Sabre and Air India ink deal to enable travel sellers globally to access Air India fares and inventory through Sabre’s Global Distribution System (GDS) while creating optimal network plans for the carrier’s existing and future fleet

Ethiopian Airlines MRO, UTD Aviation Solutions and the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) have signed a tripartite MoU to work together on Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services in pursuance of The Brown Condor Initiative (BCI).

The signing ceremony took place at Ethiopian Airlines headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Brown Condor Initiative (BCI) is a joint initiative which was conceptualized in 2020 and officially launched by UTD Aviation Solutions and AFRAA in May 2021. The BCI project is aimed at providing a platform for AFRAA members with Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities to relieve the USA MRO workforce crunch in terms of both facilities and manpower constraints, as well as support other airlines from USA in MRO services and aircraft spares.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, AFRAA Secretary-General stated: “This signing ceremony with Ethiopian Airlines is a significant milestone in the Brown Condor project. We express our appreciation to Ethiopian Airlines as the first African airline to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will operationalize the objectives of this robust Project.”

“For 2 years, as part of the industry recovery measures at AFRAA, we have been working with partners to bring solutions to our members to reduce costs or increase revenues. We look forward to onboarding other AFRAA airlines with EASA or FAA Certified MRO capabilities onto this project. Our joint efforts reflect a paradigm shift in the MRO industry.” Mr. Berthé added.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Mesfin Tassew on his part, said: Ethiopian MRO Services, as the largest MRO service provider in Africa, is continuously increasing its capacity and expanding its reach to customers in the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. We are pleased to sign this MoU with UTD and AFRAA as it is in line with our plan to increase our market reach and build our presence in North America and tap into the big potential market in the region.”

“The pandemic has exposed how delicate the aviation pipeline truly is. OEMs and MROs have a consistent demand for airframe checks and engine shop visits, and relatively predictable demand for new repaired and used spares. Without a major Paradigm Shift, we will never find a solution. The African Aviation Renaissance is the Paradigm Shift needed for the solution to this Crisis.

This Tripartite Agreement will correct the trajectory of the Aviation come back. “said Dahir Mohammed, President and CEO of UTD Aviation Solutions.

The MoU will forge collaboration between AFRAA member Airlines’ associated MROs with US Airlines, MROs, OEMS, Distributors and other US civil aviation organizations companies. The management of the Airline’s MRO excess of spare parts inventory both locally and from the USA shall be coordinated through a virtual consignments platform.

The Brown Condor Initiative is code-named after Colonel John C. Robinson the first African American aviator who also participated in the Ethiopian victorious war against Italy. Colonel John C. Robinson was enlisted by the then Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as a fighter pilot.

He immediately began training young Ethiopians in the technical complexities of aviation, especially pilots in preparation for war. For his daring service amid Ethiopian skies, Robinson earned international renown as the “Brown Condor of Ethiopia.” Through this unique joint initiative, UTD Aviation and AFRAA seek to re-establish the African aviation renaissance in MRO services and aircraft spares.

Dar es Salaam. The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed the presence of unregistered tourism operators in the sector due to ineffective registration and licensing by the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT).

The CAG, Mr Charles Kichere in the 2020/21 performance audit report on the development and promotion of Tanzania’s tourism sector says that the MNRT had unrealistic targets for registration and licensing.

Report says the CAG interview with tourism officials indicated the presence of tourism operators who conduct their business without being registered by the MNRT.

It says most operators including those engaged in provision of accommodation facilities and most other businesses do not have physical offices and addresses, hence making it difficult to track their activities. “Similarly, interviewed tourism police officers stated that, there were cases of unregistered companies that are doing tourism business, with some of them claimed to be involved in criminal cases,” reads part of the report.

Furthermore, the report says that around 199 cases of unregistered companies were submitted to MNRT by tourism police, noting that upon verification 50 companies were confirmed to operate without registration. Reviewing fraud incidents, the report says that 12 online companies operated without registration and unlawfully obtained money by arranging tour visits from potential visitors/customers who directly communicated with them.

“Report indicated that, cases of such companies who obtained money fraudulently from visitors who contacted those companies directly was estimated to be more than $59,580 which is equivalent to Sh137 million,” reads part of report.

Report warns that presence of unregistered tourism operators pose a huge risk of provision of unqualified or substandard services as well as fraud incidents to visitors.

“Also, the image of the country in the tourism sector will be distorted if MNRT does not improve its enforcement in enhancing registration of tourism facilities and activities,” according to the report.

Regarding registration and licensing targets, the report says that the MNRT Strategic Plan 2016/17 to 2020/21 targeted registration of 2,051 tourism business operators.

However, according to an analysis of annual implementation reports from 2016/17 to 2020/21, MNRT was found to have registered and licensed 9,431 tourism facilities, which is equivalent to 460 percent of the target.

“This implies that MNRT had an unrealistic target for registration and licensing of tour operators since the target was achieved by 460 percent,” according to the report.

Availed data for auditing shows that registration of tourism facilities and activities increased from 1,269 in 2016/17 to 2,231 in 2020/21, but the number declined from 1,869 in 2017/18 to 540 in 2018/19.

According to the report, the decline could have been caused by failure to carry analysis to projected realistic numbers of registration and licensing targets.

Underestimated targets make it difficult to measure the performance of the MNRT.

Source: The Citizen

Domestic carrier Safarilink will on April 21 restart direct flights to Kitale after a two-year hiatus, following the reopening of the airstrip after renovation.

The airline that was launched in 2004 and markets itself as a tourist destination carrier will deploy a Dash 8-100 type of aircraft on the route flying five times a week down from a daily frequency to Kitale starting April 21, 2022.

Passengers heading to Kitale from Nairobi will pay Sh6,500 on a one-way ticket, prices that are relatively cheaper than when the airline stopped operations on the route.

Kitale was one of the routes operated by the carrier in the North Rift region from its hub at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

The return of Safarilink to the North Rift town in Trans-Nzoia County is set to step up competition on pricing with other low-cost carriers planning to resume operations on the route.

The airline suspended flights to Kitale in early 2020 following the renovation of the airport.

Works on the project entailed expanding the runway to accommodate larger aircrafts.

“We will be resuming passenger operations from Nairobi to Kitale on April 21, 2022,” said Safarilink CEO Alex Avedi told the Business Daily in an interview on Friday.

Safarilink flies to major tourist destinations of Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Lewa Downs, Samburu, Lamu and Kilimanjaro, among other routes.

It also provides charter flight services across the East African region.

East African aviation formerly Fly-SAX also used to fly directly to Kitale from Wilson Airport and its comeback on the route is set to offer competition for customers flying in and out of the town known for its food production.

Eldoret, which is about 70 kilometres from Kitale, was also previously served by Fly540 which also increased its flights to the town early 2015.

Skyward Express on the other hand started flying to Eldoret in August 2015, adding to its other routes of Wajir, Mandera, Lodwar and Kisumu and Mombasa which were added later on.

Source: Business Daily