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Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2012

■ ALGERIA: More government protectionism as Minister says Low Cost Carrier would be "unprofitable".

Algerian GovernmentDespite protests outside offices of Algeria's national carrier Air Algérie (AH)  in both London and Paris two weeks ago, calling for the liberalisation of Algerian skies, the Algerian Government has remained adamant that the creation of any Low Cost Carrier (LCC) in the country would not be profitable; a move that the Algerian media says, smacks of government protectionism for both Air Algèrie and AigleAzur (ZI).

Sunday, September 30, 2012

■ SOUTH AFRICA: New SAA boss announced as mass resignations preempt mass firings.

SAA logoIn a dramatic chain of events, the entire boardroom scene at South African Airways (SA) changed literally overnight, when eight of its 14 board members, including its chairwoman Cheryl Carolus, pre-emptively resigned their positions on Thursday evening, following a leaked media report earlier in the week that allured to looming dismissals at both SAA and its sister regional carrier, SA Express (XZ).

► NIGERIA: Arik Air uses FAAN debacle to settle old scores.

Arik AirDespite having reached an accord last Saturday with the Nigerian Government that saw Nigeria's now largest carrier Arik Air (W3), resuming domestic operations following 3 days of suspended flights, in addition to Aviation Minister Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi dropping a lawsuit against Arik Air (who alleged that she had demanded five per cent equity participation in the airline), Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide's airline made their vendetta with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) personal by blacklisting from their flights, the FAAN's Managing Director, George Uriese along with 26 others. 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

► NIGERIA: Arik Air & Nigerian Government kiss and make up; ops to resume tomorrow.

Arik AirAfter a two hour meeting between the board of directors of Nigeria's Arik Air (W3) and Ministers from the Nigerian Federal Government in a bid to resolve Thursday's impasse and suspension of flights, Arik Air have stated, via their website, that they will be resuming flights tomorrow Sunday 23 September 2012, after presumably, reaching an agreement.


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

► EGYPT: Egyptair officially announces Roshdy Zakaria as its new Boss.

EgyptairEgyptian carrier Egyptair (MS) today officially announced the appointment of Roshdy Zakaria, the airline's former deputy Vice President of Flight Operations, as their new Chairman and CEO.

Zakaria has spent much of his 30 year career with Egyptair where he has held various positions, including that of chief pilot examiner and instructor on the Airbus A300B4 and the Boeing 767/777.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

► KENYA: Brussels Airlines cancels planned Mombasa route launch; increases Kigali frequency.

Brussels AirlinesOriginally planned to go ahead from 1 October via Nairobi, Belgian carrier, Brussels Airlines (SN), has announced it will not be launching once weekly flights to the Kenyan port town of Mombasa "due to administrative reasons".

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

► SUDAN: Sudan Airways, Marsland Aviation apply for Juba rights as flights between Sudan/South Sudan are set to resume.

Sudan AirwaysIn a sign that strained relations between Sudan and its new southern neighbour, South Sudan, are improving, the two countries' civil aviation authorities on Friday reached a provisional deal that now opens the way for Sudanese carriers to restart direct flights between Khartoum and Juba, though whether flights between other towns and cities have been given the go ahead, is unclear.

Monday, September 3, 2012

■ KENYA: Kenya Airways Layoffs Debacle takes new twist after revelations KQ execs were awarded 25% payrises over the last year.

Kenya AirwaysQuite a few eyebrows were raised in Nairobi during the presentation last week of Kenya Airways' (KQ) annual report in which it was revealed that executives' wages at the airline had risen by almost 25% over the last year; a development that comes at a time when the airline is facing protracted legal battles and now even Prime Ministerial condemnation over plans to lay off (or as KQ would prefer, "outsource") 650 'excess' employees cited by the company as being amongst the causes for their 57% slump in profits last year.


Sunday, August 5, 2012

► LIBYA: Optimistic Afriqiyah orders more A330s, but post-Gaddafi where to?

AfriqiyahFollowing the recent Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom, Libyan carrier Afriqiyah (8U), has announced plans to convert a previous order of 3 Airbus A321s into an order for A330s in a sign that the carrier is slowly but surely returning to the international scene.

Friday, July 27, 2012

■ BOTSWANA: Government fires Chinese firm Sinohydro over delays to Gaborone Airport Expansion project.

Botswana Government logoFed up with continual delays and deadline setbacks, the Botswana Government has decided to fire the primary contractor on Gaborone's Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA) Expansion Project Phase 2, Chinese state construction firm Sinohydro, with 95% of the works completed.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe Operations & General Aviation Update.

Zimbabwe
Over the last 3 weeks or so, we have been in Zimbabwe for business and had the chance to pay Air Zimbabwe and the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) a visit to try and try get some updates on the status of Air Zimbabwe (UM) as well as other general info. After all, the interwebs has been filled with vast amounts of speculation and conflicting reports on Air Zimbabwe's status and murky dealings all of which make it very difficult to get an accurate picture of what is really going on there.

This is what we were told by our sources:
  • Air Zimbabwe is still flying domestically, albeit using its aging Boeing 737-200Adv fleet to service Harare - Victoria Falls and Harare - Bulawayo. According to our sources, loads have picked up (which is no surprise seeing as there is no other competition on the routes). Harare - Vic Falls costs USD$400 return (lol).

Air Zimbabwe 737 at Harare
An AirZim 737 awaiting its flight to Bulawayo (24 June 2012)
  • Air Zimbabwe has indeed received a second A320 as previously reported by us. The two aircraft are now awaiting CAAZ registration before entering service, though where to, is still unknown. Also, the mysterious deal for two Airbus A340-500s that never was, came up quite often. Seems the deal is somehow "still in the offing" (make of that what you will, but we will believe it when we see it) though how much of that is truth and how much is pure BS is anyone's guess.
Unknown BAe146s at Harare
Two unknown BAe146s laid up at HRE (possibly Air Zim's)
So there you have it folks. Make of it what you all will, but bear in mind that what a pencil pushing bureaucrat says and what actually happens are usually two completely different things.


Friday, July 6, 2012

► SOUTH AFRICA: Lufthansa drops Frankfurt for Munich to Cape Town following curfew ruling.

Following on from April's landmark ruling by a federal court in Leipzig, Germany to ban flights at Frankfurt between 11pm and 5am in response to complaints about the noise from residents, so German carrier Lufthansa (LH) has been forced to switch its Cape Town, South Africa service from Frankfurt to Munich effective 28 October 2012.

Lufthansa Boeing 747
Lufthansa Boeing 747 at Cape Town (Jacobus Saayman)

Lufthansa: Munich, Germany - Cape Town, South Africa
Effective 28 October 2012
  • LH574 MUC2200 – 1035+1CPT 343 x13
  • LH575 CPT1900 – 0535+1MUC 343 x24

Friday, June 22, 2012

► ZIMBABWE: Air Zimbabwe given 90 day IATA reprieve as CAAZ hypocrisy stifles newcomers.

Air ZimbabweFollowing our report this week on Air Zimbabwe's pending suspension from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for failing to comply with the Association's stringent Operational Safety Audits (IOSA), so IATA has issued a press statement to the effect that Air Zimbabwe has 90 days to comply with the IOSA criteria or risk losing its membership of the Association.


From an outside perspective, it seems like a fairly straight-forward affair - spruce up the MA60s and ageing Boeing 767s & 737s and invite IATA in. Yadayadayada, certificate issued, and problem solved.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that, especially not with quasi-bankrupt Zimbabwean parastatals who may, or may not be operating a fleet of rented Airbus A320s in the hopes of eluding creditors.

Harare Airport, Zimbabwe
A common sight at Harare Airport - nothing. (Bill Whaley)


According to the Zimbabwean Government, yes there is.


What hypocrisy!

And straight, too, from the horse's mouth. 

Air Zimbabwe lacks a current IATA IOSA Audit certificate, yet is allowed to operate; two local indigenous airline's capable of doing the job but are held back because of Government protectionism for an airline that practically does not exist, and that no one seems interesting in flying on, or investing in.

A tragedy indeed.

Monday, June 11, 2012

► TANZANIA: Precision Air further delays Harare & Lilongwe to August amid strong growth.

Precision Air Tanzanian carrier Precision Air (PW) over the weekend announced that its planned new routes to Harare, Zimbabwe and Lilongwe, Malawi, would only begin "in August this year" instead of early July as originally planned as the airline intends to await the arrival of more aircraft prior to servicing the new routes.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

► NIGERIA: Pilot & Engineer Strike affecting Air Nigeria.

Air NigeriaAir Nigeria (VK) has come clean and admitted that a 5 day old strike by members of the Nigerian Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) is starting to impact its domestic and regional flights, though its international operation to London Gatwick has remained unaffected.

The NAAPE strike is focussed around 4 core issues namely:
  • Delayed payment of salaries to both local and foreign staff
  • Pension deductions not remitted for over seven (7) months
  • Co-operative deductions not yet remitted
  • Tax refund and tax clearance issues

International Airport, Lagos
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
Air Nigeria management however, has refused to budge from its own position and in a statement has labelled the strike as "blackmail" and "uncalled for" and claimed that the union did not seek recourse in order to resolve their grievances. It also alleged that the NAAPE was in cahoots with competitors jealous of Air Nigeria's progress.
"It is very unreasonable and cheap blackmail for NAAPE to embark on strike action based on non payment of May salaries at the mid night of May 31st when infact some of the staff had collected their salaries with the rest of the staff still being processed.
It is therefore illegal and criminal for NAAPE to allow itself to be used by Competitors, who are envious of the giant steps already taken by Air Nigeria and Management is already working on a policy that will put a permanent stop to this cheap blackmail


The NAAPE has been a perpetual thorn in the side of Air Nigeria's management, as in November of last year, they again moved to strike following the sacking of Air Nigeria's Head of Maintenance Department James Erigba, because of a disagreement over an aircraft's airworthiness.

► TANZANIA: Air Tanzania's boss fired; 4 others suspended.

Air TanzaniaAfter much pomp and fervour over the airline's relaunch last month, the Tanzanian Government has fired Air Tanzania's (TC) acting Managing Director, Paul Chizi, and suspended four senior officials due to "irregularities in their appointments apropos the Tanzanian Public Service Act of 2002, amongst other accusations of breach of public service laws and regulations."

► NIGERIA: Civil Aviation Boss suspended; Dana Air grounded.

NCAAThe Nigerian Government has moved to suspend the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, for the duration of investigations into both the Dana Air 9J-997 tragedy in Lagos on Sunday, and the Nigerian-registered Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 crash landing in Accra, Ghana the day before. 

Together, the two crashes have claimed over 170 lives, with numbers to rise, as more bodies are discovered at the Lagos crash site.

Dana Air Crash
The Dana Air MD 83's tail being removed. (Reuters)
"“The latest Dana aircraft crash is even more tragic than the previous ones with a total casualty figure of about 190 people, including 153 passengers, six crew members and about 37 people on the ground.
“This crash is a wake-up call for all relevant authorities to rise to the challenge of ensuring that no effort is spared in making the nation’s aviation industry conform with international safety standards,” he said."

The Government has also revoked the operating licence of Dana Air until further notice.
""As soon as we have concluded the recertification of the airline, if they are capable, then their license will be reinstated," said Sam Adurogboye, a spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority."

Sunday, April 29, 2012

● Airfare vs Airfair - Nigeria & Zimbabwe voice concerns over unfair ticket pricing.

It seems that two African governments have raised concerns over the huge disparity in ticket prices that foreign carriers charge in relation to their neighbours. Zimbabwe's Minister for Tourism, Walter Mzembi, bemoaned the high fares charged on the lucrative Harare - Johannesburg route which in some cases are as high as USD$600 for a return flight.

"The prices of flights which are deemed to be too high are affecting Zimbabwe’s destination accessibility and connectivity and has become a cause for concern for tourists and the government at large.

Cde Mzembi said his ministry is concerned with the fares of up to $600 or more that are being charged for people to fly between Harare and Johannesburg.


He said such prices do not promote tourism considering that the same amount flies a tourist between Johannesburg and New York on a budget flight."

Though unhappy about the current status quo, Zimbabwe has not gone as far as Nigeria, who have threatened to withdraw the operating licences of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, claiming that the fares they charged for Nigeria - UK flights were not proportional to those in other West African countries. According to the country's aviation authorities, the difference between fares Nigerians pay on the Lagos-London-Lagos route and what Ghanaians pay on the Accra-London-Accra route is US$4,239 for first class, US$1,055 on business class and US$920 on premium economy.


“We are seriously concerned and worried by the reluctance to restore parity within the region by the foreign airlines. They have been using all kinds of delay tactics; this is unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated.


''Nigerian passengers do not deserve this kind of exploitation and we are willing and ready  to stand up to their rights,” she said.
Read More Here [Panapress]

It should be noted that this impasse comes after a row between British Airways and Nigeria's Arik Air over the denial of landing slots to the latter at London's Heathrow airport, and after Nigeria's Government fined British Airways and Virgin Atlantic US$235 million in 2011 for alleged price-fixing on the Nigeria-UK route; a fine that was later overturned on appeal.