio reported Tuesday the airline's board suspended chief executive Tendai Mahachi and financial director Mrs. Tendai Mujuru while investigations into their handling of fuel shortages were carried out.

At least six domestic and international flights were canceled Monday. It was the first time the airline's planes were brought to a complete standstill by fuel shortages.

hkskyline

November 25th, 2005, 06:26 AM

Nigeria Air Crash Probe Team Fears Black Boxes Destroyed
24 November 2005

LAGOS (AP)--The head of a team probing an air crash that killed 117 people in Nigeria last month said Thursday that the aircraft's black boxes haven't been found and may have been destroyed when the plane slammed into the ground.

Angus Ozoka, the head of Nigeria's Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, wouldn't say how much longer the investigation into the Oct. 22 Bellview Airlines crash could last. There has been little indication of what could have caused the crash, although some aviation experts have said the plane may have been downed by lightning.

Asked whether the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder - known as black boxes - could have been destroyed in the impact, Ozoka said: "Of course, if you see the way mighty engines were disfigured and compressed."

He said some strips of casing from the black boxes were discovered, further indicating the data recorders may have been smashed into pieces.

The recorders are rugged pieces of equipment specifically designed to be able to withstand catastrophic pressures and temperatures, and normally survive most crashes.

The Boeing 737-200 had taken off from the airport at Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, for the capital, Abuja, when it crashed near Lissa, about 50 kilometers to the north.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board sent a five-member team to assist the inquiry. It included investigators from Boeing and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

The U.S. team ruled out terrorism as a cause of the crash, an official at Nigeria's aviation ministry said, requesting anonymity because the investigation hasn't been completed.

U.S. officials wouldn't comment on the issue.

hkskyline

December 11th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Cape Town jet fuel shortages persist, flights cope

CAPE TOWN, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Disruptions to flights from Cape Town International Airport were reduced after airlines made contingency plans to deal with unexpected jet fuel shortages, airline officials said on Sunday.

Flights were delayed by up to six hours after fuel supplied by the Caltex/Chevron refinery in Cape Town was halted without warning on Saturday, with some domestic passengers forced to remain in the city overnight.

All international flights from Cape Town were refuelling at nearby airports -- in South Africa or Namibia -- while South African Airways (SAA) had arranged to use bigger planes for domestic flights to the city to avoid refuelling there.

"We've managed to get all flights going with creative reshuffling of airplanes and we will start getting fuel from the refinery this afternoon," SAA general manager of flight operations Colin Jordaan said.

One SAA flight to Frankfurt on Sunday would arrive six hours late, but disruption elsewhere had been reduced to a minimum, he said, adding that fuel from the refinery would initially go to international flights.

Airport officials told public radio that domestic flights were operating normally. Cape Town airport is one of South Africa's three biggest, along with Johannesburg and Durban.

Jordaan said the jet fuel from the refinery in Cape Town had been found to contain too many additives and was not dispatched.

The refinery said in a statement on Sunday it was bringing jet fuel product to the airport after disruptions caused by the delayed startup of the refinery after a planned maintenance shutdown.

"While every effort is being made to replenish jet fuel stocks, the loading and discharge process is expected to take time due to the stringent safety and quality requirements related to the handling of jet fuel," it said.

There were no further details and refinery officials declined to comment further.

It was not clear whether any of the problems with the jet fuel were linked to an anticipated nationwide petrol crunch following the introduction of new government standards for cleaner fuel.

hkskyline

December 18th, 2005, 07:59 PM

Nigeria Aircraft Safety Check Strands 1000s Of Travelers
18 December 2005

LAGOS (AP)--Authorities grounded Boeing 737 planes across Nigeria for a spot safety check, stranding thousands of travelers Sunday around Africa's most populous nation after two deadly accidents in two months.

All Boeing 737-100 and 200 series aircraft in Nigeria will be checked for stress cracks, in compliance with a U.S. air-worthiness directive, Folasade Odutola, head of a special aviation panel overseeing the checks, said in a late-Saturday statement.

The ruling by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration required all such models of aircraft to be inspected within 90 days of its Aug. 2000 ruling. Many countries follow FAA directives.

The Nigerian official didn't explain why the measure is only being implemented now. Thousands of passengers in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and Abuja, the capital, could be seen waiting in departure lounges.

The changes affected major domestic airlines including Bellview, Chanchangi, ADC and Albarka.

In Lagos, thousands of disappointed passengers traveling for various domestic destinations for the Christmas holidays left to seek other means of travel with most scheduled flights canceled.

"I have no choice now but to go by road," said Nobert Nchekwube, a passenger who said he was bound for Enugu, 700 kilometers (430 miles) east of Lagos.

President Olusegun Obasanjo had vowed to overhaul Nigeria's airline industry after two major plane crashes in seven weeks killed 224 people, blaming some of the industry's problems on corruption.

In the most recent incident Dec. 10, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 plane operated by Sosoliso Airlines crashed while approaching Port Harcourt, killing 107 people, most of them school children going home for Christmas.

A Boeing 737-200 plane belonging to Bellview airlines crashed soon after takeoff from Lagos on Oct. 22, killing all 117 on board.

The causes of the crashes haven't been determined by investigators.

Obasanjo ordered a halt to flights by Sosoliso and Chanchangi last week, citing intelligence reports about problems with some of their planes.

hkskyline

December 19th, 2005, 10:46 PM

Nigeria-registered plane makes emergency landing in Ghana
19 December 2005

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) - A Nigerian-registered plane made an emergency landing Monday in Ghana, the latest incident involving a Nigerian aircraft after a spate of deadly accidents.

The Bellview Airline's Boeing 737-200 landed at Accra's Kotoka airport, bursting a tire on landing after pilots had radioed the control tower to warn of a hydraulic system failure, a company official said.

The plane landed without injury to any passengers, who were evacuated from the plane after it rolled to a stop on the tarmac.

Authorities closed the airport for about an hour until the plane was towed away.

Two Nigerian aircraft have crashed in recent months, killing 224 people, including all 117 passengers and crew on another Bellview airplane.

hkskyline

December 23rd, 2005, 10:14 PM

France rules out attack in 2004 Boeing crash in Egypt: ex-minister

MARSEILLE, France, Dec 23 (AFP) - A Boeing 737 which crashed in Egypt last year with 134 French citizens on board was not brought down by a bomb or other attack, a former French junior foreign minister, Renaud Muselier, reaffirmed in an interview published Friday.

"The investigations conducted by Egyptian and French authorities, involving considerable technical and human means, prove that it was not an attack that caused the Flash Airlines crash of January 3, 2004," he told La Provence newspaper.

His comment was in reaction to a demand by an association of some of the victims' families for the French inquiry to look for signs of an attack.

Muselier, who was in office at the time of the crash and who was ousted in a government reshuffle in May this year, said he did not understand why the families were insisting on that hypothesis even though it had previously been ruled out by authorities.

No cause has yet been found for why the plane crashed off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh three minutes after take-off. All 148 people on board, including the 134 French passengers, perished.

The plane's recovered black boxes have failed to provide an explanation for why the disaster happened and it remains unclear whether a technical fault or error was to blame.

The flight was chartered from the Egyptian Flash Airlines company, which has since gone bankrupt.

hkskyline

December 29th, 2005, 07:49 AM

Hundreds of stranded pilgrims in Cameroon could leave soon: airline

YAOUNDE, Dec 27 (AFP) - Hundreds of pilgrims seeking to visit Mecca, stranded for days at airports in the west African state of Cameroon, may be able to leave soon, the airline supposed to fly them to Saudi Arabia said Tuesday.

About 2,000 pilgrims have been waiting at the airport at Garoua, about 100 kilometres (600 miles) north of the economic capital Yaounde, and about 300 at Douala.

"We came from several places in the north of Cameroon and for almost a week we have been waiting without news at the airport," one pilgrim told AFP by phone from Garoua.

The national carrier Cameroon Airlines (Camair) was supposed to have taken them to their destination but is in severe financial difficulty, owes staff and creditors money and cancelled several flights.

But Camair spokesman Basil Etoke said Tuesday things were improving.

"A plane with more than 300 seats has been specially chartered for these pilgrims and has already made several round trips between Cameroon and Saudi Arabia," he said.

He said most of those at Garoua had been able to leave and a flight was due to leave Douala for Jeddah Tuesday night. All the stranded pilgrims should get away by Thursday, he said.

hkskyline

December 29th, 2005, 06:48 PM

Investors set up Morocco's private low-cost airline
By Lamine Ghanmi

CASABLANCA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Three Moroccan private business groups teamed up with German tourism TUI AG to create Morocco's first low-cost private airline, after the country initialed an "Open skies" deal with the EU to spur tourism growth, officials said on Tuesday.

The airline, named Jet4you, will start its operation in March next year, with two leased planes and envisages to expand its fleet by two aircraft each year to 10 jets in 2010, its chairman Jawad Ziyat told a news conference.

The airline projects to carry 160,000 passengers in the first year of its operation before reaching 900,000 in 2008 and 1.7 million passengers in 2010, he said.

It has an initial capital of 60 million Moroccan dirhams ($6.52 million) and officially owned by a newly created company named Aviation Investment Company (AIC), he added.

German TUI owns 40 percent in AIC and in Jet4you while Morocco's largest private bank Attijariwafa and investment fund Investima, investment arm of Societe Generale Marocaine de Banques (SGMB), a French bank Societe Generale subsidiary, has 20 percent share each.

Private businessmen Guy Marrache and Ahmed Benabbes Taarji, co-owned of Moroccan leisure conglomerate Holidays Services own 20 percent stake in the airline together.

"That initial capital is enough for the airline to start its business without borrowing from banks," said Ziyat.

The government in Morocco needs the creation or the presence of more airlines in the country to carry the rising number of tourists it aims to attract to the North African kingdom.

MOROCCO NEEDS AVIATION CAPACITY

It plans to double the number of tourists to 10 million holidaymakers by 2010, with an expected tourism revenue of 10 billion euros, more than triple the estimated tourism earnings this year.

The government, to lure more airlines and tourists they would carry, had liberalised the aviation industry in 2004 to allow more market openness and initialed a deal with the European Union early in December to expand aviation services and energise airline competition.

The so-called "open skies" agreement with the EU, to be effective next year after parliamentary ratification, came after negotiations between Rabat and the European bloc.

Without such a deal and the aviation liberalisation, the government would have had to invest 30 billion dirhams to expand the national carrier flag Royal Air Maroc's fleet by 60 new planes over the next five years to fly the expected additional tourists, officials said.

Transport Minister Karim Ghellab, who is spearheading the aviation reforms, told the news conference on the new airline:

"With the liberalisation of the aviation business and the open sky deal and with the participation of such a partner like TUI, the airline operation has all the ingredients of success, though the airline business is a difficult and risky one."

Ghellab added that "Morocco has a significant need to add more aviation capacity as it seeks to develop tourism."

TUI's representative Elie Bruyninckx said his group invested in Jet4you because it is encouraged by Morocco's policy to develop the tourism industry and open the air travel business for competition.

"We are partners in such an operation because Morocco has a vision of the future and a potential of growth," he said.

hkskyline

January 9th, 2006, 02:03 AM

Business dwindling for Zimbabwe's national carrier: internal report

HARARE, Jan 5 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's national carrier has reduced flights to international destinations by a fifth and is battling major financial losses and a chronic network shrinkage, an internal report said Thursday.

A turnaround strategy report, obtained by AFP, said the airline's routes shrank from 15 international destinations to nine, while regional destinations dropped from six to a mere one.

"Revenue has also declined... while costs of operations have gone up considerably due to high fuel costs, high interest and inflation rates and the unfavourable exchange rate, ageing equipment and a combination of other factors," the report said.

As a result the airline was losing 1.2 million dollars (993,000 euros) in potential revenue daily, while the national carrier faced a cumulative debt of 14.6 million dollars, it said.

Inflation in Zimbabwe has rocketed to 502 percent while the Zimbabwean currency has fallen to 77,500 Zimbabwean dollars to the greenback at official rates.

Dwindling tourism numbers have contributed significantly to Air Zimbabwe's route problems as visitors from the country's traditional tourist markets such as the United States and the European Union shun the southern African country.

Western tourism numbers have dropped significantly since the 2000 parliamentary polls, which foreign observers claim were rigged to give President Robert Mugabe's ruling party victory.

The report stated Air Zimbabwe was losing its market share in the region to competitors including British Airways and South African Airways.

The airline was forced last month to ground its fleet after it ran out of jet fuel which resulted in the suspension of its general manager. It said it was planning alliances with various other international airlines to improve its viability.

When contacted, acting chief executive Oscar Madombwe refused to comment on the report.

Transport Minister Christopher Mushowe told AFP, however, that he hoped the airline's turnaround plan would result in change of fortunes for the carrier.

"We gave the board that document at the end last month so that it can be used in the turnaround plan," Mushowe said.

"Air Zimbabwe and other various arms of the tourism sector are working together to help and change the fortunes of the industry."

hkskyline

January 9th, 2006, 05:29 PM

DRC court orders seizure of airline equipment at Kinshasa airport

KINSHASA, Jan 7 (AFP) - A Congolese court has ordered the seizure of equipment used by Air France, SN Brussels and Ethiopian Airlines for their alleged failure to pay for ground services, a judicial source said Saturday.

The source said the seizure, ordered late Friday at the request of Congolese Airlines (LAC), covered such items as boarding stairs, trucks and luggage belts at Kinshasa airport.

LAC claims that the three companies had not paid it for ground services since 2002, and is demanding 300,000 dollars in arrears plus another 150,000 in damages from each.

The three airlines targetted began a counter-suit Saturday, disputing LAC's claim to have a monopoly on services at the airport.

"We are going to pay nothing because we owe nothing," Air France representative Dominique Legrand said.

"There is an agreement between the Congolese state and the French state concerning our operations and we have nothing to do with LAC."

He added, "LAC has been incapable of supplying services for years. The only effect of this will be to frighten off potential investors by showing them that there is no legal protection for companies in the DRC."

A local civil aviation operator, who asked not to be identified, said LAC's move was "a last gasp" by the state-owned company.

"LAC has been bankrupt since 2003," he said. "It owes millions of dollars, has no serviceable aircraft and should have been wound up long ago. Its legal action is a last attempt at blackmail."

A DRC legal source said the three companies should soon have their equipment restored, though the case could drag on.

hkskyline

January 9th, 2006, 05:30 PM

Moroccan airline plans major African expansion

CASABLANCA, Morocco, Jan 8 (AFP) - Royal Air Maroc (RAM), encouraged by its majority shareholdings in the national airlines of Senegal and Gabon, is planning a major expansion of routes in Africa, a senior official said.

"The central thrust of RAM's development is the African gap in the market and the Casablanca hub is the key element in the company's strategy," Transport Minister Karim Ghalab told AFP.

RAM has held a 51 percent share in Air Senegal since 2000 and on December 29 it said it had been chosen by the government of Gabon to take a 51 percent stake in Air Gabon international.

Additionally "talks are at present under way" for RAM, said by its management to be north Africa's leading airline, to take a stake in the national carrier of the west African state of Mauritania.

Managers say that having come close to bankruptcy in 1997, when it had to be rescued by the government, RAM is now in good shape.

"After the successful launch of the low-cost airline Atlas Blue, RAM wants to extend its network in Africa," Ghalab said.

He said that flights to African destinations from Casablanca had increased by 55 percent in 2004 and 106 percent in 2005.

At the moment RAM flies directly from Casablanca to Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

It says it is increasing the number of flights and destinations.

"In the past Casablanca airport went to sleep at night whereas now check-in counters for African destinations are open round the clock," said an airline manager.

The number of flights from Casablanca to Dakar has doubled under a code-sharing agreement with Air Senegal International to 14 a week. RAM operates seven flights week to Abidjan and Tunis, six to Bamako, five to Nouackchott, four to Conakry and Algiers, three to Libreville, Douala, Ouagadougou, Lome and Cotonou and two to Niamey, Oran and Tripoli.

RAM and Atlas Blue carried more than 4.4 million passengers on scheduled flights in 2005, up 20 percent on 2004.

RAM says its strategy is to consolidate the Casablanca hub as an international platform for North African traffic to Europe, the Middle East and North America. It turned over 1.2 billion dollars in 2005, up 15 percent on 2004.

Between now and 2012 it plans to spend 220 million dollars (180 million euros) a year on modernising its fleet compared with 156 million dollars a year in the period 2001-2005.

hkskyline

January 11th, 2006, 04:53 AM

Spain to spend 3 bln euros on Canaries airports

MADRID, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Spain will spend 2.90 billion euros ($3.50 billion) between now and 2020 upgrading the airports of one of its best known tourist regions, the Canary Islands, the government said on Monday.

Work will be carried out at all eight airports on the archipelago, which is just off the coast of Africa and particularly popular with German and British sun-seekers.

The plan includes terminal extensions, new runways and extra parking space, the Development Ministry said in a statement.

hkskyline

January 20th, 2006, 03:44 AM

British Airways to help Nigerian aviation industry modernise

LAGOS, Jan 19, 2006 (AFP) - British Airways plans to help the Nigerian aviation industry modernise in the wake of several recent air disasters that have claimed hundreds of lives, said a Nigerian government statement Thursday.

"British Airways has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the Ministry of Aviation in four major areas out of an 11-point agenda that the Honourable Minister had earmarked for immediate implementation," said the statement, highlighting that British Airways' Managing Director Robbie Baird, had sent a letter to this effect to Nigerian Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade.

While in general the British flag bearer will help upgrade the west African nation's aviation infrastructure and regulatory environment, specific targets include "the screening and recruitment process to secure world-class airport managers, emergency response, and the control of bird strikes," said the government.

Nigeria's aging aviation fleet is made up of mostly secondhand or leased aircraft from former Soviet block countries.

The country has had 39 air disasters since 1991, which have claimed 1,021 lives.

In most crashes, including recent disasters in October and December of last year that killed 220 people, the causes have never been explained.

In December the Nigerian government also put in place a special commission to inspect the state's working aircraft.

Harkeb

January 23rd, 2006, 02:23 AM

SAA best airline in Africa
22/01/2006 14:32 PM

Johannesburg - South African Airways (SAA) has snatched the coveted Best Airline to Africa Award for the 15th consecutive time at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards.
The SA flag carrier came up against top airlines such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Kenya Airways.

SAA said in a statement on Sunday the awards are voted for exclusively by travel agents based in the United Kingdom. Voters take into consideration service, convenience of the airline's flight schedule and product.

Also, in the United States this week, SAA was awarded Best Airline in Africa from Global Traveller Magazine.

SAA is the leading airline on the African continent with an extensive route network. The expanding number of African destinations operated by SAA is an objective of its Africa Growth Strategy.

SAA said it takes pride in the fact that it is recognised for what it has to offer and continues to meet customer expectations.

Some of the awards collected by SAA in 2005 include: Best African Airline from Diners Club Asata (Association of South African Travel Agents), Best Airline to Africa for 14th year running from annual Travel Weekly Globe Awards, Africa's Leading Airline at the 11th Annual World Travel Awards, 3.5 million passengers voted SAA's Cabin Crew the Best in Africa and Best Airline Based in Africa from the Official Airline Guide (OAG).

Monkey

January 23rd, 2006, 02:34 AM

^ Yeah SAA is undoubtedly the leader now. In the long term however it has the worst geographical location to grow as a hub. Richard Branson identified Nigeria's capital, Lagos, as the best location for his African hub and founded Virgin Nigeria to operate from there. As it's in West Africa it can transfer traffic from Europe and America. Kenya Airways and Ethiopian, the other decent African carriers, can be hubs for traffic coming from Asia.

hkskyline

January 28th, 2006, 08:23 AM

With new plane, Air Malawi hopes to move on privatisation

BLANTYRE, Jan 27, 2006 (AFP) - Air Malawi added a new Boeing aircraft to its fleet on Friday as part of an effort to improve the loss-making national carrier's services and make it more attractive to a potential new owner.

"I want this airline to break even and begin to make profits within two years," said President Bingu wa Mutharika as he commissioned the new Boeing 737-500 on the tarmac of Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.

Mutharika said the acquisition of the 110-seater aircraft "should be the basis to turn around profits and provide better service," in remarks broadcast on state radio.

Air Malawi, established in 1964 and which now has a fleet of four aircraft, has been earmarked for privatisation since 1997 under a program financed by the World Bank.

Maziko Sauti Phiri, head of the Privatisation Commission, said there has been no "serious interest" to date to buy the airline, wholly owned by the state.

One of Africa's poorest countries, Malawi has privatised more than half its 100 parastatals, which drained state resources.

hkskyline

February 4th, 2006, 06:03 PM

Nigeria grounds airline over safety concerns

LAGOS, Feb 4, 2006 (AFP) - Nigeria has grounded an indigenous airline over safety concerns following a string of disasters that befell the country's troubled aviation sector in recent months, an official statement said Saturday.

In December the government set up a special task force to inspect the country's fleet of aging aircraft to determine their airworthiness after two crashes in a spate of two months claimed some 220 lives.

"The task force has recommended that NCAA (Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority) ground the operations of Spaceworld Airline," its chairman Folashade Odutola said in the statement.

She said the airline will remain grounded "pending the rectification of those numerous deficiencies discovered during the audit inspection which require immediate action."

Nigeria's aviation fleet is made up of mostly secondhand or leased aircraft.

The country has had 39 air disasters since 1991, which have claimed 1,021 lives, but the December incidents were so shocking that the government ordered an immediate inspection of the country's fleet.

conquest

February 4th, 2006, 06:08 PM

hey do you know anything about air algerie's plan for flights to montreal???

hkskyline

February 4th, 2006, 06:19 PM

hey do you know anything about air algerie's plan for flights to montreal???
Here's an old article I came across :

Air Algerie Wants to Link Algiers With Montreal
IPR Strategic Information Database

According to the North Africa Journal, Air Algerie will reapply to the Canadian civil aviation authorities to obtain permission to open an Algiers-Montreal line. Air Algerie has already filed an application but was turned down by the Canadians. With a growing expatriate community in Canada and the US and increased business between Algeria and North America, Air Algerie feels it is important to link the two countries with a regular flight.

hkskyline

February 10th, 2006, 05:11 PM

Sudan Airways jet grounded in Nigeria over safety fears

LAGOS, Feb 10, 2006 (AFP) - Nigerian aviation authorities have grounded a Sudan Airways Boeing 747-100 plane for alleged safety problems, an aviation spokesman told AFP on Friday.

"The Sudan Airways plane landed in Kano early this week. On landing, our inspectors found out certain defects, which we want the airline to correct," Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesman Sam Adurogboye told AFP.

"They are already working on the defects and as soon as the exercise is completed, they will inform us and the plane will be let off to go," he said in a telephone interview. He declined to give further details.

Nigeria has stepped up efforts to improve air safety after three successive plane crashes late last year claimed more than 220 lives.

Several planes operating domestic flights in Nigeria have been grounded since November over safety concerns.

hkskyline

February 12th, 2006, 08:12 AM

Sudanese Plane Explodes, Killing 20
11 February 2006

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - A military transport plane blew a tire while landing, swerved off the runway and exploded at a southern Sudan airport Saturday, killing all 20 people on board, the army said.

The crash occurred at about 8 a.m. in Aweil, 525 miles southwest of Khartoum.

"One tire exploded while the plane was landing, a matter that made the plane deviate from the tarmac thus leading to its explosion," the Office of the Armed Forces was quoted as saying by the official Sudan Media Center.

The dead included seven crew members and 13 passengers, SMC said.

An army spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

hkskyline

February 13th, 2006, 04:47 PM

Kenya Airways starts express cargo service to London

NAIROBI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways said on Monday it had launched a new express cargo service, targeting speedy transportation of perishable goods from the continent.

Shawn McGuiness, Kenya Airways head of cargo said the Express Cargo service would start on the Nairobi-London-Nairobi route, before expanding to other destinations.

"We expect most of the initial cargo to be very highly perishable goods which form a large chunk of the loads for this route, and freight that is very time sensitive," McGuiness told reporters. "This is a first for Africa."

The national carrier is 26 percent owned by Air France-KLM's KLM Dutch arm. The carrier, one of Africa's best performing airlines said it had registered a 27 percent growth in cargo tonnage in the last quarter of 2005.

McGuiness said the service would initially be available on Kenya Airways destinations operating widebody aircraft. It will have a maximum shipment size of 1,000 kilograms, he said.

The carrier saw passenger numbers increase by 23 per cent in the first half of its fiscal year due to its use of bigger Boeing 777 aircraft on routes to Europe, Asia, Middle East, West and Southern Africa.

Kenya Airways became an associate member of SkyTeam, a global airline marketing alliance led by Air France and Delta Air Lines , in June 2005.

SE9

February 13th, 2006, 04:55 PM

^ nice.

Delta Air Lines Announces Service between Atlanta and Africa

Customers will enjoy service to Johannesburg, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal this December, given required government approvals

Delta to be only major U.S. airline to operate scheduled service between the United States and Africa

ATLANTA, Feb. 9, 2006 – Delta Air Lines—the United States’ fastest growing international carrier—today announced that it is seeking the necessary government approvals to become the only major U.S. airline to operate scheduled service between the United States and Africa. In a filing with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Delta is requesting government approvals to begin the first ever Delta-operated service between the world’s largest airline hub in Atlanta and the burgeoning South African city of Johannesburg, with an intermediate stop in Dakar, Senegal, effective in December 2006.

In a press conference held today at The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young joined other Georgia business and civic leaders to applaud Delta’s efforts to connect Atlanta—the seventh-largest home to South African-born residents of the United States – the business capital of South Africa.

“I am proud that Delta has decided to initiate service to South Africa and become the only major U.S. carrier to serve the continent,” Young said. “Delta’s service between Atlanta and South Africa promises to be one of the most successful routes on the planet due to the reach and convenience of Delta’s Atlanta hub. I look forward to flying Atlanta’s hometown airline non-stop to Africa.”

Added Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, "For many years, Delta Air Lines has been a faithful supporter of the city's efforts to raise its stature as a best in class, global city. Through the strategic partnerships and direct flight routes to international destinations in Asia, Europe, North, South and Central America originating from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Delta has helped foster the city's international, economic and cultural ties and has expanded Atlanta's access to the world."

With the new service, Delta will enter a new continent from Atlanta for the first time since its historic expansion into South America in 1997 and will grow to offer customers more than 60 international destinations from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport by December – up more than 50 from the number of destinations offered just 10 years ago. Delta customers traveling to or from Africa via Atlanta will have convenient connecting opportunities to more than 140 North American cities.

hkskyline

February 15th, 2006, 04:12 PM

Air Tanzania to end merger with SAfrica carrier

DODOMA, Tanzania, Feb 15, 2006 (AFP) - Tanzania has announced plans to dissolve a merger between its ailing national carrier and South African Airways (SAA) after the privatisation scheme ran into financial difficulties, officials said.

Infrastructure and Development Minister Basil Mramba told parliament late Tuesday that plans were being concluded to sever the partnership, less than two years old, between Air Tanzania Corporation Limited (ATCL) and SAA.

"At the moment legal formalities are being finalised towards that end," he said. "There are problems in the ATCL merger. We have decided to part ways and we are now on how we can end the deal peacefully."

Mramba was responding to complaints by several legislators who criticised the government for selling the nation's flag carrier to SAA, saying the move had "killed" the airline.

SAA bought 75 percent of the shares in the national carrier for 20 million dollars (16.7 million euros) in December 2004, but the firm recorded a pre-tax loss of 7.3 million dollars (six million euros) in its first year of operation after privatisation.

hkskyline

February 16th, 2006, 05:54 AM

Moroccan airline RAM gets new chief, new plane

RABAT, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Morocco's King Mohammed named Driss Benhima as chief executive officer of the country's flag carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) on Wednesday, an official statement said, as the airline expands and upgrades its fleet.

Benhima, former chairman of development body North Provinces Development Agency, replaces Mohammed Barrada, a former finance minister who was appointed in 2001 to spearhead RAM's modernisation.

The airline acquired a new Boeing 767 plane as part of a $2.15 billion programme to buy 24 new aircraft for the 2002-2012 period, RAM said in a statement on Wednesday.

RAM is due to acquire two Boeing jets and one Airbus plane later this year to beef up its fleet, which comprises 37 aircraft, most of them Boeings.

hkskyline

February 21st, 2006, 12:48 AM

Report cites technical failure in Egypt Boeing crash

CAIRO, Feb 20, 2006 (AFP) - The final report on the crash of a Flash Airlines plane carrying French tourists two years ago off the coast of Egypt cites a failure in the automatic pilot and guiding system, the official MENA news agency said Monday.

"The report points to faults in the automatic pilot and guiding system. There was not enough time for the pilot to counter" the problem, the agency said, quoting an official from the civil aviation authority.

Contacted by AFP, a member of the panel that investigated the Boeing 737 crash in which 148 people were killed confirmed the information but refused to provide any more details on exactly what caused the accident.

He said the final report into the crash off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh would be published on March 25, after several delays.

A French representative for the families of the 135 passengers who died in the crash on January 3, 2004 will attend the press conference on publication day, MENA said.

France has ruled out an attack and the head of the investigation committee, Shaker Qelada, has ruled out any wrongdoing by the pilot but the exact causes of the crash have remained unclear.

Qelada said recently that the final report would not pinpoint a specific cause for the tragedy, which occurred three minutes after takeoff, but would offer a number of scenarios.

Black box cabin recordings published in a preliminary report reveal a number of failures as the aircraft tried to recover from a severe bank angle, before nosediving into the Red Sea.

The doomed flight was chartered by Egypt's Flash Airlines company which has since gone bankrupt.

SE9

February 22nd, 2006, 08:44 PM

Kenya Airways Revamps Website to aid Online Bookings

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/2289/kqwebsite1cl.jpg

Kenya Airways (KQ) yesterday re-launched its website to spur online bookings.

Titus Naikuni, the KQ managing director, also urged the Government to privatise Telkom Kenya to stimulate growth in e-commerce.

The airline retails 20 per cent of its tickets directly through the Internet and is looking to increase this figure through its new website.

"This website will not work if we do not have a reliable telecommunications infrastructure and system," said Naikuni.

The airline says a breakdown of the sole international backbone provided by Jambonet, a subsidiary of Telkom Kenya, effects its local bookings. However, bookings in other regions across the globe, KQ says, is not affected since the airline's website is hosted in USA, while the booking engine is in Germany.

"The stability and quality of the infrastructure within Kenya will have an impact," said Rose Ohingo, KQ's customer relations manger in support of Naikuni.

Amadeus, an information Technology solutions provider in the travel and tourism industry, put up the new system.

It has constructed e-retail engines that re-powering websites for 67 reputable airlines in the world, helping them reduce their costs by providing an online tool connected to their data centre.

"We expect booking related costs to reduce by five per cent because it will cost less to market online," said Ohingo.

The Amadeus project manager, Stephan Castagnetta, said global Internet sales were now accounting for between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of airline bookings.

Ohingo said online bookings for KQ were slow but gradually growing at an annual rate of 10 per cent.

"We will be looking to accelerate the growth and make it stronger with the new tool," she said adding that they will make an assessment between June and July after studying the revenue generated.

An airline estimated that KQ generated sales of close to Sh1 billion through online booking last year.

hkskyline

February 27th, 2006, 12:31 AM

Gabon replaces bankrupt national airline

LIBREVILLE, Feb 25, 2006 (AFP) - The government of Gabon announced late on Friday the immediate liquidation of bankrupt national carrier Air Gabon and its replacement by a new private airline controlled by Morocco's Royal Air Maroc (RAM).

The new carrier, Air Gabon International, has a duty "to be profitable and not rely on the state budget", government spokesman Rene Ndemezo Obiang announced after a late night cabinet meeting.

Air Gabon International will be owned 51 percent by RAM and 49 percent by the government of the west African state.

Its first plane will "hopefully" be airborne on June 1, a source close to the company said.

In the meantime the Libreville government would ensure the continuation of Air Gabon flights to some destinations -- particularly the highly profitable Gabon-Europe route -- and set up a scheme to help its 1,000 employees, Ndemezo Obiang said.

Created in 1977, Air Gabon has debts estimated at 25 billion CFA francs (38 million euros, 45 million dollars) and is unable to pay either its bills or its staff.

Last year it was obliged to suspend long-haul flights to Europe, which bring in 70 percent of its revenue, for three months because it was left without planes when the lease ran out on its sole serviceable Boeing 767.

RAM, which has a fleet of 37 planes, has struck a similar deal with Air Senegal and is reportedly in discussions about buying a stake in Mauritania's national airline.

hkskyline

February 28th, 2006, 05:54 PM

Belgium Airline SN Brussels Suspends Flights To Rwanda
28 February 2006

BRUSSELS (AP)--SN Brussels Airlines (SNB.YY) has suspended its twice-weekly flights to Kigali, after one of its planes was grounded in the Rwandan capital for three days last week, the airline said Tuesday.

Rwanda refused to let the Airbus A330-300 with more than 200 people on board take off last Tuesday, saying an inspection showed it had a hydraulic leak, no maintenance compliance records and no date tags on safety seat belts for pilots. The airline insisted the aircraft was safe to fly.

The plane finally took off Saturday, and the government accused Rwandan authorities of blocking the flight because of an airline safety dispute between the two countries. Last year, Belgium imposed a ban on Rwanda's Silverback Cargo Freighters.

SN Brussels has redirected its flights to Nairobi, Kenya. Passengers wishing to fly on to Kigali will have to do so at their own expense, the airline said, adding that it will not resume its service to Rwanda unless it receives guarantees from the authorities that its aircraft will be allowed to leave the Central African country.

SN Brussels' twice-weekly flights to Kigali are the only direct air connections between Rwanda - a former Belgian colony - and Europe.

hkskyline

March 2nd, 2006, 07:08 PM

SN Brussels Resumes Service To Rwanda
2 March 2006
Edited Press Release

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)-- SN Brussels Airlines (SNB.YY) is happy to announce that its Brussels - Kigali service will resume as from this Saturday the 4th of March, further to a constructive meeting with the Rwandese Authorities today.

SN Brussels Airlines wants to thank all its clients for their understanding and confirms that all its Brussels - Kigali flights are open for reservation.

For your info: SN Brussels Airlines connects the European Capital with Kigali each Tuesday and Saturday. The return flight arrives back in Brussels every Wednesday and Sunday morning.

SE9

March 2nd, 2006, 10:24 PM

Kenya Airways voted 'best African airline' by readers of an East African Travel Magazine

Kenya Airways has won six top honours in the 2006 Travel News Awards.

The National flag carrier was voted the 'Best African Airline', 'Best Regional Airline' and 'Best Local Airline'.

It also won for 'Best Business Class' and 'Best Frequent Flyer' programme. The airline's in-flight Msafiri magazine was voted the best in east and central Africa. The poll was carried out by East Africa’s premiere lifestyle, travel and leisure magazine TN (Travel News), and involved 35,000 readers.

It showed that the airline had come out ahead of others in developing a superior route network, as well as offering its customers a world class product. The award scheme, now in its seventh year, relies on reader participation to gauge the excellence of airlines in a number of fields in the tourism sector in East and Central Africa.

Commenting on the honours, Kenya Airways chief executive officer Titus Naikuni said: "These awards are a true recognition of the great work being done by over 3,500 employees of Kenya Airways, who tirelessly work to satisfy our two million customers every year."

The airline recently added Istanbul, Guangzhou and Maputo to its network and will soon launch services to Freetown in Sierra Leone and Paris.

SE9

March 8th, 2006, 11:17 PM

National airline Kenya Airways yesterday signed a multi-billion-shilling purchase agreement with a global commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing Company for the delivery of six Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b61/cladiv/060306b_lg.jpg

Chief executive Titus Naikuni said that American plane maker Boeing beat its European rival Airbus on basis of meeting the airline’s need for a fleet that satisfies the rising air travel demand with the highest fuel efficiency. Kenya Airways retired all its Airbus fleet in 2004.

Mr Naikuni declined to say the total cost of the aeroplanes citing confidentiality agreement between Boeing and the airline. However, industry sources say the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is priced at $120 million (Sh8.6 billion) per aircraft. The first four of the six aeroplanes are expected in the country in 2010 and the last two the following year. The 787 Dreamliner aircraft will replace the airline’s Boeing 767s.

"The unmatched performance, range and passenger comfort of the 787 Dreamliner will further enhance Kenya Airways' (KQ's) ability to offer services on routes across the globe," Mr Naikuni said during the signing ceremony at The Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi.

Lease agreement

Kenya Airways currently operates a 21-plane fleet, which includes Boeing 737s, 767s and 777s. The airline also recently announced a lease agreement with Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprises for three 737-800s to be delivered this year.

"We’re proud to have the 787 Dreamliner validated by the extremely competent and thorough assessment team that’s been assembled with Kenya Airways," Mr Lee Monson, Boeing senior vice president for Middle East and Africa, said.

Airbus and Boeing have divergent views on the future of air transport, with Airbus seeing the future in bigger aircraft while Boeing preferring smaller aircraft. Consequently, Airbus has launched A380, with potential seating of 555 passengers, which is the largest commercial jet ever and the Boeing has Boeing 787, carrying up to 250 passengers to nearly 16,000 kilometres and promising lower operating costs.

Mr Monson said the 787 Dreamliner will use 20 per cent less fuel than today’s aeroplanes of comparable size and will provide operators with up to 45 per cent more cargo revenue. "There is a chance for KQ to generate more revenue in terms of carrying more luggage," he said.

Kenya Airways serves more than two million passengers annually.

GlobalJoe

March 9th, 2006, 07:17 PM

hkskyline

March 25th, 2006, 08:54 AM

Egypt to publish report on Sharm el-Sheikh air crash

CAIRO, March 24, 2006 (AFP) - Egypt will publish Saturday its final report into the January 2004 crash of a Flash Airline flight near the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that left 148 people dead, the civil aviation ministry said.

Among the passengers aboard the Boeing 737 were 134 French holidaymakers, and a representative of the victims' families has said that the report will be a whitewash of the crew's actions.

The press has already said that the report will blame failures on the automatic pilot and the guidance systems.

"The shortage of time did not allow the pilot to remedy" the problem, the long-delayed report supposedly says.

Chief Egyptian investigator Shaker Qelada already said at the end of last year that the pilot himself was not at fault, and that the crash had been caused by technical failures.

But according to unconfirmed reports, French and American experts who have collaborated in the investigation disagree. They reportedly blame the pilot, a former Egyptian air force ace with only limited training on civilian aircraft.

After takeoff, the plane turned right instead of left, and the pilot failed to make the necessary correction because of insufficient time, state news agency MENA reported. The flight crashed only three minutes after takeoff.

Marc Chernet, head of the group defending the interests of the victims' families, said in Cairo that he would present a counter report.

"From what we have been able to find out, the (Egyptian) report is going to exonerate the crew of responsibility and rule that a technical failure was the cause," he said.

hkskyline

March 25th, 2006, 06:26 PM

Egyptian report blames technical failure on 2004 crash of airliner off Egyptian Sinai resort that killed 148
By LEE KEATH
25 March 2006

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Egyptian investigators said Saturday that technical failures likely caused a January 2004 crash of a passenger jet carrying French tourists from a Red Sea resort that killed all 148 on board, but a French team blamed the Egyptian crew, saying they failed to react quickly enough.

Transcripts from the cabin of Flash Airlines flight FSH604 showed confusion among the crew and problems in switching on the automatic pilot in the seconds after take-off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheik before they realized the plane was veering sharply to the right and began trying to correct it.

The plane crashed into the waters of the Red Sea about three minutes after take-off. The Boeing 737 was carrying 134 French tourists returning home to Paris from the popular resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, as well as a Moroccan and 13 Egyptians.

A press conference on Saturday announcing the results of the investigation showed flashes of testiness between the Egyptian and French investigators.

The report issued by the Egyptian commission heading the inquiry cited listed four possible causes for the Jan. 2 crash, all technical -- a fault in the airelons, which controls the aircraft's roll; a temporary jam in either a cable or wheel in the left spoiler, a plate on the wing that regulates lift; or a fault in the mechanism for turning on the autopilot.

As an "exacerbating factor," the report said that the Egyptian pilot, Khadr Abdullah, appeared to have disoriented about the plane's position as the craft apparently banked too far.

But Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of the team from France's Accident Analysis Bureau, told the press conference that the "human factor had a large role" in the accident, blaming "the failure of the crew to quickly deal with the situation."

Shaker Kaladah, the head of the Egyptian investigation, disputed that, saying the crew's reaction was "one of several factors ... there is no direct evidence that the crew was the direct cause."

"The human factor was studied by a team of psychological experts, and it was found that the human factor enters into the accident, but is not the sole cause," he said, adding that the French team's report was included in the final report issued by the investigation.

Though the report listed possible causes, it could not pin down a definitive reason for the crash. "No conclusive evidence could be found ... to determine a probable cause," it said. However, "any combination of these findings could have caused or contributed to the accident."

The problem appears to have occured about two minutes after takeoff, when the pilot requested the autopilot be switched on, according to transcripts released with the report. Five seconds later, the autopilot came on, and the plane began to bank left.

But after two seconds, the autopilot disconnected, and the airelons began movements that put the craft in a bank to the right. "See what the aircraft did," the pilot told his crew. The co-pilot informed him him the plane was banking right. The pilot acknowledged, but seconds later said, "How is it turning right?"

During this period, the report said, an "unusual event" -- apparently a technical fault -- caused a distraction, and the pilot appeared to have been disoriented over the plane's position.

In the next 17 seconds, the pilot may still have been disoriented as he tried to come out of the bank, the report said.

"OK, come out" of the bank, the pilot said, and the roll to the right eases. But then the airelons move again, putting the plane back into a deep right bank. "Overbank," the co-pilot warned as the aircraft reached its highest altitude -- 5,460 feet -- then began to go down.

The pilot repeatedly ordered the autopilot turned on, but it did not activate, even as the airelons only deepened the roll to the right and the co-pilot repeatedly warned "overbank."

Finally, the plane began to correct its rightward roll. The pilot ordered the engines idled to reduce the speed and tried to pull out of the dive, but eight seconds later the craft hit the water.

"Although the crew at the last stage attempted correctly to recover, the gravity of the upset condition in attitude, altitude in speed made this attempt insufficient" to save the craft, the report said.

hkskyline

March 27th, 2006, 04:16 PM

EU Ban Highlights Trouble in African Skies
By EDWARD HARRIS
27 March 2006

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - The pilot pressed a flask-sized bottle of vodka to his lips and swallowed deeply before piloting his geriatric aircraft down a jungle runway in eastern Congo. The Antonov flying valuable tin ore and two passengers out of the war-battered region made the trip safely that day. But many others don't.

Citing safety concerns, the European Union banned 92 airlines Wednesday from its airspace. Most of the airlines are from Africa, where planes are six times likelier to crash than elsewhere and travelers swap tales of crises averted.

In announcing the ban on virtually all aircraft overseen by civil aviation authorities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Congo from landing at European airports, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot labeled many of the planes "flying coffins."

Wednesday's ban and earlier similar orders rankle many Africans. They point out that most of the banned airlines -- like Thom's Airways from Congo -- no longer operate and never fly to Europe anyway, while Africans have little choice but to use them to hop around the world's poorest continent.

The deputy director of the civil aviation in Sierra Leone, which had 13 airlines banned, said his country had not had a safety audit by the main aviation-industry oversight group since the end of the country's brutal 1989-2002 civil war.

Still, "every state has sovereignty over its airspace," said Badara Allieu Tarrawallie.

The troubles in African nations are the same stymieing its aviation industry: poverty, conflict and poor governance. With little oversight, safety audits go undone and small problems are left unattended.

In Nigeria late last year, two planes flying domestic routes crashed within seven weeks of each other killing 224 people, including dozens of schoolchildren heading home for Christmas holidays. The causes of those crashes have not been determined, but Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has referred to an intelligence report detailing safety problems involving Nigerian airlines, including planes experiencing landing gear trouble.

In December, Obasanjo blamed corruption for some of the troubles in his country's aviation industry and called in international experts for a safety review.

A continentwide trend of economic liberalization may be fueling faster-than average passenger growth as former state-owned airlines go private amid new competition -- even as poor governments fail to adapt and oversee the growth.

"You've got the general problem of poverty and lack of government capacity. In Africa, everyone is encouraged to privatize, but there is a very important role of the state, strengthening oversight and regulatory mechanisms as you open up the economy," says Princeton Lyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, currently a Council on Foreign Affairs fellow. "We've gone far in one way, but not the other."

Even many of Africa's larger airlines fly secondhand aircraft purchased from overseas.

Many other airlines, particularly in vast Congo, fly rickety old jets or propeller-driven planes, including some old military aircraft converted to passenger aircraft with the addition of plastic patio-style chairs.

Stories proliferate of outrageous misfortune -- like presidents' wives commandeering entire sections of the now-defunct Air Afrique for shopping junkets in Paris, stranding paying passengers behind.

One solution might be banning castoff aircraft from former Soviet-bloc nations. Spare parts can be hard to obtain and some of the aging planes' maintenance documentation has been lost.

"We've witnessed accidents in countries with conflict, like Congo, Angola and Sudan," says Elijah Hingosso, an official with Nairobi, Kenya-based African Airlines Association. "Many of these flights took place in areas outside of government control, so there's no oversight. We've also tended to notice in the past that many aircraft come from the former USSR."

"We're urging governments to stop getting these old aircraft," said Hingosso, who says the number of passengers is growing at between 6 and 7 percent annually -- slightly higher than the global rate.

There are bright spots, including South African Airways, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines. Many African pilots who have honed their skills on the continent's cracked runways are known as skilled navigators of crisis zones. A South African crew runs a route between Amman, Jordan, and Iraq's Baghdad, where the plane approaches the runway in a tight downward corkscrew to avoid ground fire.

Associated Press writers Anjan Sundaram in Kinshasa, Congo, Alexandra Zavis in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Clarence Roy-Macaulay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, contributed to this report.

hkskyline

April 6th, 2006, 03:50 PM

Plane crash drill in Kenya spreads confusion

NAIROBI, April 6, 2006 (AFP) - Kenyan authorities simulated a major plane crash at Nairobi's main airport Thursday, causing confusion after international reports that a serious accident had occurred.

The exercise -- plans for which had been announced last month -- was aimed at giving emergency workers experience in dealing with a large-scale disaster, but officials gave initial conflicting reports about the alleged accident.

The drill involved the simulated crash of a humanitarian aircraft carrying 80 people from Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Nairobi but some police and airport officials were not told of its actual nature.

"We have just been told that an ECHO flight from Kisangani with 80 passengers on board has crashed," Christine Awando, a flight information officer at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, told AFP immediately after the exercise began.

At the same time however, other more senior officials were telling AFP that the "crash" was in fact a well-planned training exercise, with ambulances and emergency workers responding as if it were real.

"It is a drill and I am currently on the site," said Michael Okwiri, the spokesman for exercise participant Kenya Airways, as international television news networks carried "breaking news" of the accident.

"It is a drill, but we planned it in a way to appear that it was real so that it could help us improve our weakneses," an official with Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) told AFP.

KAA chairman George Muhoho defended the exercise, saying it was part of Kenya's efforts to conform with global aviation demands to improve airport safety.

"The drill is an international requirement that all airports should hold the rescue operations regularly," he told reporters at the scene where swarms of emergency workers and rescue vehicles, including three helicopters, hovered.

"This is to check the state of preparedness should there be a major accident," Muhoho said, as the choppers blew about smoke that billowed from tires set alight to give the "accident scene" a further touch of reality.

"The response was superb," he added.

Muhoho also said false information had been distributed to make the disaster appear real.

"To the foreign media, they can correct (their stories) and say it was an emergency drill," he said. AFP did not report a crash.

Officials said all airlines that operate from the airport as well as other government units had been given advance warning of the drill.

However, police confirmation that a state of emergency had been declared at the airport spurred several international media to report that an actual crash had taken place.

In August 2002, KAA carried out a similar exercise, announcing a major air disaster at the airport involving a British Airways jumbo jet with hundreds of passengers, including an "unnamed prominent Kenyan," and causing similar confusion.

Then, authorities came under fire for injecting too much realism into the emergency drill, while others defended duping the media.

hkskyline

April 7th, 2006, 04:18 PM

Nigerian airlines announce 20 percent hike in fares

LAGOS, April 6, 2006 (AFP) - Airline operators have announced a 20 percent hike in fares on the domestic routes because of rising cost of aviation fuel and other operational charges, officials said Thursday.

The hike, which would take effect from Monday, was announced in a statement by the Airlines Operators of Nigeria in Lagos.

"From next week, an hour flight will cost 12,000 naira (85 dollars, 69 euros) as against the current fare of 10,000 naira," it said, adding that the increase was necessitated by rising cost of aviation fuel, high administrative cost and a new five percent passenger service charge.

The association said the price adjustment was "inevitable" if airline operators were to "stay afloat".

It said the past weeks have seen airlines grappling with shortages of aviation fuel despite an increase to 72 naira from 61 per litre.

"The situation is such that we are finding it extremely hard to get the product to buy despite the increase in price," a spokesman for private airline Chanchangi, told AFP.

He appealed to air travellers to bear with the operators because "it is a situation we have no control over."

hkskyline

April 7th, 2006, 04:19 PM

Report: Passengers shun troubled Zimbabwe airline
7 April 2006

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - The loss-making state airline, Air Zimbabwe, carried just 230,000 passengers last year, compared to more than a million in 1999, the official media reported Friday.

Acting chief executive Capt. Oscar Madombwe blamed the decline on negative publicity on political and economic turmoil in the country and a perception of safety concerns among both local and foreign travelers, along with shortages of hard currency, new equipment and gasoline, the state Herald newspaper said.

Madombwe was addressing a panel of lawmakers in Harare on Thursday.

He said some of the airline's planes were nearly 30 years old and passengers mistrusted its newest acquisitions, two small short haul Chinese MA60 aircraft used on domestic routes since last year, preferring what he called Western-manufactured planes.

Madombwe said acute shortages in aviation fuel meant some of its international flights, including regular services to London, were forced to take on fuel in neighboring countries, leading to delays.

Some Western governments issued adverse travel advisories to their nationals on Zimbabwe, the airline chief told the lawmakers.

"There are travel warnings in which travelers are told: 'Go to Zimbabwe at your own risk and maybe you will not come out of there alive.' We are going to embark on campaigns to counter the bad publicity," the Herald quoted him saying.

In November, the airline ran out of jet gasoline and grounded all its services for a day as Zimbabwe's worst economic crisis since independence in 1980 deepened.

It was the first time the airline's planes were brought to a complete standstill by fuel shortages. Then-chief executive Tendai Mahachi and financial director Tendai Mujuru were fired for their handling of fuel shortages.

Madombwe assured the lawmakers new arrangements had been made to keep the airline flying but did not elaborate.

Zimbabwe is suffering shortages of all types of gasoline. The agriculture-based economy went into free fall after President Robert Mugabe ordered the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms in 2000.

SE9

April 7th, 2006, 04:21 PM

Kenya Airways gets green light to recruit foreign Pilots

Kenya Airways has been allowed to recruit foreign pilots, the Government announced yesterday.

Transport assistant minister Njeru Githae said Immigration had been asked to clear the airline to hire pilots from other countries and give them work permits.

There was a shortage of well trained pilots and other top-level crew to meet increasing demand by the national carrier, the minister said.

"Kenya Airways is a world-class airline and it must be allowed to recruit the best staff who will make it have an edge," he told journalists at Safari Park hotel after opening a conference of Sub-Saharan African Touring and Automobile Club.

Last month, Kenya Airways acquired six Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft at a cost of Sh8.6 billion. The airline retired all its Airbus fleet in 2004.

By opting to buy the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, KQ joined 26 other airlines that have together ordered 380 of the aeroplanes to date.

Mr Githae, who read Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere's speech, said 3,000 lives were lost every through road accidents.

In economic terms, the country lost Sh6 billion annually in losses associated with the road accidents.

Eighty-five per cent of accidents arose from human error, while 11 per cent were caused by vehicle defects. Only four in 100 were due to environmental factors.

Mr Githae said a controversial plan to remove 14-seater minibuses from major towns would take up to five years. This is how long it would take to build bus parks outside central business districts.

hkskyline

April 8th, 2006, 05:30 PM

West Africa sees regional airline as early as 2007

BAMAKO, April 8 (Reuters) - West Africa could set up a new regional airline as early as 2007 to replace defunct carrier Air Afrique, the head of the project said.

Air Afrique, jointly owned by the French government and former French colonies in west and central Africa, collapsed in 2002 under unsustainable debts.

Gervais Djondo, who heads a company set up last year by regional institutions and private investors to create a new regional airline, said the new outfit would differ from Air Afrique because it would be a private company.

It would also be more broadly based than Air Afrique, aiming to cover more west African and southern African countries.

"Being private means being there to make profits -- not to distribute free tickets. That is very important," Djondo told Reuters on the fringes of an African airlines conference late on Friday.

"We are in the launch phase, recruiting an international firm (of consultants) specialised in airlines to conduct the feasibility studies. We have our route map, and I can say that with things advancing as they are it is not impossible we will have our first flight by 2007," he said.

He said feasibility studies would determine exactly how much capital investment was needed, but said he expected it to be at least $100 million.

Djondo heads the company SPCAR, set up last year by West African development banks, private investors and the Central Bank of West African States which is shared by eight mainly francophone countries in the region.

He was speaking to Reuters at the end of the first African Airlines Forum, based on the annual Cannes Airlines Forum, which ended in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday with a resolution backing the establishment of a new regional carrier.

On Thursday African Airlines Association Secretary General Christian Folly-Kossi said many airlines on the continent, including some which sprang up after Air Afrique's demise, were simply too small to compete.

hkskyline

April 9th, 2006, 06:27 AM

African airlines too small to compete - industry

BAMAKO, April 6 (Reuters) - Many African airlines are too small to compete effectively and need to consolidate for the continent's aviation sector to develop, the African Airlines Associations (AFRAA) said on Thursday.

AFRAA Secretary General Christian Folly Kossi said the demise of multinational airline Air Afrique, Nigeria Airways and Ghana Airways in recent years contributed to gaps in the continent's air services.

Nigeria Airways has since been replaced by privately-run Virgin Nigeria, Ghana International Airlines has been launched and a host of national and private airlines have stepped in to snap up many of Air Afrique's former routes around West and central Africa.

But Folly Kossi said many were simply not big enough.

"Air companies in the region are too small and too weak to compete effectively. The small size of companies in the region constitutes a major handicap when it comes to the structure of their network," he said at the first African Airlines Forum, which opened in landlocked Mali's capital Bamako on Thursday.

Sector development is only possible if consolidation takes place, he said, pointing to well-established airlines such as Libya's Afriqiyah Airways and East Africa's Kenya Airways as models of success.

Africa accounts for around 4 to 4.5 percent of the world's air transport market, said officials at the forum, inspired by the Cannes Airlines Forum held each year in France.

hkskyline

April 10th, 2006, 04:24 PM

Military plane crashes in northern Kenya, killing 7 politicians, 6 others
By TOM MALITI
10 April 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A military plane traveling to a peace conference in northern Kenya crashed while attempting to land Monday, killing a Cabinet minister, two assistant ministers and four other lawmakers, along with at least six other people.

The plane crashed into a hill near the town of Marsabit, 450 kilometers (280 miles) northeast of Nairobi, while carrying political leaders to a meeting intended to ease tribal tensions along the Ethiopian border, said Parliamentary Speaker Francis ole Kaparo.

"This is the worst tragedy to hit the National Assembly," he said. "We have lost a lot of very good people in this crash."

Kaparo said the lawmakers on the plane were Minister for Youth Affairs Mohammed Kuti; the assistant minister for internal security, Mirugi Kariuki; the assistant minister for regional development authorities, Titus Ngoyoni; the deputy leader of the opposition KANU party, Bonaya Godana; Abdi Sasura; and Dr. Guracha Galgallo Boru.

Also on board was a Kenyan member of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdullahi Adan, a retired army general who served under former President Daniel arap Moi, Kaparo added.

Kaparo said he would adjourn parliament on Tuesday until all of the lawmakers were buried.

The Ministry of Defense issued a statement reporting that 17 people were on the Chinese-built Y-12 twin-engine cargo plane when it crashed, "including government officials, leaders and crew."

"The government has dispatched a search and rescue team to support rescue operations which are in progress," the statement said.

Four people were pulled from the fiery wreckage alive, witnesses said.

An aid worker at the Marsabit airstrip told The Associated Press that the four survivors were flown to the capital, Nairobi, for treatment. The survivors were identified as the commissioner for Eastern Province, Patrick Osare, Moyale District Commissioner Patrick Kingola and the two pilots.

Godana was among the most prominent of the lawmakers. He was a former Cabinet minister who served as foreign affairs and agriculture minister, among other portfolios, between 1997 and 2002 in Moi's administration.

President Mwai Kibaki issued a statement expressing "shock and concern" at the crash.

In July, unknown assailants killed scores of people in Marsabit, including at least two dozen children in a school, provoking retaliatory attacks between members of different tribes and raising tensions in the area.

Since that time there have been efforts to ease tensions, including Monday's planned meeting.

In January 2003, a plane carrying four Cabinet ministers and other people, crashed in western Kenya killing one minister and the two pilots. A public inquiry into the crash recommended that in the future no more than three Cabinet ministers or senior government officials should travel on the same flight for security reasons.

The report also noted that many airstrips in the country were poorly maintained and the government did not allocate enough money for their repair and maintenance.

hkskyline

April 12th, 2006, 05:25 AM

Weekly airline service to connect Washington area and West Africa
11 April 2006

LINTHICUM, Maryland (AP) - An American airline announced Tuesday it will provide weekly service to West Africa from an airport outside the U.S. capital.

Starting June 4, North American Airlines will offer nonstop service from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Banjul, The Gambia, and continue to Accra, Ghana.

"This new international air service will foster new economic opportunities and advance the exchange of goods, services and ideas between the state of Maryland and the countries of West Africa," said Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who traveled to Africa with Maryland business executives in 2004.

The once-a-week service will use Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which seat about 270 people.

Primarily a charter airline, New York-based North American Airlines offers commercial service to Guyana, in South America, as well as to Ghana, from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

North American's commercial service centers on "niche markets that are probably not large enough for a scheduled carrier but still have substantial traffic," said Steve Forsyth, a spokesman for the airline.

hkskyline

April 12th, 2006, 05:26 AM

Zimbabwe airline to lay off 30 percent of workforce

HARARE, April 11, 2006 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's national carrier Tuesday announced plans to lay off 30 percent of its workforce -- or some 360 workers -- in a streamlining bid to reverse its flagging fortunes.

"The airline is embarking on a staff rationalisation exercise with immediate effect," Mike Bimha, group chairman of Air Zimbabwe told reporters in Harare.

"This will result in a 30 percent reduction in staff," he added. Air Zimbabwe employs 1,200 workers.

Bimha said the restructuring would help the airline regain its status as one of the region's leading airlines.

"Staffing levels have generally remained the same over the years despite the drop in passenger uplifts as well as operating a smaller fleet of aircraft, and loss of market share over the years."

Dwindling tourism numbers have contributed significantly to Air Zimbabwe's route problems as visitors from the country's traditional tourist markets such as the United States and the European Union have shunned the southern African country.

Western tourism numbers have dropped significantly since the 2000 parliamentary polls, which foreign observers claim were rigged to give President Robert Mugabe's ruling party victory.

Last week, Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive officer Oscar Madombwe told a parliamentary committee that negative perceptions about the safety of travelling on the national carrier among other problems had seen the numbers of passengers using the airliner decreasing.

Madombwe told the committee that passenger numbers declined from one million a year in 1999 to 23,000 last year.

The tourism sector last year suffered a 49-percent drop in revenue compared with 2004, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority said.

Bimha said the organisation would embark on a turn-around plan to address erratic fuel supplies which grounded the entire fleet in November last year, declining passenger numbers, foreign currency shortages and declining customer confidence.

hkskyline

April 16th, 2006, 05:57 PM

Nigeria blames weather for plane crashes - report

ABUJA, April 16 (Reuters) - An interim report by Nigeria's Aviation Ministry blames bad weather for two plane crashes that killed 223 people late last year, according to an article by the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria.

The article, published by several news Web sites over the weekend, said the preliminary report by the ministry's Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau blamed "heavy winds and other natural causes" for the crashes.

However, Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade was quoted as saying other factors could have played a part in the crashes, and a final report would be ready in the next two months.

Aviation officials were not immediately available to comment over the Easter holiday weekend.

There has been no conclusive official report on the cause of the two crashes, which occurred within seven weeks of each other.

On Oct. 22, a Boeing aircraft operated by private carrier Bellview crashed in stormy weather shortly after take-off from Lagos, killing all 117 people on board. It took authorities 15 hours to locate the site of the crash.

There has been no word from a technical team of investigators including U.S. experts from Boeing who combed the crash site.

On Dec. 10, a DC9 plane flown by another private airline, Sosoliso, crashed at Port Harcourt airport, killing 106 people of whom more than half were schoolchildren on their way home from boarding school for the Christmas break.

The plane burned on the runway because there were no functional fire engines at the airport.

Witnesses said the plane crash-landed during a storm, broke into pieces and burst into flames but there has been no official report on exactly what happened.

Nigeria has been trying to overhaul its aviation sector since the two disasters. President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered urgent reforms to improve safety and several airlines were temporarily grounded while their fleets were inspected.

Obasanjo said at the time that corners were being cut in every part of the aviation sector, which was tainted by corruption -- an endemic problem in Africa's most populous country.

In the last six years the number of passengers who travel by air has doubled to eight million people, according to Borishade. However, most of Nigeria's commercial fleet is at least 20 years old.

SE9

April 19th, 2006, 10:26 AM

Kenya Airways and Korean Air sign Codeshare Agreement

National airline, Kenya Airways has signed a code share agreement with Korean Air.

Travel between Kenya and Korea is now easier, following the signing of the new code. Korean Air is the largest airline in Asia, operating a network that links Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America to its hub at Incheon International Airport, and its domestic hub at Gimpo International Airport.

Kenya Airways head of marketing and corporate communications, Mr Michael Okwiri, said that through the new agreement Kenya Airways customers are now able to fly directly to Seoul via Bangkok, Thailand's capital.

The thrice weekly flights are available on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. Kenya Airways is using the code share agreement to expand the number of routes that its passengers can access the other parts of the world.

The code share agreement means a single Kenya Airways code for passengers flying on both airlines.

Mr Okwiri said the agreement would provide greater choice for Koreans travelling to Africa. "Both Kenya Airways and Korean air are focused on giving customers freedom of choice for air travel, according to the agreement. This is an important development with regard to passenger traffic to and from these destinations," Mr Okwiri noted.

He added: "This agreement means we are now able to offer customers access to all points in Africa with easy connections from Nairobi and smoother transfers," Mr Okwiri said.

hkskyline

April 25th, 2006, 01:22 AM

Black boxes from Cameroon plane crash found

YAOUNDE, April 24, 2006 (AFP) - Investigators seeking the cause of the weekend crash of a Libyan cargo plane in Cameroon have found the aircraft's black box flight recorders, an official source said.

The plane, a Russian-made Antonov of Libyan Airlines, came down on Sunday morning near the Cameroonian town of Kousseri on the border with Chad, killing all six Ukrainian crew members.

The black boxes and the crew's passports were recovered from the wreckage.

The plane had taken off from Sabaha in Libya at 0050 GMT Sunday and had been due to land three hours later at N'Djamena's international airport.

It had been chartered by a foreign company to transport humanitarian aid, but failed to land at N'Djamena airport because of a technical problem. "Just before landing, air traffic control in N'Djamena noted that the aircraft was going into its approach at a high altitude," a Chadian official said.

"He opened up the throttle again -- one can suppose there was a technical problem," he said, adding that the pilots had not mentioned any particular problem in their last conversation with the air traffic control tower.

The plane came down a few minutes later at 4:55 am (0355 GMT) a few kilometres (miles) south of N'Djamena, in a marshy area of Kousseri.

hkskyline

April 25th, 2006, 11:28 PM

Kenya Airways starts pharmaceutical cargo service

NAIROBI, April 25 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways has launched a new specialised cargo service to transport pharmaceutical products across Africa, becoming the first airline on the continent to offer the service.

Shawn McGuinness, Kenya Airways head of cargo, said on Tuesday the KQ Pharma Service would include warehousing and the use of cool containers and dry ice to transport temperature sensitive pharmaceutical products to countries in the region.

"This is the first in Africa. European airlines have this service but we are the first African airline to offer it," McGuinness told reporters.

He said the airline would carry cargo requiring storage in temperatures ranging from -20 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius.

The service is targeted at products such as insulin, vaccines, blood, plasma, drugs and biotech products, which are vulnerable to slight temperature variations during shipping.

"We estimate that maybe 10 percent of our total cargo is pharmaceuticals. The growth we expect is double that, 20 percent on the trunk routes," McGuinness told reporters.

KQ Pharma will begin on the Lusaka, Lilongwe and Entebbe routes, where the airline has wide-body aircraft.

It is expected to be up and running on other routes in Africa by July this year, McGuinness said, adding that the majority of the products would come from India and Europe.

Kenya Airways is 26 percent owned by KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France . The carrier registered 27 percent growth in cargo tonnage in the last quarter of 2005.

hkskyline

April 27th, 2006, 05:06 PM

Kenya Airways suspends start of flights to Eritrea

NAIROBI, April 27 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways on Thursday said it had suspended the start of flights to Eritrea after Asmara placed currency restrictions on its operations.

The Kenyan carrier was scheduled to begin flights to the Eritrean capital in May, a rare case of private-sector activity in the Red Sea state's highly state-controlled economy, which is often short of basic commodities such as bread and fuel.

"We are facing currency restrictions, we can't purchase anything in dollars, we can't receive any payments in dollars and we can't repatriate any money," Patterson Siema, a spokesman for the airline, said.

Kenya Airways had planned twice-weekly flights from Asmara via Djibouti rather than fly directly from Nairobi because passenger numbers were expected to be low.

"We are in negotiations but the flights won't start on the second (of May) as we had planned," Siema said.

The Kenyan national carrier has never flown to Asmara before.

Analysts say Eritrea's frequent shortages of basic commodities are linked to high military spending, closed borders, persistent drought, government control of the economy and high fuel prices.

Kenya Airways shares closed trading at an average of 106 Kenya shillings ($1.49) on Wednesday, unchanged from the day before.

hkskyline

May 24th, 2006, 12:47 AM

African ministers meet to tackle grim air safety record

LIBREVILLE, May 18, 2006 (AFP) - African transport ministers began meeting Thursday to forge a common air safety policy for the continent, where the rate of fatal plane crashes is nine times the world average.

The conference comes at "a critical moment where our continent is threatened with being marginalised in world air transport," said Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong, opening the two-day meeting in the Gabonese capital.

"The challenge consists of knowing how to benefit from the advantages of economic liberalisation ... without compromising security and safety," he added.

Figures compiled by the 53-member African Union show that while Africa handles only about three to four percent of the world's air traffic, its airlines are responsible for a third of all fatal air crashes.

Two crashes in Nigeria late last year killed a total of 225 people amid mounting concern that the country's ageing fleet of privately owned passenger planes and ramshackle airport infrastructure is no longer fit to carry travellers safely between the busy cities of Africa's most populous nation.

Another three crashes last year occurred in Sudan; all involved old Soviet-built aircraft.

Seeking to reverse this grim trend, the African Union meeting aims to implement a common air safety policy for Africa backed by financial commitments from member states.

"I believe in our willingness and our capacity" to meet the challenge, Eyeghe Ndong said, "notably by improving the competitivity of our companies and the reliability of our aircraft."

"We have to review the African air traffic system from top to bottom," Paul Mba Abessole, the Gabonese deputy prime minister in charge of transport, said ahead of the meeting.

"We have to reduce the accident rate significantly ... so as to observe the road map of the OACI," he added, referring to requirements of the world air travel standards body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

In March the body set a two-year deadline for countries with bad air safety records to meet its regulations.

The first challenge facing the ministers at Thursday's meeting was to ensure the safety of African companies' fleets, which consist largely of old Soviet aircraft bought at rock-bottom prices from eastern Europe.

Congo recently banned passenger flights of Russian-built Antonov aircraft after a series of crashes. Equatorial Guinea suspended flights of Antonov and Yak planes, which are also Russian-built.

African countries also face a pressing need to overhaul national air regulation authorities and tackle laxness in procedures for issuing flying and registration certificates.

The European Union in March published a blacklist of dangerous, mostly African, airlines, banning them from European airspace.

"The EU blacklist singled out companies that never go to Europe but it has been very detrimental to the image of the whole air sector in Africa," said Christian Folly-Kossi, secretary general of the Association of African Air Companies.

"Air transport is a vital sector for the development of our economies," he said. "So we have a duty to quickly meet the norms for air safety."

hkskyline

May 24th, 2006, 10:48 PM

Nigeria orders airlines to recapitalise by next year

ABUJA, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - The Nigerian government Wednesday announced that as from March, a would-be airlines would need at least 500 million naira (3.8 million dollars/ three million euros) capital to be granted an operational license in the country.

"We have created three levels of operators. The ones for domestic, the ones for regional and international operations," Aviation Minister Babalola Borisade told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

"For domestic operators, the cabinet has approved 500 million naira as capital investment, for regional operators, it is one billion naira and for international operators, you need two billion naira (15.2 million dollars / 12.16 million euros)," Borisade said.

Borisade said this new rate which is effective from March 2007, was recommended by a presidential committee set up after the three air accidents that claimed hunderds of lives in Nigeria last year.

Up till now, airlines operating local or international flights out of Nigeria were required to pay between 2.5 million naira and 20 million naira to be granted an operational licence, a spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, told AFP.

The three types of licences are air transport for all airlines operating normal scheduled flights, air travel organiser's licence for registered companies that do not have aircraft but operate flights by contracting other airlines, and air operating permit for state-run and oil companies that operate flights with their aircraft, he said.

The new licence tariff, which will come into effect next year, is part of government effort to reform and "sanitise" the aviation industry, added Adurogboye.

hkskyline

May 24th, 2006, 10:49 PM

S.African Airways fined for price fixing

JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's Competition Commission said on Wednesday it has fined national carrier South African Airways (SAA) 55 million rand ($8.34 million) for price fixing and abusing its dominant market position.

The latest penalty comes as the state-owned airline braces for a potential loss for the year which ended on March 31.

Africa's largest airline was fined 45 million rand last year for anti-competitive behaviour by the commission.

In a statement the Competition Commission said the fine related to price fixing by SAA and German airline Lufthansa on their flights between Cape Town, Johannesburg and Frankfurt.

The two carriers have a route code-sharing arrangement. The commission is in talks with Lufthansa on the issue.

The commission said SAA was also found to have colluded with budget airline Comair, part-owned by British Airways , and SA Express to simultaneously implement a fuel surchage levy, which the competition watchdog said amounted to price fixing.

"Comair admitted its involvement in the collusion and agreed to assist the commission with its investigation. Comair further successfully applied for immunity from prosecution," the commission said.

SAA was also penalised for agreements with travel agents, which the Competition Commission said constituted inducements to them not to deal with the airline's competitors.

"The agreements ... entrenched and increased SAA's dominance in the market for domestic airline travel and impeded SAA's competitors from expanding and competing fairly in the market," the commission said.

SAA expects a soaring fuel bill to have pushed it into the red for fiscal 2005/06. It reported a 240-million-rand operating loss in the first half because of oil prices and a wage strike which cost between 100 and 150 million rand.

hkskyline

May 24th, 2006, 10:54 PM

Four feared dead in crash by Air Sao Tome's only plane

SAO TOME, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - All four persons aboard were feared killed when the only aircraft owned by Air Sao Tome, a small 12-seater Twin Otter, crashed into the sea off the island republic, civil aviation and airline officials said Wednesday.

The body of a woman had been recovered from the sea, they said. Body parts of other victims had been retrieved but not yet been formally identified, the local air safety authority said.

The cause of the accident during a training flight in the Gulf of Guinea off west Africa was not immediately known.

A pilot nearing the end of training, a Gabonese instructor and two other people were aboard when the plane plunged into the sea Monday night, an aviation source said.

The twin-engined Canadian-made De Havilland plane had taken off from Sao Tome, the name of the capital of the small island republic Sao Tome and Principe, and came down less than one kilometre (approx. half a mile) from its coast, according to civil aviation officials and Air Sao Tome staff.

One civil aviation source said a heavy wind had been blowing when the plane took off.

Authorities had begun investigations, examining debris from the plane washed ashore.

The aircraft flew regular runs between the capital and Libreville, capital of the west African state of Gabon, and also to the island of Principe, second of the islands in the group.

According to a local internet information site called Vitrina, a professional pilot had less than a week ago sent an open letter to the authorities warning of alleged defects in the plane, with "danger that passengers risked in using this Twin Otter".

hkskyline

June 1st, 2006, 06:31 AM

Kenya Airways year profits up 24 pct
By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI, May 31 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways reported a second straight year of record results on Wednesday, as after-tax profit leapt to 4.83 billion Kenya shillings ($66.80 million) from 3.88 billion on increased passengers and cargo.

One of Africa's few profitable airlines, its profit surpassed a 28-year record set in the previous financial year.

Its earnings per share rose to 10.45 shillings from 8.40 shillings and it proposed a 1.75 shillings per share dividend, up from 1.25 shillings last time.

Kenya Airways shares closed Wednesday trade on the Nairobi Stock Exchange at 124.00 shillings, up from Tuesday's close of 121.00 shillings.

Passenger numbers increased by 17 percent to 2.4 million in the last year ended March 31, which the airline attributed to its bigger Boeing 777 aircraft on routes to Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

"Strong passenger growth ... was experienced in Europe following the successful deployment there of three Boeing 777 aircraft," the company said in its results statement.

Cargo volumes also grew by 24 percent, thanks to more space in Boeing 777s and increased usage of Boeing 767 aircraft on its African routes. Revenues rose 25 percent to 52.8 billion shillings.

"If you look at the growth in all directions, it's very impressive," said James Murigu, managing director of Suntra Investment Bank.

But the airline said that congestion at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, shortage of qualified pilots and engineers, getting traffic rights in some African countries and rising fuel prices had slowed growth during the year.

"I don't need to remind you that the year 2005 has seen a spike in fuel prices, and that has had an impact on us," Titus Naikuni, the airline's chief executive, said during the results' presentation.

"The challenge for 2006 and 2007 is managing profitability in a continued high fuel price environment."

Neil Canty, the airline's finance director, said the airline's fuel bill rose to 13.22 billion shillings in the fiscal year just ended, from 8.45 billion shillings in the previous year.

But rising fuel costs were cushioned by hedging, as well as a stronger Kenya shilling against the dollar, he added.

Naikuni added that increased competition from other airlines from the Middle East, and in west and central Africa and closer to home, Ethiopia, had also affected their growth.

"Ethiopia (airlines) used to operate a strategy of hopping from one city to another, but now they've changed strategy, setting up a hub in Addis," he said.

Going forward, the airline plans to expand its fleet, with five additional aircraft due for delivery in the next year, three of which will replace ageing aircraft from its existing fleet of 21 planes.

Kenya Airways plans to expand to new routes later this year and next year, including Paris, Brazzaville and Delhi.

The airline is 26 percent owned by KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France. It became an associate member of SkyTeam, a global airline marketing alliance led by Air France and Delta Air Lines, last June.

hkskyline

June 3rd, 2006, 04:57 PM

Equatorial Guinea lifts flight ban on two grounded air firms

MALABO, June 2, 2006 (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea's transport ministry said Friday it had lifted a flight ban on two of 19 air transport firms grounded earlier this week on safety grounds.

The two, Ecuatorial Cargo and Geasa, which happen to belong to kin of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, were found not to have warranted the cancellation of their licences, the ministry said.

The national airline, Ecuatoguineana de Aviacion (EGA), and 18 other firms had their operating licences annulled on Monday by Deputy Transport Minister Miguel Iyanga Djoba following an inspection of aircraft fleets by South African experts.

Only General Works Aviacion, which is a private operator, was allowed to remain in business, pending verified improvements in safety and airworthiness standards by other companies, state radio said.

The other firms failed to meet standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and no carrier "can undertake commercial air transport operations without a valid airworthiness certificate", according to a ministerial decision.

But an order signed Thursday by Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfubea said Geasa and Ecuatorial Cargo had been found not guilty of irregularities requiring the cancellation of their certificates.

Geasa (Guinea Ecuatorial Airlines) is owned by the president's eldest son, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Teodoro Nguema Obiang, known locally as "The Boss."

Eleven of the firms covered by Monday's ban, including Geasa and Ecuatorial Cargo, were on a blacklist of airlines barred from flying to the European Union issued on March 22.

The South African experts were called in after the crash on July 16, 2005, of an Antonov 24 operated by a private company while on a flight from Malabo, the capital on Bioko island, to Bata, the chief economic town on the mainland part of the central African country.

The plane went down shortly after take-off, killing 81 people known to have crammed aboard an aircraft with a theoretical capacity of 48 passengers and four crew members.

SE9

June 7th, 2006, 05:14 PM

http://nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=3&newsid=74641

Nairobi JKIA voted East Africa's best Airport

7th June 2006

Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has been voted the best in East Africa.

Initially designed to cater for only 2.5 million passengers a year, the number has skyrocketed to four million, creating the need for upgrading and expansion.

Kenya Airports Authority managing director George Muhoho said yesterday: "We are doing almost three times that number a month, either coming to Kenya or passing through.

The award scheme by Travel News magazine is in its 11th year. It identifies contenders through reader participation and excellence in tourism.

"To manage this number without causing huge queues or poor processing, we have decided on a strategy to serve and increase our processes."

Regional hub

Mr Muhoho said that the airport was set to become East and Central Africa's hub, "playing in the same league with internationally acclaimed airports". He announced a five-year "strategic plan" to raise the airport to such standards.

Plans were underway to upgrade all airports and airstrips countrywide to accommodate the growing traffic. The new JKIA section, he said, was designed to be friendlier and ease communication between passengers and immigration officers.

The service centres had also been increased to serve better a larger number of transit passengers. The centres have been fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and technology used in personal identification and registration.

Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is installing computer systems to blend passenger registration with processing at JKIA, Mombasa's Moi International, Kisumu, Nairobi's Wilson and other major airports.

hkskyline

June 10th, 2006, 09:12 PM

Britain demands explanation for security breach at Kenya airport
By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY
10 June 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The British government demanded an explanation Saturday after a security breach at Kenya's main airport in which a man pulled a gun on a police officer and fled.

A diplomatic protest was delivered to the Foreign Ministry, said Mark Norton, spokesman for the British Embassy. He said Britain lodged the protest because it was concerned about the safety of British Airways flights.

Security at Kenya's airports has been under intense scrutiny in recent years because of past al-Qaida attacks in the country.

"The note said we are very concerned about the events as reported in the newspapers and asked for an immediate explanation and a government statement as to what occurred at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport," he said.

The security breach Thursday happened when a man with a Kenya-issued all-access pass to the airport refused to allow a customs agent to search his bag, according to police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.

The man then pulled a gun on a police officer and fled with his luggage. He was arrested the next day, along with another man, and deported.

The breach could lead to a suspension of British Airways flights to Kenya. The airline, which operates two flights a day between Nairobi and London, temporarily canceled flights here in 2003 after an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner over Kenya.

Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for that attack, and for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. More than 200 Africans and 12 Americans were killed in those attacks.

SE9

June 13th, 2006, 07:24 AM

^

This was relating to the deportation of two Armenian brothers (Mr Artur Margaryan and Mr Artur Sargsyan).

They both drew pistols in an attempt to free a female guest who refused to open her bag at customs.

SE9

June 13th, 2006, 07:29 AM

http://nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=75030

Nairobi's JKIA Sh8 billion Airport Upgrade Begins

13th June 2006

*Construction work to double airport size, create four terminal units, and modernising the facility

*A 2nd runway has been decided against, until another 10-15 years

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6392/kenyattafuture7lv.th.jpg (http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kenyattafuture7lv.jpg)

The state of the 28-year-old Jomo Kenyatta International Airport has for long drawn mixed reactions from thousands of travellers who pass through East Africa's largest airport everyday.

While some view it favourably, others feel a lot more needs to be done to upgrade the airport to meet international standards.

Even though the airport was recently voted the best in East Africa, the Kenya Airports Authority, which manages the airport, will soon launch an ambitious mordernisation programme.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Communication, Dr Gerishon Ikiara, believes that with the planned rehabilitation and expansion of the airport, many more awards will be won.

Dr Ikiara says the design for the new-look airport, expected to cost between Sh7billion and Sh8.4 billion, done by a Canadian firm, has been completed.

"Though the process delayed we ensured we received input from interested parties in the aviation industry," the PS said.

The project will be funded by both the Government and the World Bank, with the State meeting 70 per cent of the total cost and the bank paying the balance.

Plans abandoned

Plans to move the domestic unit to the old Embakasi Airport were abandoned after experts proved the expansion and rehabilitation could be done without transferring part of the airport.

"We realised the transfer might create a big logistical problem and that is why we abandoned the idea," the PS said.

Dr Ikiara says tenders for the first phase of the reconstruction programme, which will focus on the apron to create more parking space for aircrafts, has been advertised.

"We have already closed it and we shall soon start evaluating the applications and award the best bidder," he adds.

In fact the whole project will see the terminal expanded from 25,662 to 55,222 square metres to enable it handle more than double its capacity, currently four million passengers per year.

The JKIA, initially designed for 2.5million travellers, carters for about four million people per year, making it one of the most congested in East Africa.

But the Government says this will not be for long. Terminals one and two will undergo complete refurbishment, while the third one will be expanded to handle international traffic.

Terminal four will be constructed to handle both international and domestic flights, which will necessitate new taxiways and more space for vehicles.

Currently units 1 and 2 are mainly used for international flights whereas the third one is for domestic flights.

Parking space

Expansion of the apron which will be completed in two phases. The first phase will increase aircraft parking space from 200,000 to 300,000 square metres.

Two areas for shops will be constructed. Arriving and departing passengers will not share the same concourse and will be completely separated from each other.

According to the design, departing passengers will go through shopping malls and walk around corridors lit by the natural light, thanks to the fibre-glass overhead.

The pick-up area in the arrivals section, on the other hand, will have an all-weather teflon-coated woven fibreglass depicting a thorn tree.

The waving bay will be covered by bullet-proof glass and will house spacious lounges where passengers can relax.

To make it truly African, pictures depicting the country's diverse ethnic groups and culture will adorn the walls, right from the corridors to the exit.

The design also shows that a new three-storey car park with a capacity to accomodate more than 1500 vehicles will be constructed.

This should ease parking problems that has been a major bother for passengers using the airport.

Dr Ikiara says the three-year project will allow Kenya acquire the Category One security status issued by the Federation Aviation Authority of the United States.

"This will allow Kenya Airways fly to the United States and vise versa for US airlines," he added.

Currently, the national carrier is not allowed to fly to the United States, only its Dutch partner, KLM, can. This is because the country has not been issued with Category One security status.

To enable the country acquire it, incoming passengers must be separated from out-going ones - which is currently not the case.

There are eight gates at the airport shared by arriving and departing passengers. The two groups also buy souvenirs at the same duty-free shops, unlike many top airports in the world.

However, Dr Ikiara promises that once the project is complete, incoming and out-going passengers will no longer rub shoulders.

In the era of terrorism, adequate security must be put in place and that is why the Government plans to instal automated security checks and systems.

Walls that can withstand bomb explosions will also be put up in some areas.

Computerisation, which is part of the project, will enable passengers browse the Internet while waiting for their flights.

On whether to construct a second runway, the PS says studies done, revealed that the old one was capable of serving the country for between 10 and 15 years.

"The use of the runway is below 60 per cent and we don't see the need to construct another one," Mr Ikiara adds.

The PS says the use of the runway is far below capacity compared to those in South Africa, Britain, the US among others.

Dr Ikiara says the upgrading of the JKIA will provide better amenities for customer comfort apart from improving the image of the airport.

hkskyline

June 17th, 2006, 04:49 PM

Man foiled trying to hijack S.Africa plane

JOHANNESBURG, June 17 (Reuters) - A man, believed to be armed, tried to hijack a South African Airways (SAA) domestic flight on Saturday but was subdued before he could enter the cockpit, the airline said.

"It appears a passenger threatened a crew member with some sort of weapon demanding access to the cockpit," SAA spokeswoman Jacqui O'Sullivan said in a statement.

The incident occurred on a flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The plane turned back to Cape Town where a 21-year-old man was detained, police spokeswoman Bernadine Steyn told reporters.

A passenger on the plane told Reuters the man was believed to be a foreign national but the motive for his actions was unclear.

SAA and police gave no further details.

hkskyline

June 21st, 2006, 03:28 AM

Zimbabwean student up on hijack charge in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - A young Zimbabwean student on Monday appeared in a South African court charged with attempting to hijack a plane on a flight between Cape Town and Johannesburg over the weekend.

Tinashe Rioga, 21, was subdued by an off-duty pilot and passengers after he allegedly held a hypodermic syringe to an air hostess's throat Saturday on a South African Airways flight.

"He has been charged with attempting to seize an aircraft in flight and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm," a senior state prosecutor, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The mid-air drama unfolded Saturday as the Boeing 737-800 took off from Cape Town international bound for Johannesburg, weekend papers reported.

About 35 minutes into the flight, Rioga who is believed to be a student at a Cape Town university, grabbed an air hostess and held the syringe to her neck, demanding access to the cockpit.

The slightly-built Rioga was then tackled by an off-duty pilot and passengers and knocked unconscious before being handcuffed and the plane turned back to Cape Town.

Rioga said Monday he would like the court to assist him in initially applying for legal aid.

"My family will finalise arrangements," he was quoted by the SAPA news agency as saying.

Magistrate David Tomisi postponed the case to June 26 for further bail information and Rioga remained in police custody.

hkskyline

June 25th, 2006, 10:07 PM

Ground crewman's legs severed by jumbo jet in Johannesburg
25 June 2006

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - A British Airways jumbo jet parking at Johannesburg's airport Sunday ran over a member of the ground crew, severing the man's legs.

The South African Press Association reported that witnesses said the man passed out while he was attempting to position wheel chocks on the Boeing 747. The agency said the plane then ran over the man, severing both legs.

The airline said in London that it had launched an investigation into the accident.

Flight BA55, with 283 passengers on board, had just arrived from London Heathrow. Passengers were kept on board for about an hour while the scene was cleared.

hkskyline

June 29th, 2006, 06:08 PM

Air Zimbabwe flight makes emergency landing at Victoria Falls
29 June 2006

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - An Air Zimbabwe plane experiencing engine failure burst two tires during an emergency landing at the northwest resort of Victoria Falls, state-run media reported Thursday.

An unspecified number of passengers complained of minor injuries during Wednesday's landing, according to The Herald, a government mouthpiece.

The new Chinese-built plane, which seats up to 32 people, was headed from Victoria Falls to the capital, Harare, when it was forced to land.

The cash-strapped national carrier has suffered a series of woes. Some of the airline's planes are nearly 30 years old, and passengers mistrust the safety record of its newest acquisitions, three small Chinese MA60 turboprop planes used on domestic routes since last year.

Two of the planes were grounded earlier this year while awaiting spare parts and servicing because the airline was unable to clear US$12 million (euro9.4 million) in arrears, airline officials said. They were brought back into operation this week.

Zimbabwe is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1980. The seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans, combined with successive years of drought, has crippled the key agriculture sector. The country suffers acute shortages of hard currency, fuel, spare parts and other imports.

Æsahættr

June 30th, 2006, 05:20 AM

Nairobi's airport is very nice. It's the hub for a SkyAlliance carrier.

hkskyline

July 3rd, 2006, 06:15 PM

Nigeria's aviation reforms need more transparency, experts warn.
By DANIEL BALINT-KURTI and DINO MAHTANI
3 July 2006
Financial Times

Urgent aviation reforms commissioned by the Nigerian government in the wake of two fatal passenger airline crashes last year will not succeed without more transparency in the industry, civil aviation experts say.

Flying in oil-rich Nigeria can be a hazardous undertaking. Africa's most populous nation has seen annual air traffic double in the last six years to about 8m passengers and is attempting to transform itself into a regional hub since last year's launch of Virgin Nigeria, a joint venture between Virgin Atlantic and Nigerian institutional investors. But last year's crashes of two passenger aircraft belonging to other local airlines, killing more than 220 people, "highlighted systemic failures" in Nigerian aviation according to Roland Iyayi, director of the government's airspace management agency.

The first crash last year was not discovered for 15 hours.

In the case of thesecond, more fire hydrants at the airport could have helped to save dozens of lives, says Mr Iyayi.

Even international airlines are subject to Nigeria's creaking airport management systems as Air France discovered last year when one of its aircraft ploughed into a stray herd of cows on an international runway shortly after landing.

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's president, who sacked several senior aviation officials after the crashes, blamed corruption. "The greatest bane of the aviation industry is corruption. Corruption leads to death and we're not having any more of it.

"There's a lot of corner cutting, and corner cutting at the expense of precious lives of Nigerians," he said last year.

Since the crashes involving Bellview and Sosoliso, two of Nigeria's regular passenger carriers, the government has initiated several emergency measures to address the lack of confidence in the sector.

The government grounded several airlines for inspection, started recertifying national aviation staff and called for the assistance of international crash experts, regulatory bodies and even donors.

Mr Obasanjo also committed Dollars 150m (Euros 117m, Pounds 87m) to be used to upgrade safety equipment and standards at the country's four mainairports.

The aviation ministry has also proposed new laws increasing the minimum capital base of airlines between 25- and 100-fold to just under Dollars 4m for local airlines and Dollars 15m for inter-national carriers, in an effort to consolidate the industry.

But according to Capt Dung Pam, chairman of the influential Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (Nasi), some of the policies are "chasing shadows, are myopic and not thought through".

The grounding of aircraft could not have led to rigorous safety checks, given the quality of repair facilities and staff on the ground. While many Nigerians welcome extra spending to upgrade safety equipmentat airports, the usefulnessof the capital requirement policy has been questioned by aviation experts.

Nasi argues that since many Nigerian airlines are close to insolvency, the government must either encourage mergers and control of the industry by foreign capital or adopt a state-led approach by providing loan guarantees to airlines. Without a comprehensive auditof the airlines, a capital requirement policy on its own cannot consolidate the industry, says Nasi.

Critics of the government say half-baked policymaking persists because of a lack of accountability in decision-making.

Despite a slew of economic reforms in Nigeria, government bodies often spend inefficiently.

One government aviation agency has authorised almost Dollars 1m to clear bush and grass within the perimeter of the inter-national airport of Lagos, which is the country's commercial capital. Critics also say politics and policy are often mixed together.

In 2004, the government revoked the licence of Slok Air, another local airline owned by a state governor particularly vocal in his distaste for Mr Obasanjo. The airline had failed to update its list of operational aircrafts - an offence normally punishable by a fine. Meanwhile, powerful vested interests continue to exert their will despite Mr Obasanjo's attempts to give the sector a radical overhaul.

The government has failed to make public the findings of a report on another passenger aircraft that crashed four years ago killing almost 150 people.

It has also appeared to be unwilling to prosecute senior government officials indicted by a judicial committee set up by Mr Obasanjo to investigate the events that led to the failure of Nigeria Airways, the country's former flag carrier.

Nigeria's aviation sector is expected to complete an internationally sponsored audit this year that could give the country a clean bill of health under international benchmarks.

If Nigeria qualifies, reluctance by the US government to open its skies to Nigerian airlines, such as Virgin Nigeria, may diminish, say analysts.

hkskyline

July 4th, 2006, 05:25 PM

S.Africa Airways yr op profit down 70 pct on fuel

JOHANNESBURG, July 4 (Reuters) - Annual operating profit at state-owned South African Airways [SAA.UL] tumbled by 70 percent due to soaring fuel prices and a strike, former parent Transnet said on Tuesday.

Operating profit for the 12 months to March slid to 300 million rand ($42.71 million) from 1.0 billion rand the previous year, state transport group Transnet said when releasing its own results.

The airline, which was transferred out of Transnet to the government at the end of March, will release detailed profit figures on Thursday, but Transnet provided some figures during a presentation of its own results.

"It (profit) pulled back this year to 300 million primarily due to increased costs," said Transnet Chief Financial Officer Chris Wells.

Fuel costs surged by 51 percent, while a strike that lasted nearly a week in July 2005 and lower yields also hurt profits, he added.

SAA revenue rose 12.5 percent to 19.6 billion rand, but 600 million of the gain was due to an additional release of provisions for air traffic liability of 600 million rand, Wells added.

The flag carrier reported a 240 million rand operating loss in the first half, mainly due to high oil prices and the strike that cost it 100-150 million rand.

Following the removal from Transnet, the airline's management reports to the Department of Public Enterprises.

hkskyline

July 9th, 2006, 05:17 PM

Five dead in DR Congo plane crash: new toll

KINSHASA, July 8, 2006 (AFP) - Three Russians and two citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died when a cargo plane crashed in the east of the country, an airport spokesman said, giving an updated toll on Saturday.

"The three Russian crew members, a Congolese agent and a Congolese passenger died. They were the only people on board. There were no survivors," Bikoro Nakaziba, director of Goma airport in the North Kivu region told AFP.

Charred corpses were pulled from the Antonov 12 plane, operated by the DRC private company Mango Airlines, after it crashed near Sake, a village around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Goma, the regional capital.

Nakaziba said the cause of the crash was not known but the black box flight recorder had been recovered and its data would be examined.

The United Nations-backed Okapi radio station said the plane had undergone engine failure and struck a hill as it lost altitude. Its heavy cargo of vehicle parts and oil drums then caught fire on impact.

Air accidents are common in the DRC, where fleets consist mainly of old and poorly maintained Soviet-built aircraft, some of which fly unlicensed. In 2005, 65 people died there in around 20 accidents of planes run by private companies.

Most DRC plane companies are banned from entering European Union airspace because they have featured since March on an EU air safety blacklist.

SE9

July 9th, 2006, 07:50 PM

Kenya Airports Authority collects KES1.2bn in revenue

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Revenue collection at the Kenya Airports Authority crossed the Sh1.2 billion mark in the last financial year, the first time in the parastatal’s history.

This has been attributed to sealing of loopholes in procurement, hiring of qualified staff and stricter revenue management. And for the first time also, KAA has paid a divided of Sh100 million to the Treasury.

In an interview with Smart Company at its offices, Managing Director George Muhoho, said: “KAA has continued to perform well over the past three years; financially, the company is doing very well and has recorded remarkable results.”

Before he took over in March 2003, he said, the authority had been doing poorly and had recorded a loss of Sh340 million for the 2002/03 financial year, down from the previous year’s figure of more than Sh400 million.

In 2004/05 KAA recorded a pretax profit of Sh1.2 billion and Mr Muhoho is upbeat on future performance, figuring a profit of Sh1.3 billion in the year to June 30, 2006.

“The secret to our success has been team work, KAA has recruited very good and qualified management staff from the private sector,” he said

Mr Muhoho said the authority’s expenditure has dropped, with cost cutting measures being effected while the return on investment has gone up.

“In the past the ration of the expenditure verses the revenue collected was higher,” he said. “In the financial year 2002/03 there was a deficit but the following year, we were able to make 70 per cent collection. We spend less and save more, that is why our return on investment has also gone up from 2 to 7.36 per cent,” he said.

The MD said the new performance contracts would not just assist in revenue collection but also enhance the quality of services.

“They are not just to ensure that we meet the targets of revenue collection but also enhance the quality of our products. KAA has also instilled more discipline in its procurement system. There is a professional management that has been engaged. We have also reviewed contracts with all our tenants who are paying on time for the rented space at the Kenya Duty Free Complex,” he added.

He said the authority has been saving money to finance a number of development projects. Plans are in top gear for the ground-breaking ceremony of the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, which has seen traffic increase tremendously over the last three years.

“We have collected a lot of money and as a result we have received a lot of goodwill from banks who are willing to lend us money for the programme. The ground-breaking ceremony will take place early next month and at the end of the project we will have JKIA competing at world-class standards.” KAA is working to improve its taxiways and runaways, construct terminal buildings as well as seeking ISO 900O certification to enhance the quality of its services.

“It is important for people to know that our mandate is to look after nine airports, but the work of maintenance lies with the Roads and Public Works Ministry, which has it in its budget. However, they can contract us to do the work,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communication, Mr Gerrishon Ikiara, praised Kenya Airports Authority for its improved performance and for having met most of its targets.

“This is the third schedule the contracts are being signed in the public service and all state corporations, among them Kenya Airports Authority, which were making loses for over 10 years have recorded profits,” he said. Kenya Ports Authority, which was indebted to the tune of more than Sh200 million, made a profit of more than Sh4 billion, Mr Ikiara said.

In last year’s contracts, corporations were asked to develop service charters, outline commitments, obligations and working culture.

The contracts also aim at ensuring that productivity and service delivery are enhanced.

hkskyline

July 10th, 2006, 06:00 PM

Air Madagascar jet's engine fails, but lands safely

ANTANANARIVO, July 10 (Reuters) - A long-haul Air Madagascar flight carrying about 200 people had to make an emergency landing after its right engine failed moments after taking off, the airline said on Monday.

No one was hurt in the incident involving a Boeing 767-300 jet which was bound from the capital Antananarivo to Paris late on Saturday night, the company said.

"Three minutes after takeoff of flight MD050 on Saturday 8th July, the technical team noticed a problem affecting the right engine of the aircraft," the airline said in a statement.

It adding that the pilot succeeded in turning the plane around and flying it safely back to Antananarivo on the remaining engine.

State-owned Air Madagascar said the pilot had to jettison some of the plane's fuel so as not to exceed the safe weight limit to fly on one engine. All 181 passengers and 12 crew were safe, it said.

Since its inception in 1962, the airline has had two serious air disasters, both on domestic flights.

In 1967, a Douglas DC-4-1009 plane crashed near Antananarivo, killing 42 people; in 1981, a Twin Otter crashed in the northeast, killing 19.

hkskyline

July 12th, 2006, 03:17 PM

Direct U.S.-Nigeria flights to resume after 3 years
By Tume Ahemba

LAGOS, July 11 (Reuters) - A U.S.-based airline will start New York-Lagos flights next week, three years after a dispute between Nigeria and the United States halted direct flights between the two countries, an aviation official said on Tuesday.

North American, a unit of World Air Holdings Inc. , has secured a permit to fly direct to Lagos after Nigeria apparently backed down in a dispute with Washington over flagship airline Virgin Nigeria [VA.UL], a diplomatic source said.

"I can confirm that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has given North American a technical permit to fly to Nigeria and they will begin operations next week," a spokesman for the authority said.

Virgin Nigeria, 49 percent owned by Briton Richard Branson's Virgin Group and 51 percent owned by Nigerian investors, was set up after the liquidation of state-run Nigeria Airways, which used to fly from Lagos to New York and London.

Last year, the United States barred Virgin Nigeria from flying to New York citing Branson's interest in the airline. Washington argued it would be unfair to permit a partly British-owned airline to benefit from the U.S.-Nigeria open-skies agreement.

Nigeria countered by banning Continental Airlines from flying the same route.

The Lagos-New York route is very popular and when flights are available they are usually packed.

The diplomatic source said the dispute over Virgin Nigeria had still not been resolved.

New York-based North America, a charter and scheduled passenger airline, said it would offer three weekly round trips with its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which has 30 business class and 176 economy seats. The airline currently flies to Ghana and the Gambia.

"Lagos is a logical addition to the North American Airlines system," the airline's chief marketing officer Rob Binns said in a statement.

North American had already tried to fly to Lagos in 2003, after Washington lifted a 10-year ban on direct flights to Nigeria, but that was called off after a few months following the collapse of a partnership with little-know Rite Time.

hkskyline

July 16th, 2006, 05:14 AM

Islamists re-open Mogadishu airport after 11-year closure

MOGADISHU, July 14, 2006 (AFP) - Islamists who control the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday re-opened its bullet-scarred international airport, closed 11 years earlier after the failure of a United Nations peacekeeping operation and Somalia's descent into anarchy.

A ceremonial first flight carrying Arab League officials landed at the long-shuttered airport to collect an Islamist delegation and fly it to peace talks in Sudan with Somalia's largely powerless government.

"We are very happy to witness unforgettable moments like today," said Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed, head of the executive committee of the Supreme Islamic of Somalia, whose forces seized the capital from US-backed warlords last month.

"We tell everybody that Mogadishu International Airport is open for international planes," he told reporters at a ceremony to mark the departure of the chartered Arab League turbo-prop aircraft.

Despite his enthusiastic comments, it remained unclear if any other aircraft, commercial or otherwise, would take advantage of the facility's re-opening.

The runway has been damaged by mortar and artillery shells that warlords and rival militia lobbed at each other in fighting that persisted throughout much of the last decade. There are no lights and the control tower has been looted and destroyed.

The Islamists took control of the airport, next to the city's main port in southern Mogadishu, last week, after they routed the warlords. the fight for the capital lasted four months and claimed at least 450 lives.

The airport was abandoned in 1995 after UN peacekeepers made a humiliating withdrawal from Somalia at the height of bloody clan fighting that had forced a US mission to leave a year earlier.

Prior to that it had been the home base of the now-defunct national carrier, Somali Airlines, which owned fewer than a half a dozen planes and collapsed in 1991 when creditors and insurance firms moved in to repossess its assets.

Somalia was plunged into anarchy that year after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. More than a dozen efforts to restore peace since then have foundered.

hkskyline

July 16th, 2006, 05:15 AM

North American Airlines to begin New York-Nigeria flights

LAGOS, July 14, 2006 (AFP) - North American Airlines will next week begin scheduled non-stop flights between Nigeria and New York, an official at the Nigerian aviation ministry said on Friday.

"North American Airlines has been officially cleared to operate flights into and out of Nigeria," Sam Adurogboye, spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed to AFP by telephone.

He said the first flight would take place on July 17 but declined to give further details.

The airline's website ( www.flynaa.co ) said the company, a subsidiary of World Air Holdings Inc, would on Monday launch a scheduled service between Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

It would operate three weekly flights each way, using Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

Lagos will be the third African city served by the airline, after Accra and Banjul, the website said.

The airline is the only US airline operating a non-stop scheduled service between Africa and the US, it added.

The launch of the service is set to coincide with the start of a four-day summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss investment and the expansion of the private sector in Africa.

Twelve leaders from Africa and the Caribbean have confirmed they will participate in the seventh Leon H. Sullivan summit, whose theme is "Africa: a continent of opportunities -- building partnerships for success".

hkskyline

July 31st, 2006, 05:56 AM

First commercial flight takes-off from Mogadishu airport after 11 years

MOGADISHU, July 30, 2006 (AFP) - The first-ever commercial flight took off from Somalia's Mogadishu International Airport early Sunday, two weeks after the facility was reopened after 11 years of closure during the conflict that wracked the Horn of Africa nation.

Locally operated Jubba Airways landed at the bullet-scarred airport from United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 6:30 am (0330 GMT) carrying cargo, but took off later with passengers to the same destination, they said.

"The plane arrived from the UAE, but flew back carrying passengers," said Libaan Abubakar Sharif, one of of the officers in the company.

"We will from now start using the international airport. The airport is better because it can handle large aircraft," he added.

Commercial flights in Mogadishu and other regional Somali towns have been relying on smaller airstrips and other flat grounds with no air-control facilities.

Several onlookers gathered at the airport, which was reopened by the Islamists on July 14, as airline staff offloaded cargo and let in passengers.

Last week, two Russian-made Ilyushin 76-cargo planes, bearing the emblem of Kazakhstan, a former Soviet state that frequently charters its planes, landed at the same airport, but delivered cargo for the Islamic militia, who control the capital and much of southern Somalia.

Government officials said the planes delivered weapons from Eritrea, but the Islamists refused to confirm the claim.

The airport's runway has been damaged by mortar and artillery shells that warlords and rival militia lobbed at each other in fighting that persisted throughout much of the last decade. There are no lights and the control tower has been looted and destroyed.

The Islamists took control of the airport, next to the city's main port in southern Mogadishu, earlier this month, after they routed the warlords. The fight for the capital and the northern town of Jowhar lasted four months and claimed at least 460 lives.

The airport was abandoned in 1995 after UN peacekeepers made a humiliating withdrawal from Somalia at the height of bloody clan fighting that had forced a US mission to leave a year earlier.

Prior to that it had been the home base of the now-defunct national carrier, Somali Airlines, which owned fewer than a half a dozen planes and collapsed in 1991 when creditors and insurance firms moved in to repossess its assets.

Somalia was plunged into anarchy that year after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. More than a dozen efforts to restore peace since then have foundered.