Airlines Africa September 5 2011

Airlines Africa

Airlines Africa September 5, 2011

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Serving the Airline Industry and Airline Professional Across Africa

Arik Air Contracts with GSA for Europe & Expands African Routes

Arik Air has selected Aviareps as its representative in leading European markets. All future sales, marketing and ticketing activities will be handled by the multinational aviation and tourism management company from September 1, 2011 onwards. Aviareps will act as official general sales agent (GSA) in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, Benelux and Russia and will also assume responsibility for BSP handling in these markets. While Aviareps is already a reliable partner for Arik Air’s business in Canada and the United States, the Nigerian carrier is pursuing its ambitious European expansion with this new appointment.

Arik Air was established in 2006 and started a rapid transformation of the Nigerian aviation sector by operating with a fleet of brand new aircraft and an unrivaled in-flight service. The privately owned airline’s first longhaul flight was launched in 2008 to London-Heathrow in a brand new Airbus A340-500. Arik Air currently serves a strong route network from both hubs in Lagos and Abuja. This includes other long-haul destinations in addition to London-Heathrow, such as New York JFK and Johannesburg.

From Nigeria seamless onward flights allow easy access to an extensive doContinued on Page 2

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Iberia Adds Flight to Equatorial Guinea

Iberia has added one weekly flight between Madrid and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. As of the end of August, the airline was operating six weekly flights, including the new flight. The new flight adds 220 seats per week.

Iberia launched service between Madrid and Malabo in October 2010 with Airbus A319s that feature the business club seating section with wider and more comfortable seats, more separation between rows, and a Play Station Portable in-flight entertainment system. Aircraft with this seating section also operate to Cairo, Lagos, Moscow, and Tel Aviv. Since the launch of the Business Club section, the number of business passengers on flights between Madrid and Malabo has increased by 10 percent.

In 2010, Iberia carried some 41,200 passengers on this route, a 7.7 percent increase for the year, with nearly 50 percent connecting to other destinations, the most popular being São Paulo, followed by Barcelona, Cairo, Lisbon and Valencia.

Don’t let another minute pass without being a part of the airline community of Africa. Whether an airline or an industrial supplier, the African Airlines Association is waiting to partner with you. www.afraa.org September 5, 2011

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Arik Air Continued from Page 1 mestic and regional route map consisting of 20 destinations within Nigeria and five regional points including, among them: Accra, Ghana; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Banjul, Gambia; Dakar, Senegal; and Monrovia, Liberia.

Arik Air operates modern state-ofthe-art aircraft, all of them manufactured during the past 10 years. The carrier is committed to maintaining a safe working and flying environment and to conducting all operations with the highest safety standards. Lufthansa Technik and Iberia are the contracted aircraft maintenance partners in Lagos and New York.

All long-haul flights to and from London are operated with the Airbus A340-500 to ensure the highest operational flexibility. Equipped with 36 Premium Class seats, business travelers in particular enjoy special travel comfort with ‘super flat’ beds, 17-inch monitors, a new generation of in-built massage system and a lounge area which comprises a bar, sofas and space for socializing.

The airline has also added Asaba, the capital of Delta State to its network of domestic destinations by commencing direct flights from Lagos and Abuja to the new Asaba International Airport on September 2, 2011. The flight will be operated using a Bombardier Q400 daily except Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The originating flight will depart Lagos at 7 a.m. and arrive in Asaba at 8 a.m. The flight will continue onto Abuja, departing Asaba at 830 a.m. and landing at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport at 930 a.m. The outbound flight will then depart Abuja at 1000 a.m. and arrive in Asaba at 1100 a.m. and depart Asaba at 1130 a.m. and arrive in Lagos at 1230 p.m., connecting onto the rest of Arik’s domestic and international network.

“It is a pleasure to connect Arik Air to one of Nigeria’s new airports and in doing so make Asaba the 20th Nigerian destination served by the airline,” said Chris Ndulue, Arik Air’s managing director. “The new services to Asaba International Airport will offer a highly attractive alternative to guests from www.airlines-africa.com

Delta State using the existing flights to Osubi Airstrip, Warri. Arik Air appreciates the importance of Delta State in Nigeria’s industrial and economic development as an oil producing state.

Arik Air’s new services from Lagos and Abuja to Asaba makes it more accessible and therefore attractive to long-term investment as well as provide increased services for existing businesses in the area.”

A Bombardier Q400 aircraft will operate on the new route. Arik Air has configured this aircraft to 10 business class, and 62 economy class seats in order to allow for more leg room and aisle space than any other similar category aircraft in the region.

Further expansion took place near the end of August with Arik Air’s increase in frequency on the Lagos, Nigeria to Accra, Ghana route effective from August 27, 2011.

The extra flight will operate on Saturdays and will depart Lagos at 500 p.m., arriving in to Accra at the same time 500 p.m. The return flight leaves Accra at 545 p.m. and arrives in Lagos at 745 p.m.

Introducing the extra flight now means greater flexibility and more

choice for passengers who can connect onward to Accra from inbound flights from New York JFK (arrives in to Lagos Murtala Muhammed Airport at 145 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and Johannesburg (arrives daily at 155 p.m.) on a Saturday. The return flight on Saturdays connects to the Saturday evening departures from Lagos to Johannesburg.

“There is an increasing demand on the Lagos-Accra route and not just from within Nigeria,” said Bert van der Stege, Arik Air’s vice president planning and marketing. “We have added the extra flight to ensure that we meet the demand from international destinations such as Johannesburg and New York for connections at convenient times. Offering an afternoon flight on a Saturday will satisfy that demand as passengers to and from South Africa or the USA will be able to seamlessly transfer to their connecting flight in Lagos.”

New Comms Director at Embraer

Embraer has announced the promotion of Flavia Sekles to the position of external communications director, succeeding Carlos Eduardo Camargo, who is now the head of the recently created Sustainability Department.

Flavia will report to Jackson Schneider, the company’s vice president of institutional relations.

Airlines Africa Airlines Africa is the definitive weekly news and information source serving the African airline and transportation community. Copyright © 2011 It is published 48 times annually by Defense House Publishing. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be copied, reproduced, duplicated stored or retransmitted in any form without the expressed written pemission of the publisher.

Flavia Sekles has a journalism degree from Boston University, and has been with Embraer for four years, at the company’s offices in Washington, D.C., and, most recently, São Paulo, Brazil. She previously worked at Veja magazine and Jornal do Brasil, and was executive director of the Brazilian Industries Coalition.

Jeff McKaughan Publisher jeffm@airlines-africa.com 1- 443-243-1710 For details on advertising, please contact the publisher.

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Kenya Airways and Embraer Finalize Jet Order

Embraer and Kenya Airways have finalized the contract for the acquisition of 10 Embraer 190 jets.

This agreement completes contract negotiations following the signing of a letter of intent during the 49th Paris Air Show in June 2011. The deal also includes purchase rights for 16 aircraft, which could be either the Embraer 190 or other models of the E-Jet family.

“This final agreement from Kenya Airways for more aircraft in its fleet demonstrates not only its confidence in the future but also its endorsement of the versatility of our family of E-Jets,” said Paulo César de Souza e Silva, Embraer president, Commercial Aviation. “This confirmation is a sign that our E-Jets have been instrumental in the growth of our largest operator in Sub Saharan Africa, and provided it with an optimal tool to develop new routes while providing their customers with a reliable and comfortable aircraft.”

Kenya Airways’ E190s will be configured in a dual-class layout with 96 seats: 12 in business class and 84 in economy. Furthermore, all passengers will benefit from a modern in-flight entertainment system with individual touch screens. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2012.

This fleet modernization will boost the airline’s aggressive network expansion strategy and in particular,

boost plans to fly to all African capital cities by the end of 2013.

“The Embraer 190 fleet will be key in ensuring Kenya Airways becomes the leading carrier on the continent, interlinking African cities and, through our Nairobi hub, connecting Africa to the world,” said Dr. Titus Naikuni, group managing director and chief executive of Kenya Airways. “The Embraer 190’s excellent range, efficiency, size and superior level comfort will allow us to increase frequencies and start new routes along with improving the overall passenger flying experience throughout Africa.”

With this new contract, the total number of E-Jets ordered by Kenya Airways is boosted to 20, considering aircraft acquired directly from Embraer or through leasing companies. Today, the airline is today operating five E170s and two E190s under agreement with leasing companies. Three E190 jets from a previous order have still to be delivered this year and in 2012.

Kenya Airways has embarked on an aggressive network expansion program to cater for the growing travel market. The combination of the E170 and 190 in Kenya Airways network will offer greater flexibility in right sizing the aircraft to meet route demand, using the same crew and ensuring consistent service level.

MTU Aero Engines has handed the first production module of the GEnx engine over to GE Aviation.

MTU’s chief executive Egon Behle explained, “The GEnx, which powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and has been selected as the exclusive powerplant for the Boeing 747-8, is one of our most important commercial engine programs for widebodies down the road. That’s why we’ve set up highly advanced dedicated pro-duction lines for our components at the company’s Munich facility.” The numbers prove

him right: So far, 1,300 orders and options have been received for the new GE engine.

MTU joined the GEnx program as a risk- and revenue-sharing participant three years ago and holds a program share of 6.65 percent. The company has taken on responsibility for development, production and assembly of the turbine center frame, or TCF for short. The original TCF design has meanwhile been optimized by improving the hot-gas ducts and reducing the module’s weight.

MTU Aero Engines Delivers for GEnx

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Delta Named Airline of the Year in Ghana

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Delta Air Lines has been named the Airline of the Year 2010 in Ghana by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG). The Award recognized Delta’s expansion in the Ghanaian market alongside the strong sales and marketing strategies put in place to maintain Delta’s leadership position on the trans-Atlantic.

“We are delighted to be presented with this prestigious award.

We continue to be committed to the Ghana market, having grown from four weekly flights in 2006 to ten weekly flights in 2011, with the addition of flights to Atlanta and Liberia in 2010,” said Pak-Wo Shum, managing director of Aviation Alliance, representatives of Delta Air Lines in Ghana. “We are also dedicated to providing the best quality service and facilities to our Ghanaian customers, having invested in the local airport facilities with the construction of new boarding gates at Kotoka International Airport.”

Delta was the first U.S. carrier to start nonstop service from Ghana to the United States in 2006.

Delta currently operates daily overnight service from Accra to New York-JFK and Atlanta, as well as flights between Accra and Monrovia.

Delta is investing more than $2 billion to improve the customer experience in the air and on the ground across the whole network.

Effective June 1, Delta introduced a premium economy section, Economy Comfort, on all its intra-Africa services, including its flights from Ghana. The new seats will feature up to four additional inches of legroom and 50 percent more recline than Delta’s standard international Economy class seats. In addition, Delta plans to offer full flat-bed seating in BusinessElite on all international widebody flights by 2013.

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Air Austral Takes Delivery of 777-200LR

Reunion Island-based Air Austral has taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-200LR. Air Austral’s 777-200LR will enable the airline to fly non-stop from Mayotte, a French Department

north of Madagascar, to Paris.

“Boeing’s 777-200LR will provide exceptional value to our airline,” said Gérard Ethève, Air Austral’s president and CEO. “The airplane has superior

Boeing Announces A Competitive Response—the 737 MAX

Boeing has unveiled the 737 MAX, the name of the new engine variant of the 737. The new family of aircraft – 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 – builds on the strengths of the Next-Generation 737.

“The 737 MAX offers airlines the right solution and the best choice for creating the most successful future with improved profitability,” said Nicole Piasecki, vice president of business development and strategic integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 737 MAX will deliver maximum efficiency, maximum reliability and the Boeing Sky Interior will continue to offer maximum passenger comfort. We call it the 737 MAX because it optimizes everything we and

our customers have learned about designing, building, maintaining and operating the world’s best singleaisle airplane.”

The 737 MAX will reportedly deliver big fuel savings to airlines that will also benefit from a 7 percent advantage in operating costs over future competing airplanes as a result of optimized CFM International LEAP-1B engines, more efficient structural design and lower maintenance requirements.

Boeing expects the 737 MAX will build upon the Next-Generation 737’s highest reliability performance of any airplane in the world – 99.7 percent on-time departure rate.

takeoff capabilities including takeoffs from short runways with maximum payload. We are confident that the addition of the 777-200LR to Air Austral’s fleet will result in improved operating economics and increased efficiencies as well as optimize customer satisfaction. Its commonality with the 777300ER is a great advantage in terms of managing operating and service costs.”

Air Austral currently operates a fleet of six 777-300ERs and 777200ERs. With this delivery, Air Austral becomes the second carrier in Africa to take delivery of the 777-200LR. “Boeing appreciates its partnership with Air Austral and its commitment to the 777 family,” said Marty Bentrott, vice president for sales for Middle East, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We are confident that the 777-200LRs high capacity in terms of passenger and cargo load will add tremendous value to Air Austral.”

Air Seychelles Offers Interline

Air Seychelles has upgraded its on-line booking engine to offer interline connections. Web clients can now book and pay for their connecting flights onto an Air Seychelles flight in one transaction and will be issued one ticket. For example, a client can now purchase a ticket from Zurich to Praslin with Air Seychelles, without having to visit more than one website.

www.airlines-africa.com

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Accidents, Investigations and Criminalization

By Sean Gates

On August 3, 2011 the French Airline Pilots Union announced it intended to boycott the on-going accident investigation into the Air France Airbus A447 accident by the BEA (the French Accident Investigation Office).

This announcement reflects more widespread concerns about aviation accident investigation activity, equally applicable in African nations as in France.

The occasion for the announcement by the French Airline Pilots Union was the publication by the BEA of its third interim report into the accident in respect of which the BEA acknowledged it had excised a recommendation about the stall warning system of the Airbus A330. The Victims Family Association joined the union in claiming the BEA action had undermined the credibility of the investigation and the Union noted also the BEA’s reputation for integrity had been seriously shaken. Air France has criticized the www.airlines-africa.com

decision.

The BEA is one of the most respected investigation agencies around the world and this article does not comment on the report itself. The reaction of Air France and the union, however, underlines the importance accident investigations have beyond their intended purpose of enhancing aviation safety.

Aircraft accident investigation is regulated by Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention 1944 (Chicago) to which most states (190), including all the states with significant aviation activity in Africa, are party. Chicago states clearly, “The sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be the prevention of accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability” (Article 3.1). There is, however, no penalty for breach of this article. Most states have accident investigation departments, but as significant accidents

become more infrequent and as the sophistication of aircraft design and manufacture increases, the general skills of the investigators need expert supplementation.

In what is known as the “party process,” and because inevitably they are the repositories of the technical expertise in the design, manufacture and operation of modern sophisticated aircraft; manufacturers and, less frequently, airlines are relied on by investigators to undertake the technical investigations and testing, leaving the investigators to supervise and manage the process. In the case of accidents in many African states the actual supervision and management of the investigation will be undertaken by other national investigation bodies (often the US NTSB, or the UK AAIB, or the French BEA) at the invitation of the State with the responsibility to perform the investigation, due to lack of local knowledge or resources to undertake September 5, 2011

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Accidents, Investigations & Criminalization the investigation.

Inevitably the “party process” is open to allegations of undue influence in terms of the technical aspects of the litigation and that it encourages inappropriately close relationships between the investigators and the investigated.

This aspect of the “party process” led to the US’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) commissioning the Rand Institute for Civil Justice of the US in 1999 to study the issue, leading to their report entitled “Safety in the Skies.”

The nstitute’s brief was to examine the NTSB’s training of its investigators and the functioning of the “party process” including an examination of the liability environment in which the “party process” operates given, as the report states, “this presents a clear and present danger to the integrity of the investigative process—parties that face potentially enormous economic losses if they are found to be the cause of an accident could attempt to disrupt or bias an investigation.” This possibility is, of course, compounded where there is a significant risk of criminal prosecution.

Criminal prosecutions following aircraft accidents in the US are rare but in other, and particularly civil law countries, are very much routine. It is becoming standard practice in those states with a civil law heritage in Africa to open a criminal investigation immediately following an aviation accident.

Because of their historical closeness, the criminal law systems of the former French colonies are very similar to the French system, in which air accidents are automatically subject to a preliminary inquiry under the supervision of the public prosecutor as an accident constitutes an infringement of public order.

As is well known, in relation to AF447 a criminal investigation was instituted even before the black boxes were found. In the government reacwww.airlines-africa.com

tion to the French Pilots Union, this issue came into focus when France’s transport minister called the BEA probe “exemplary” pointing out it had been monitored by the French judge carrying out the parallel criminal investigation.

The Rand report comments that final accident reports are considered in the legal profession to be “road maps to liability” and that “party representatives may be acting to further various interests beyond prevention of a similar accident….. (and) investigations of major commercial accidents have become nothing but preparation for anticipated litigation.” Its conclusions illuminate the concerns of the victims, the Pilots Union and Air France in the AF447 investigation. Investigations in France take place in an environment where not only civil liability claims are made but also where criminal prosecutions are all but inevitable. The question must arise as to the extent cooperation with accident investigations

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conflicts with personal and corporate interests.

The EC, in its recent regulation of aircraft accident investigation in Europe, ignored industry calls to address these issues on a European level and elected to continue with the status quo, simply inaugurating an informal club of accident investigation boards throughout Europe for support and assistance. The preamble to the regulation does reiterate the prohibition in Chicago on the use of aircraft reports in proceedings with the statement “the sole objective of safety investigations should be the prevention of future accidents and incidents without apportioning blame or liability;” but there is again no enforceable prohibition against misuse of the report by states.

In 2007 the African Civil Aviation Authority was inaugurated to provide integrated leadership to develop and focus implementation of a unified strategy to improve African commercial aviation safety, with aspirations September 5, 2011

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Accidents, Investigations & Criminalization to emulate Europe’s EASA and the US FAA. It has yet to assert itself in the field of accident investigation and criminal prosecutions of aviation professionals following accidents are likely to occur in Africa as elsewhere.

Final accident reports are in many civil law countries all but dispositive of the issue of fault in both liability and criminal contexts. It is the practice in civil law systems for the courts to appoint external experts to advise on technical issues, and who could be more independent and expert than the state body appointed to investigate?

This, however, misses the point that where a court expert investigates a case, the parties are able to participate; challenge witnesses; and offer evidence. Chicago expressly forbids that level of participation by parties.

A simple but devastating example of the damage this can cause is the investigation by the AAISB of Greece into the Helios accident of August 14, 2005 the final report of which is certainly contested by directors and officers of Helios but has been extensively relied on in the prosecution of those directors and officers of Helios in Cypriot criminal proceedings. The abuse of the rights of the individuals is obvious. Particularly since statements they gave during the investigation were made under duress and without benefit of counsel.

Many readers will recall the Tuninter ATR-72 accident on August 6, 2005, in which the aircraft ran out of fuel and ditched into the Mediterranean on a flight from Bari to Djerba, resulting in the deaths of 16 of the 39 occupants. An Italian court sentenced the captain to ten years imprisonment for manslaughter, and six others, including the co-pilot and chief operating officer of Tuninter Airlines, were sentenced to between eight and ten years jail. Prosecutors alleged that the captain panicked after the engines stopped and resorted to praying. www.airlines-africa.com

However, an objective assessment of the evidence suggests that the captain made a few scattered religious references for help in the last five minutes of the flight, while carefully selecting a location to ditch the aircraft and repeatedly trying to re-start the engines. Unfortunately, the desire to identify an individual who personifies the often multifaceted causes of any particular accident, and can therefore be subject to the full wrath of the media and opportunistic politicians, increasingly results in less than objective assessments of all the facts by prosecuting authorities.

States gave no teeth to the exhortations to prevent misuse of accident reports in Chicago, and states routinely ignore that exhortation. Therefore, parties involved in an investigation need to take counsel as to the extent to which they should cooperate with investigations; and as to their rights against self incrimination. Insurers have a financial self interest in supporting their clients to make sure their interests are protected as a means of protecting insurers own financial interests.

Muddying the waters of the investigation with financial, commercial and criminal considerations has not been the choice of parties but rather the consequence of the actions and inactions of states, which may well complain about the effect of those interests in the “party process;” but who retain to themselves the ability to insulate the investigation and cure the problem.

The Rand Institute observed accident investigations have become the road maps for liability.

Until states act to remove the road block; parties who may be implicated and their insurers must look to their own defense to avoid the fate of Helios; which has ceased to operate; and of its directors and officers, condemned to a seemingly endless process of criminal prosecution in Cyprus and Greece based on a disputed accident report the findings of which are nevertheless of significant influence in the courts of Cyprus and Greece.

Sean Gates is senior partner in Gates and Partners. Mark Welbourn assisted with the article.

Air Tweets Two Airbus A320s originally destined for Afriqiyah Airways have found a new home with Lao Airlines.

The Nigerian press is reporting that Nigerian airlines spend more than $64.7 million on expatriate pilots.

Pilots that earn far more and work far less.

Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete has publically called for the private sector to increase its investment in air transportation. “African governments cannot succeed in the aviation industry without the private sector’s support. The industry needs heavy investment which the governments alone cannot manage.”

Fly Zambia Airlin Limited as been forced to postponed its planned September launch. Joel Chilufya, the airline’s president has been quoted as saying that procedural issues including technical delays in licensing and funding have forced a delay to sometime later this year.

Melchior Nahimana, Air Burundi managing director, has reported that the airline is evaluating proposals from five companies (one US, two European, and two with both European and African ownership) to develop a restructuring plan for the company. The plan would result in either the privatization, restore the airline as a national carrier or revamp the current bilateral cooperation. The government is financing the project.

It appears that after the Tanzanian government paid repair bills for the repair Air Tanzania Company Limited’s Dash 8 Q300 aircraft which was being repaired in South Africa.

It is reported that the airline is also seeking the services of two CRJ-200 from a Dubai-based firm.

TAAG Angolan Airways has introduced the Umbi Umbi Club, their new frequent flyer program.

September 5, 2011