FAA makes Zero Tolerance policy against unruly passengers permanent

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on April 20, 2022 that its Zero Tolerance Policy against unruly passengers will be made permanent.

The FAA implemented the policy on January 13, 2021, after seeing an increase in unruly passenger incidents in airports and on flights. Under the policy, the FAA issues fines to passengers for unruly behavior instead of warning letters or counseling.  

In November 2021, the number of incidents reached over 5,000. It was enough for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to direct US attorneys to prioritize the prosecution of airline passengers who have committed federal crimes aboard aircraft.

According to the FAA, the Zero Tolerance policy, combined with the agency’s public awareness campaign, has helped reduce the incident rate by more than 60%. The FAA said it will continue to work with its airline, labor, airport and security and law enforcement partners to help drive down the number of incidents.   

“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement. 

“Unsafe behavior simply does not fly and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior.”   

One of the key issues resulting in unruly behavior over the past year has been mask-wearing on board aircraft. However, a federal judge this week voided the mask mandate on public transport. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

ET, AFRAA and UTD Aviation Solutions to re-establish African Aviation Renaissance in MRO Services

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.

Air Tanzania almost halves its operating losses, Auditor General reveals

A report detailing the performance of Air Tanzania Company (ATCL) during the fiscal year 2020/21, has revealed that the airline increased its revenue and almost halved its losses for that period. 

The performance of the flag carrier’s regional fleet contributed to the airline’s increase in revenue. ATCL’s four Bombardier Q400s and two Airbus A220s broke-even after recording a marginal profit of TZS 12.26 billion ($5.27 million) and TZS 12.09 billion ($5.20 million) respectively for the year ending June 30, 2021. 

According to Tanzania’s Controller and Auditor General, Charles E Kichere, ATCL reduced its total losses by 40% in FY 2020/21 compared to FY 2019/20. The airline cut its operating losses from TZS 60.25 billion ($25.9 million) in 2019/20 to TZS 36.18 billion ($15.5 million) in 2020/21.  

Kichere ascribed the reduction to ATCL’s management trimming the airline’s direct costs by 3%. 

Additionally, the flag carrier increased its total revenue by TZS 16.99 billion ($7.31 million) to record TZS 174.59 billion ($75.1 million) during the year 2020/21, up from TZS 157.60 billion ($6.78 million) in 2019/20. This is an 11% increase from the previous year, says Kichere. 

Despite being hampered by low demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report attributes ATCL’s financial results to the performance of its fleet. 

“The consecutive losses were due to inability of the individual aircraft to attain break-even point,” said Kichere. 

From June 30, 2021, ATCL operated a fleet of nine aircraft: two Boeing 787s, four Bombardier Q400s, two Airbus A220s and One Dash-8 Q300. 

However, Air Tanzania’s single Dash-8 Q300 was not operational in 2020/21, having been grounded for more than three years over unresolved repair issues.  

A delay in starting operations on international routes contributed to the underperformance of airline’s long-haul fleet. ATCL’s 787s recorded higher operational costs than revenue generated, resulting in a loss of TZS 23.61 billion ($10.1 million). 

Kichere said: “The underperformance of the Boeing aircraft was attributed to the reasons of low load factors, few destinations (routes) in comparison with planned cycles.”  

Source: Aerotime Hub

Airlines increase frequency on Kisumu route ahead of cities fete

Local airlines are increasing frequency on the Kisumu route ahead of next month’s Africities summit.

The ninth edition of the meeting is scheduled to take place between May 16 and May 21 and is expected to host more than 8,000 delegates.

Kisumu International Airport manager Selina Gor says some of the local airlines had started recording advanced bookings as early as February.

Airlines like Jambojet Airlines are overstretched and contemplating adding another flight to meet the demand.

“Kenya Airways and Jambojet have confirmed they may increase the frequency of flights. They will give us new schedules at the end of the month,” said Ms Gor.

Safarilink Airline has indicated that they may increase their frequencies from three to four.

“Fly 748 are still in discussion at their senior management level on the increase of flights. They will revert with a schedule,” she said.

The budget carrier Jambojet has more flights to Kisumu compared to other destinations. Jambojet does 27 flights weekly from Nairobi to Kisumu.

The national carrier Kenya Airways is currently connecting to Kisumu with 21 flights weekly. Likewise, Safarilink Airline does four times daily flights to Kisumu.

“AirKenya, unless there will be requests for charters, they have indicated they will maintain their present frequency,” said Ms Gor.

Air Renegade sales and marketing manager Patrick Oketch has added a flight at 11 am to keep up with the increasing demand.

“We will have four daily flights to cater to more passengers including those who might not be necessarily coming for the Africities Summit,” said Mr Oketch.

Already Kenya Airport Authority has set aside sh250 million for the expansion of the Kisumu International Airport passenger terminal to accommodate more passengers.

The project is geared towards accommodating one million passengers annually from the current 500000 passengers.

Source: Business Daily

Kenya Airways, SAA Plan Investor Hunt for Pan-Africa Carrier

Kenya Airways Plc and South African Airways are planning a series of investor roadshows to help find a financial backer for a combined airline group they aim to create next year.

The campaign to attract a majority investor for a holding company to be modeled on British Airways and Iberia owner IAG SA is likely to start before the end of the northern-hemisphere summer, Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said in an interview on Thursday. Events will be staged in Africa, London and the U.S.

The governments of Kenya and South Africa plan to take a minority stake in the venture, which has the working name Pan-African Airline Group, Kilavuka said. The carriers are also seeking to recruit a third member from West Africa, most likely in Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast or Senegal, he said.

“There has been cooperation in the past but only short-term steps like interlining,” the CEO said at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in northwest England. “What we are talking about now is very different. African aviation is so fragmented with 200 or 300 airlines, but only a handful are viable and even they are not very strong.”

The push to create an enlarged airline out of sub-Saharan Africa’s second- and third-biggest carriers — they trail Ethiopian Airlines Group — began last year with a government-level accord followed by an agreement on a strategic framework for the company. Kilavuka said the focus is on securing backing from a financial institution rather than an industry partner like a Gulf carrier, as that might compromise plans to split long-haul flights between their respective hubs.

Different Hubs 

According to one scenario, SAA’s Johannesburg base would be a focus for southern-hemisphere operations, such as flights to Sydney, while operations to Asia would go through Nairobi. The hubs would be able to maintain some competing flights, and cities such as London would get services from both.

A spokeswoman for SAA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

“Following discussions between the two governments, there have been exploratory talks between the airlines,” South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said by text. “There is certainly scope for a well considered pan-African airline group.”

Kilavuka said that Kenya Airways needs to complete a restructuring before the new venture can proceed, though a round of cost cuts should be done by June. The government, as the biggest shareholder, is supporting the process but requires the carrier to reduce its network, fleet size and workforce, Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani said in his budget speech Thursday.

As for taking a share in the combined airline group, it’s “a work in progress,” Joseph Njoroge, principal secretary of state for the Department for Transport, said by phone.

Close Collaboration

Kenya Airways and SAA are meanwhile collaborating more closely than ever before, Kilavuka said, implementing code-share agreements and mutual lounge access and examining the case for a cost and revenue sharing joint venture on the Nairobi-Johannesburg route.

Other areas of cooperation could include joint training and maintenance, while surplus Boeing Co. 787 wide-body jets from the Kenya fleet may be operated by SAA after the South African firm’s aircraft roster was reduced after a lengthy spell in bankruptcy protection. The government, having been forced into repeated bailouts of the flagship carrier, sold a majority stake to a local jet-leasing company and private-equity firm last year. 

It’s also possible that the carriers will take steps to consolidate their alliance membership, with Kenya Airways quitting the Skyteam group or SAA exiting rival Star, Kilavuka said. The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM could also exit its roughly 7% holding in the Kenyan company, he said. 

Source: Bloomberg

What is Afrozons Dubai Soundoff? Dubai’s new Black diaspora festival

Dubai Tourism recently teamed up with Afrozons Radio and host Sheila O. to create Afrozons Dubai Soundoff, a travel experience dedicated to the Black diaspora.

Afrozons Dubai Soundoff is a premier travel experience put on by the Dubai Tourism Board in partnership with Afrozons Radio and host Sheila O. to promote the coming together of the Black diaspora in Dubai. But this one-of-a-kind voyage is not limited to people living in the United Arab Emirates. Afrozons Dubai Soundoff is intended to encourage the merger of Black nations and people of Black descent from all over the world.

When you think of Dubai, you might think of skyscrapers, modern architecture, and the most luxurious city and nightlife scenes. But if there’s one thing you might not directly correlate to the glossy emirate, it’s a festival solely dedicated to unifying the Black diaspora. That’s where Afrozons come in.

At this festival, you can expect to indulge in a variety of activities, including a welcome reception, an Afrobeat concert, dune camel rides, safari excursions, dinners, parties, and panels featuring heavy-hitting celebrities from 14 countries, including the United States, Ghana, Kenya, the United Kingdom, and more. The festival’s mission is to fully inaugurate Dubai as a top destination for the Black diaspora to enjoy.

Sheila O., whose full name is Sheila Okonji-Ashinze, is a well-known music and entertainment personality and mogul who made history in 2017 as the first international female media personality to bring an Afrobeat radio show, Afrozons, to major U.S radio stations. For the last five years, Afrozons Radio has been broadening the American musical ear with the delightful sounds of Afrobeat on Power 92.3 in Chicago, and is also syndicated on channel 141, SiriusXM HURVoices. The two-hour show demonstrates the diversity of the Black diaspora’s music, playing hip-hop, urban, and R&B but as its title suggests, Afrozons’ main focus has been to integrate Afrobeat into America, which it has successfully achieved since 2017.

Afrozons Dubai Soundoff was imagined by Sheila O., who rallied the support of Dubai’s Department for Economy and Tourism. Together, they successfully brought over 500 people to Dubai in March 2022 to experience Black culture in a new city. Celebrities and radio personalities like Big Tigger, Loni Love, and Dj Bay Bay joined the event while several personalities from the U.K. and Africa including Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, and Nigeria pulled up to the fun, too.

Sam Selolwane from RCA Records credited Afrozons for bringing greater awareness of Afrobeats to the U.S., telling Black Enterprise that “Afrozons has been ahead of the curve introducing Afrobeats to this side of the world for quite some time.

“Sheila’s dedication to the artists and genre has helped catapult these artists and helped turn them into the household names we know today,” she added.

Having seen her vision come to fruition, Sheila O. described working with the Dubai Tourism Board to bring Black travelers to Dubai as a fantasy. “I’m a girl born in Lagos, Nigeria. I grew up in London. Yes, I live in Chicago, but Dubai is a dream come true,” she said.

Based on the success of the event, Dubai plans on welcoming Black travelers to the City of Gold annually through Afrozons Dubai Soundoff, with a sweepstakes to win a trip to the venture likely to start around the fourth quarter of the year. Issam Kazim, marketing CEO for the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce, told Black Enterprise. “It’s a proud moment to have Afrozons here in Dubai, celebrating here with us in a city that [has] over 200 different nationalities that call Dubai home.”

Source: Yahoo News

Unregistered tour operators still plying their trade, says CAG

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

Safarilink to restart Kitale flights after two-year break

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

Foreign airlines in Nigeria to begin ticket sales in dollars

APG Interline E-Ticketing (APG IET), an airline servicing firm, on Wednesday announced that it would begin sales of air tickets in U.S. dollars from April 19 amidst scarcity of foreign currency in Nigeria.

“Dear travel partners, warm greetings from APG. This is to bring to your notice that with effect from April 19, 2022, GP would only accept issuing of tickets in US dollars and not naira,” APG IET said in a travel advisory to its trade partners.

The group said the move became necessary due to the difficulty in repatriating airlines’ funds stuck in Nigeria and other countries, coupled with foreign exchange fluctuations.

“This is mainly due to repatriation issues and the forex situation in the country. This would most likely be a temporary measure till the forex situation improves,” the firm said.

This is coming less than three weeks after Nigeria’s aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, asked the federal government to grant access to both local and foreign airlines to foreign exchange.

Trapped funds

Last month, Mr Sirika asked the Nigerian government to facilitate the repatriation of ticket sales proceeds trapped in Nigeria.

The minister said Nigeria currently holds $283 million worth of foreign airlines’ funds in the country.

“Aviation business suffers from issues of foreign exchange by local and foreign airlines and their inability to repatriate blocked funds. Nigeria currently holds $283mn worth of foreign airlines funds in the country. I humbly ask for the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria through the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari, to aid access of both local and foreign airlines to foreign exchange,” the minister said.

According to the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) with countries, airline tickets are mostly sold in naira while the airlines would repatriate the funds in dollars through the country’s central bank.

The federal government in 2018 cleared $600 million blocked funds but there has since been a backlog.

Analysts say the decision by the APG IET may worsen the challenges faced by air travellers in Nigeria who may have to source forex from the black market to purchase their tickets.

The notable carriers on the APG IET platforms include South African Airways, South African Airways, Fly Dubai, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Rwandair, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, French Bee, Egypt Air, ASKY, Air Seychelles, Air Algerie, and Air Namibia.

Others are Air Panama, Air Burkina, Avianca, Bangkok Airways, Cabo Verde Airlines, Fiji Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, and Malaysian Air amongst others.

Some of the carriers which fly directly into Nigeria are South Africa Airways, Turkish Airlines, Asky Airlines, Egypt Air, Royal Air Maroc, Middle East Airlines, Rwandair and Kenya Airways.

Source: Premium Times

African traffic set for rise, but fuel costs concerning, reports AFRAA

African passenger traffic is set to rise but the recovery may be hit by the recent spike in jet fuel prices, says the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in its latest report. 

In a statement released by the association, passenger traffic volumes across Africa have remained depressed, however the sector is making ground in its recovery. 

In March 2022, African airlines’ capacity reached 67.3% and traffic 56% compared to the same month in 2019, according to AFRAA estimates.  

AFRAA estimates the sector revenues will fall by $4.7 billion compared to 2019 levels.  In 2021, revenue for African airlines fell by $8.6 billion compared to 2019 levels.  

“In Africa, the jet fuel price hike is worrying and has the potential to slow down the travel recovery,” the association commented. “Platts estimates that the total impact of the price increases on the overall jet fuel bill will reach $86.3 billion based on an estimated average price of $115 per barrel.” 

Travel in and across Africa is continuing to make a steady recovery towards pre-covid levels.  

In February 2022, intra-African connectivity reached 72% of pre-covid levels. AFRAA estimates that this will increase to 75% in March 2022 as travel restrictions continue to ease across several African states. 

Domestic traffic in Africa accounted for the largest share of capacity and passengers carried on the continent. This is in comparison to intra-Africa traffic (flights from one African country to another African country) and intercontinental traffic (flights to and from an African country to a destination outside Africa). 

According to AFRAA: “domestic demand at 46.5% outperformed intra-Africa and intercontinental [demand] which remained subdued at 31.3% and 22.3% for intra-Africa and intercontinental respectively.” 

However, African airlines made significant ground in expanding their international operations. In February 2022 African airlines “reinstated approximately 79.9% of their pre-Covid international routes,” according to the report.  

“Five African airlines continued their international routes expansion drive and had surpassed the number of international routes operated pre-Covid,” added AFRAA. 

AFRAA also said that 10 other African airlines either re-opened suspended routes or launched new international routes. 

Source: Aerotime Hub