Airlines Africa
Airlines Africa May 23, 2011
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Serving the Airline Industry and Airline Professional Across Africa
RwandAir Launches 3 Weekly Flights to Libreville RwandAir the national carrier of Rwanda recently launched flights from Kigali to Libreville the capital city of the West Central African republic of Gabon. The three weekly flights have been designed to operate a triangular schedule between Kigali, Libreville and Brazzaville with full right to uplift passengers between Libreville and Brazzaville. While making this announcement at a colorful ceremony hosted by the Gabon Ministry of Transport in Libreville , RwandAir CEO John Mirenge affirmed the airlines’ commitment to linking central and west African cities with East Africa. “Earlier this year
we launched flights to Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, but that was not the end of it, we were just finalizing arrangements for Libreville which we are now proud to launch,” said Mirenge. He further added that the memorandum of understanding for bilateral air services agreement signed between the representatives of governments of Rwanda and Gabon will allow the carriers of both countries fifth freedom rights. Kigali – Libreville flights will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Libreville, located on the west coast Continued on Page 2
Air Nigeria’s Path to Profitabilty One year after the acquisition of the airline by the Nicon Group, the airline has achieved several milestones which have repositioned the airline on the path of profitability. Chiefly amongst the milestones are the successful rebranding of the airline as Air Nigeria, acquisition of six additional operating aircraft to service current and new domestic and regional routes, the opening of five additional routes and increase of frequencies along the network, the achievement of a debt free status and the conferment of the Airline of the Year 2010 award. Building on the successes of the first year since acquisition Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, the management will, over the next few months, focus on positioning the airline for dominance in Nigeria and west and central Africa. Some of the efforts towards achieving this include farther enhancement of the knowledge and skill of employees, the re-commencement of long haul operations, deeper assessment of the business towards implementing Continued on Page 2
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Don’t let another minute pass without being a part of the airline community of ASSOCIATION Africa. Whether an airline or an industrial Association des Compagnies Aériennes Africaines SITA: NBOXA8X P. O. Box 20116 Nairobi Airlines 00200 Kenya supplier, the African Association Tel: 254 20 2320144/2320148 Email: afraa@afraa.org is waiting to partner with you. Fax: 254 20 601173 Web: www.afraa.org www.afraa.org AFRAA MEDIA BRIEF www.airlines-africa.com
Air Namibia Visits AFRAA
16TH February 2011
May 23, 2011
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Airlines Africa
Air Nigeria’s Path to Profitabilty Continued from Page 1 requirements for attaining profitability and establishment of strategic partnerships and the development of five year strategy with the objective of positioning the airline ahead of the competition. Air Nigeria has further reiterated its commitment to continually meet its obligations to its seasoned workforce across all cadres to keep them well motivated. Air Nigeria is set to embark on a recruitment drive to fill vacancies that currently exists in addition to retaining the present workforce. The airline therefore has no plans of laying-off any member of staff even as there is an ongoing assessment of skills, competencies of the workforce towards ensuring that well trained personnel are in positions of authority. It is also imperative to note that despite the global challenges affecting the aviation industry Air Nigeria is in
New RwandAir Service Continued from Page 1 of Africa along the banks of Komo River and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean becomes the fourth port city for RwandAir after Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Dubai. The Brazzaville route was launched March this year and is expected to get a major boost from the planned triangular operation. RwandAir makes Libreville its second new destination this year with another planned and domestic destination; Gisenyi set to launch May 31, 2011. The airline will later this year take delivery of two Boeing 737- 800 from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. These aircraft become the first on the continent to be fitted with the Boeing “Sky Interior”. www.airlines-africa.com
a strong financial position. This is evident in the timely payment of salaries and other benefits to members of staff as well as meeting obligations to other suppliers and vendors. Air Nigeria has also initiated purchase partnership negotiations with fuel marketers to mitigate flight disruptions. The outcome of these discussions will further boost schedule integrity and improve on time performance in the coming weeks. The airline continues to employ global best practices in its day-to-day flight operations, maintenance and management of its fleet with its pool of well trained and qualified engineers and professional manpower supported by expertise from Lufthansa Technik, who provide the technical support that ensures that safety is not compromised. Air Nigeria takes safety seriously and it operates in line with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations as well as International Civil Aviation
Embraer and E190 AD Issues Responding to a spate of recent articles in the press centering around calls for Embraer E190 jets needing maintenance reviews to check for metal cracks, Embraer issued the following: “Embraer would like to clarify that the airworthiness directive (AD) was issued to formally comply with regulatory requirements and that it has no impact in the operation and safety aspects of the aircraft. The AD instructs a maintenance
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Organisation (ICAO) standards. Air Nigeria is one of the fastest growing airlines in West Africa and is at the forefront of offering innovative and customer friendly products in the Nigerian aviation industry such as its recently introduced mobile ticketing service known as My Airmobile. In recognition of its outstanding contributions towards development of the Nigerian aviation industry, Air Nigeria clinched the Airline of the Year 2010 at the Nigeria Aviation Awards (NIGAV), From its operational base at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Air Nigeria currently operates to Benin City, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Sokoto and Enugu on the domestic routes while it also operates to Brazzaville, Accra, Douala, Dakar, Monrovia, Cotonou, Banjul, Libreville and Abidjan with further plans to extend services to more African destinations, Europe, Asia and America. program update and calls for a change in some structural inspection intervals, and is based on the full scale fatigue test requirements for aircraft certification under the requirements of ANAC, U.S. FAA, European EASA and Canadian TCCA. No unscheduled structural inspection of the Embraer 190 is being requested in the AD.” The AD is an update issued by the airworthiness authorities and is a normal process in the industry to comply with issues following the certification process of the aircraft. Under this normal procedure, the authorities use airworthiness directives to communicate with all aircraft operators. Jeff McKaughan Publisher jeffm@airlines-africa.com 1- 443-243-1710 For details on advertising, please contact the publisher. Airlines Africa P.O.Box 236 Forest Hill, MD 21050 USA www.airlines-africa.com May 23, 2011
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Airlines Africa
Emirates Increases CairoDubai Cargo Capacity To meet the strengthening demand for its Dubai-Cairo route, Emirates has increased its flights to 12 per week, with flights operating twice a day, on five days of the week. The increase of the three weekly flights, which took effect May 1, 2011, offers greater support for both inbound and outbound passengers, as well as passengers flying from Cairo beyond Dubai through the multitude of Emirates connections available to over 100 destinations globally. “The increase in flights is reflective of the level of traffic at Cairo International Airport returning to normal,” said Jean Luc Grillet, senior vice president of commercial operations for Africa. “Cairo has consistently been one of
Oman Air to Zanzibar Oman Air, the National Carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, re-commenced its services between Muscat and Zanzibar on May 16, 2011. Flights will operate nonstop between Muscat and Zanzibar three times a week on www.airlines-africa.com
the busiest routes for Emirates, and we are committed to enhancing our presence here. Expanding on the frequency of flights to Cairo will give our customers greater flexibility in choosing their travel times, as well as help boost further business and tourism opportunities in Egypt,” he added. Currently, Emirates’ flights to Cairo are served by a mixture of Airbus A330- 200 aircraft (offering 237 seats in a three class configuration: 12 first class suites, 42 business class and 183 economy class seats) and Boeing 777-200. EK 923 departs Dubai at 1510 hrs (local time) and arrives in Cairo at 1800hrs (local) every day. The return flight, EK 924, departs Cairo at 1830hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 0010hrs (local). EK 927 departs Dubai at 0850 hrs (local time) and arrives in Cairo at 1140 hrs (local) every day except Wednesdays and Thursdays. The return flight, EK 928, departs Cairo at 11:55 hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 1730 hrs (local).
Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturday. Zanzibar represents the third destination in Africa and second in Tanzania on the Oman Air growing network. Oman Air flights will build stronger business, cultural and touristic ties between the two countries as well as increase opportunities for tourists from Europe, the Indian subcontinent and other Oman Air destinations to explore and enjoy this unique destination.
France Gains Additional Tunisair Flights Tunisair reinforces its flight that links Tunisia to France for the summer season 2011. The number of frequencies from Tunisia to France increased by 22 new flights per week. Tunisair added 15 new weekly frequencies from Tunisia to Paris, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes, Nice and Marseille. The number of flight from Djerba to Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg increased by four new flights: two flights to Paris, one Flight to Marseille and one flight to Strasbourg. Actually, Tunisair links Tunis and Djerba cities to the French capital with daily flights: five daily flights from Tunis and one daily flight to Djerba with doubling every Friday and Saturday. Tunisair operates from Monastir to Paris with five per week. Tunisair flights from Tunis to French cities were reinforced. Thus, air links from to Tunis to Toulouse and Nantes became daily. Flights to Strasbourg became three weekly flights (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Tunisair operates with four flights per week from Monastir airport to Lyon.
By the addition of two new frequencies (Thursday and Saturday), Tunisair serves the Riviera from Tunis to the city of Nice with 10 flights per week. From Monastir to Nice, flights become four flights instead of three flights per week. Tunisair also proposed a new direct link from Tozeur to Nice every Thursday and Sunday added to that from Djerba. Following the injection of a new frequency on Saturday, the links from Tunis to Marseilles airport, increase to nine flights per week from Djerba with three flights (addition of a frequency every Tuesday). May 23, 2011
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Airlines Africa
South African Airways Seeks BBBEE Law Panelists The core business of the legal services business unit is to protect the interest of South African Airways (SAA) and its subsidiaries in all jurisdictions in which it operates by providing specialized and general legal services, taking into account the specialized nature of the aviation industry. In the 2009 state of the nation address the President of South Africa emphasized that the country should promote a more inclusive economy. At the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council meeting held in February 2010, the president further advised that as a country, state levers such as procurement, licens-
Event
Calendar
May 25-29, 2011 Africa Travel Association World Congress Dakar, Senegal www.africatravelassociation.org May 30-31, 2011 Airline Operational Efficiency Workshop Beijing, China www.iata.org/events/Pages/aoe-workshop.aspx May 31-June 2, 2011 Aviation ICT Forum Johannesburg, South Africa www.sita.aero/content/africa-aviation-ict-forum June 12-17, 2011 Airplane Maintenance Production Planning and Control Orange, CA http://active.boeing.com/special/fleetteam/ prodplan/index.cfm June 14-15, 2011 PaxIS Forum 2011 Macau, China www.iata.org/events/Pages/paxis.aspx
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ing and financial support should be utilized to assist small medium enterprises and that the implementation of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) and affirmative action policies should also be promoted. In support of the government’s initiatives to promote small medium enterprises, SAA undertakes to invite also the small medium legal firms of attorneys to obtain the opportunity to be exposed to the aviation fraternity and related matters. SAA noted that the exclusion of a large section of our community from productive participation in the economic life of our society, is a significant hindrance to our collective prosperity, which should be avoided at all costs by showing to the country that SAA, as a state organ intends to encourage and promote skills development. To action the government initiatives, SAA is currently inviting legal professionals to qualify to be incorporated into the SAA legal panel of attorneys, which will be representative
of big and small-medium law firms in terms of skills development. The current panel of attorneys used by SAA is therefore being reviewed to extend it and to ensure that the panel is well represented in terms of SMME’s, BBBEE law firms and to expand the current expertise in aviation law and to improve on the current status of enterprise development. The legal business unit intends to, where possible, also engage a broader range of domestic law firms and to encourage partnering between the big and SMME firms towards transfer of skills to developing firms. Those law firms that are already on the SAA panel of attorneys are encouraged to submit their proposal to be considered for revision and extension of their term. Larger firms will be required when given work by SAA, to consider and choose one of the smallmedium law firms that would have been appointed onto the new panel of attorneys to work with on the intention to transfer skills.
June 16, 2011 Airport IS Forum Macau, China www.iata.org/events/Pages/airport-is.aspx
July 11-13, 2011 Aviation Outlook Africa Johannesburg, South Africa www.terrapinn.com/2011/aviationza
June 16, 2011 Airs@t Regional Meeting Macau, China www.iata.org/events/Pages/airs@t.aspx June 20-26, 2011 Paris Airshow Paris, France www.paris-air-show.com
July 18-22, 2011 Managing the Safety Oversight Function Johannesburg, South Africa www.iata.org/training/courses/Pages/tcvg13. aspx
June 22-23, 2011 The Air Transport IT Summit Brussels, Belgium www.sita.aero/microsites/air-transport-itsummit-2011 June 23-25, 2011 128th Schedules Conference Gothenburg, Sweden www.iata.org/events/sc128/Pages/index.aspx July 4-8, 2011 Managing Aviation Policy and Regulation Johannesburg, South Africa www.iata.org/training/courses/Pages/tcvg26. aspx
August 28-30, 2011 Aviation & Allied Business Leadership Conference Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania www.aviationbusinessjournal.aero/conference2011.aspx September 6-8, 2011 Air Africa www.airafricaexpo.com September 28-29, 2011 Middle East and Africa Airfinance Conference Dubai, UAE www.euromoneyseminars.com/ EventDetails/0/4031/9th-Annual-Middle-Eastand-Africa-Airfinance-Conference.html
May 23, 2011
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Airlines Africa
Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority Shares Strong Gains in Revenue Due to Increased Air Traffic Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority (RCAA) says it has recorded an increase of 25 percent in its revenue on account of increased air traffic and airport users over the last three years at Kigali International Airport. Statistics from the body which oversees and regulates the aviation industry in Rwanda show that it grew by 20 percent with approximately 300,000 passengers registered by the end of last year while the number flights increased from 60 in 2009 to 100 flights last year. Richard Masozera the director general of RCAA attributed the growth in revenue to the automation of car park which has improved the efficiency in financial collection. The system offers a diverse range of information to meet security needs and reduce the
likelihood of small funds being mismanaged. “In 2010 the aviation industry recorded significant achievements in daily operations, in infrastructure development, flight safety, air navigation and human resource development,” he said. Rwanda is benefiting from increased inflow of air traffic particularly from USA, the UK, Japan, Germany and the East Africa Community. “We are benefiting from an improved national economy and also a recovery from the global financial crisis,” Masozera said. Masozera observed that the industry is experiencing a growth in traffic volumes, a trend that is likely to continue throughout this year following the entry of KLM and Air Uganda in to the market last year. “With more entrants in the market and with the
opening of new routes by the National carrier, Kigali will be a transit point in the region,” he emphasized. Increase in scheduled flights this year is expected to trim cargo flight costs and significantly increase horticulture exports. “With daily flights to the Middle East and Europe, the opportunities of fresh produce to hit the European market have increased, but cargo airline needs the organization of farmers...to sustain the volumes which can ration an airline,” he said recently in a parallel interview. It’s projected that 2011 will see more air-traffic increase with the amended and fresh bilateral air service agreements (BASAs). Interested countries include; Belgium, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Egypt and The Netherlands.
Kigali International Airport is preparing the bidding and contracting arrangements necessary for an estimated $14 million improvement project. Major elements of the upgrades will include adding check-in desks—doubling from 8 to 16, a new baggage belt and two ramp parking spots for large aircraft. Other terminal improvements include handicap passenger access, additional escalators and elevators, a separation of departing and arriving passengers, and a modern look with a strong business orientation. www.airlines-africa.com
May 23, 2011