Tunisia: Syphax Airlines to launch flights in March

 According to information received from the authorities in the Tunisian Ministry of Transport, the country's newest airline, Syphax Airlines, will launch flights in mid-March, operating from Sfax-Thyna International Airport in Eastern Tunisia.


The transport ministry is currently studying the modalities for allowing the private airline to operate from the airport. Syphax Airlines will operate two aircraft, Airbus A319, to provide regular and charter flights to European and Arab countries.

Syphax Airlines

In January 2012, Syphax Airlines announced the signing of an agreement of $55million for the acquisition of two Airbus A319 aircraft, each with a capacity of 150 passengers. Recently, Tunisia's Telnet Holdings invested in the new airline venture.

The company said that delivery of the first plane to the International Sfax Thyna airport will be made on February 29, 2012 and the second delivery on March 14, 2012.

The two aircraft will provide eight daily flights  from the Sfax-Thyna International Airport  to Tripoli (Libya), Morocco, France, Italy, Belgium and Turkey.
 
The establishment of Syphax Airlines brings to five the number of Tunisian airlines. The others include Tunisair (publicly-held), Nouvelair, Tunisair Express and Tunisavia.

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DR Congo Suspends two airlines after Gulfstream IV N2SA Crash

 The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has suspended the licenses of two aviation companies operating in the country after one of their planes crashed last week killing a top adviser to President Kabila and four others.

 Minister of Transport Joseph Martin Kitumba said in a statement released late Tuesday that the licenses of Air Katanga Express and Katanga Wings had been suspended as Congolese and American experts investigate the crash of the Gulfstream 3 jet.

The Gulfstream IV crash in Bukavu

 The Katanga Express plane went down Sunday as it attempted to land at Bukavu airport in eastern Congo. Among the five bodies pulled out of the wreck was Augustin Katumba Mwanke, described in United States diplomatic cables as "the power behind the throne" in Kabila's administration, according to WikiLeaks.

The plane's two pilots were also killed. There were 10 passengers on board.

The minister announced that a special commission will investigate the causes of the crash. Congo has one of the worst safety records in the world. Just two weeks ago, an Antonov plane crashed after it left the same airport in eastern Congo. Officials found the debris from the destroyed plane around 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the town of Namoya, where it was supposed to land an hour later.

Last July a plane operated by a different airline crashed, killing 85 people on board. The forested country has almost no good roads outside of the capital, forcing people to rely on badly-maintained flights or boats.

Each time, Congolese officials have promised an investigation. The death of the presidential adviser, who on Wednesday was posthumously awarded an honor, may finally prompt a more-in depth review. In addition to Mwanke, who was also the former governor of copper-rich Katanga province, the minister of finance, a provincial governor and one of Kabila's at-large ambassadors were also injured. The three were evacuated to South Africa for treatment.

"Given the urgency and the necessity, an investigative commission has been created and charged with leading an investigation into the probable cause of the accident, and determining responsibility," said the statement.

Congo expert Jason Stearns wrote on his blog that Mwanke's influence cannot be overstated. He had a direct hand in the country's mining contracts.

"He was the mastermind behind crucial financial deals, including most of the big mining deals concluded in the past decade. ... 'No mining contract is signed without Katumba's approval,' is a phrase I heard more than once among Kinshasa businessmen," wrote Stearns, author of a history of Congo's conflict. "Rasputin, Dick Cheney, eminence grise -- these were all epithets applied to Katumba." 

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Indian Airlines staff not paid for two months!

Indian Airlines are seeing red!
Indian airlines have been faced by an unprecedented financial woes since last year and some have been unable to pay their staff since November last year! Some 18,000 staff of two major Indian airlines have not been paid since November 2011, according to  report from India's The Economic Times.
On Monday this week, Kingfisher Airlines delayed payments for the umpteenth time for its December salaries citing "large unanticipated payments" issued by their airline to creditors.  Employees of Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, have not been paid their January salaries.

KIngfisher Airlines Crew: Working without pay

Kingfisher Airlines CEO Sanjay Aggarwal in an email to employees informed them of the new delays in the issue of salaries "We got hit by a couple of large unanticipated payments which had to be addressed on an emergency basis," Kingfisher last paid employees in November last year. About 180 Kingfisher pilots, out of the airline's 700, have written to the management warning that they may not report duty if their December salaries are not paid soon.

Stiff competition in the market, rising fuel costs and low fares means Indian Airlines have posted a loss of $1 billion in the current financial year. Boeing has urged the cash-strapped carriers to increase fares by 15% to break even but with the brutal competition on the Indian aviation market, this is not even an option!

But the Indian airlines crew still report to work, hoping for the best. Staff from African airlines are quite lucky that their airlines are churning out a profit, they get paid on time, and still demand more salary increases!

Read Full story on the Economic Times

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AviaAssist Foundations Calls for Nomination for the African Aviator Award

The London-based AviAssist Foundation has called for nominations for the African Aviator Award, a statement said on Saturday.

The statement stated that the prestigious African Aviator Award was aimed at rewarding safety champions and promote entry of Africans in the aviation industry.

African Aviator Award to Promote Entry of Africans into the Aviation Industry

It will include a trip to the awarding event, US$500 in cash and a hand-lettered citation.
"Everyday, thousands of professionals in Africa contribute to making commercial aviation the safest form of transportation,"the statement said.

"They do so not because they expect special recognition. They think safety and act in ways that promote safety because they know the aviation industry depends on it, and because it is the right thing to do."

It said aggregate data for the entire continent masks the gains from their professionalism and the role of safety champions among them.

The statement said that AviAssist Foundation could not salute all these men and women individually, "although it pays tribute to them through its work".

"From 2012 onwards, the AviAssist Foundation will single out individuals or teams that have made especially outstanding contributions to risk reduction, often during long periods or entire careers and award the African Aviator Award," AviAssist Director Tom Kok, said.

He disclosed that each year, the AviAssist Foundation will select a particular aviation profession as the focus for the award.

For 2012, the selected profession for the award is Air Traffic Management/Control in its widest sense, with the award being offered in co-operation with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), Kok stated.

The recipient of this prestigious international award will be selected by an independent selection board from among candidates nominated by aviation professionals and organizations worldwide.
The winner of the 2012 award will be selected from the nominations.

The deadline for nominations for the African Aviator award is September 1, 2012.

The award will be presented during an award dinner and awards ceremony at the 2012 CANSO Global ATM Safety Conference in Cape Town, South Africa on 29 October-2 November, in front of an audience of industry leaders and colleagues.

The 2012 award was instituted by the AviAssist Foundation in co-operation with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation CANSO with sponsoring from among others CANSO, ATNS South Africa and KLM Airlines 


Read More on African Aviator Award
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Why the Airlines are Bankrupt (INFOGRAPHIC)

FrugalDad.com has put up an awesome Infographic on why airlines charge high fees for their services and at the end of the year, make very large losses. Yet another reason to invest your money elsewhere, but at least in Africa, aviation is booming, so some airlines in this region will continue making marginal profits.

A throw back to the years before 1978, American aviation was highly regulated including fares, schedules and routes. The only American airline that could fly international was PanAm and airlines then had to compete purely on services. With the deregulation came in new players and competitors and many airlines soon went under or filed for bankruptcy.

Airlines are also losing cash, lots of it, through Online Travel Agencies like Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, Opodo. American Airlines alone paid 4% of their operating expenses to OTAs or an estimated $976million in 2010. Learn more on why your favorite airline filed for bankruptcy below:


Source: http://frugaldad.com

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Kenya Police Air Wing first African customer of Eurocopter’s AS350B3e

The Kenya Police Air Wing has become the first African customer to receive Eurocopter’s AS350B3e Ecureuil helicopter, which features an uprated power plant for better overall performance aimed at expanding the force's airborne law enforcement and crime prevention unit.

The aircraft is dedicated to police law enforcement and crime prevention missions including anti-poaching, anti-terrorism operations. It will also be deployed in search & rescue, casualty evacuation, personnel transport and various other civic protection roles.

EuroCopter's AS350B3e

The Kenya Police Air-Wing is the first African customer for the AS350 B3e, which features an uprated Turbomeca Arriel 2D turbine engine allowing better takeoff performance.

Range and payload was a primary consideration in selecting the AS350 B3e as the Air-Wing required a helicopter capable of patrolling both the dense built up area around the major cities, Nairobi and Mombasa, but also to cover smaller towns and communities spread over large areas. Kenya has a land area of 580 000 square kilometres and a population of nearly 39 million residents. It has a diverse geography including a long Indian Ocean coastline. Inland, the terrain varies from savannah grasslands to forests, mountains and even dessert regions.

The AS350 has also been ordered by law enforcement agencies in Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Some 5 000 Ecureuil helicopters have been delivered in 98 countries for some 1 600 operators. These aircraft have cumulated more than 21 million flight hours.

The AS350 was assembled by Eurocopter’s subsidiary Eurocopter Southern Africa at Grand Central airport, South Africa, and ferried to Kenya in early December. Eurocopter Southern Africa won the Kenyan order after a competitive tender.

Established in 1994, the subsidiary employs 80 people to generate an annual turnover of over R300 million through the sale of helicopters and the maintenance of approximately 250 in the region. Able to provide technical as well as pilot training, Eurocopter Southern Africa is currently deploying a full flight Super Puma simulator in Johannesburg to offer basic and advanced simulator training to its African customers’ base.



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African Airlines Association Opposes European Emissions Trading System(ETS)

As predicted by former IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani, it seems Europe's stubborn, unilateral inclusion of foreign airlines into its Emissions Trading System will fail eventually or worse still, spark a trade war. The EU ETS naturally creates a trade imbalance as other countries are not imposing carbon taxes on EU airlines. AFRAA has now joined the EU and China to oppose the the EU ETS, perhaps this crisis can force governments to work harder on the ICAO process to come up with harmonized global framework that does not leave people behind. Europe's unilateral move will however draw significant push back from world powers and at the end, it's the passengers who will pay the highest price. If the airlines' lobbying will not get the EU and other governments to behave, then they will simply pass on the costs to travelers.

Under EU Emissions Trading System,  EU and foreign airlines will purchase carbon credits in the EU to offset their greenhouse emissions in the region. Initially covering power stations, combustion plants, oil refineries and iron and steel works, as well as factories making cement, glass, lime, bricks, ceramics, pulp, paper and board. Aviation was later included.

Although several key African airlines have complied with the EU Emission Trading Scheme, and at a very substantial cost, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has now taken up the matter once again with a public statement issued from the association’s office in Nairobi, opposing the launch of it and demanding wider consultations between the European Union and affected countries around the world.


This happened after Chinese airlines have vowed not to comply and American airlines have taken the matter to court, paving the way for a potentially crippling trade war between the EU on one side and America and Far Eastern countries on the other side of the divide, with independent analysts and observers estimating that the damage to Europe’s trading position in the world could take a serious hit.

The uncompromising stand by the EU Commission, now also hiding behind a ruling by the European Court, that they have the right to impose such unilateral schemes, had also not helped as the wisdom of the move continues to be challenged from around the world.

There is, in particular, emerging talk of "punishing" the EU as a trade block by increasing trade between the opponents of the scheme and, in particular, sidelining European attempts to get rich mineral and mining concessions in Africa by giving access to such resources to North American and Asian competitors.

Said a regular source from Nairobi a few days ago: "… so, of course, we have to comply, because otherwise we can risk huge fines or even have an aircraft detained. But we support the initiative of AFRAA and have for a while said the EU should engage in further talks and not slap the rest of the world with unilateral taxes."
At the same time, the EU’s aviation black list has also come under fire and scrutiny again, as, in particular, African airlines have been banned from the EU’s air space. Here, the same source said; "… but, of course, we are aware of safety issues in countries like Sudan or Congo, which have the worst record in Africa, if not the world. But then look at Russia, they had lots of crashes, too, and there is no blanket ban for them like we Africans are suffering. But then Russia has muscle, has influence, has oil and gas, and the EU will not dare treat them in such an openly contemptuous manner as they treat us.

"As aviators, we all agree with the need to improve safe operations, adhere to maintenance requirements and train crews in line with international ICAO standards, but we often feel the EU has a hidden agenda and no amount of denials has changed that, in fact, some of their denials read like a confirmation of our suspicions."

Additional information from eTurbo News
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