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

Cancellations, strikes and COVID-19 hits Europe as Easter travel chaos continues

Travel chaos is an inevitable consequence of almost every holiday. During some holidays, the impact on the travel industry is minimal, but during others, it can be far more disruptive.  

This year, however, holidaymakers have already seen their Easter plans thrown into disarray. With warnings of further travel disruptions still to come, Easter 2022 could possibly be one of the most disruptive periods to date, with record traffic numbers, staff shortages and COVID-related absences all adding to the chaos.  

Usually, flight cancellations during the Easter holiday season are caused by one specific reason, rather than multiple events. For example, in 2021 the Easter period coincided with Delta Airlines (DAL), one of the largest American carriers, facing crew shortages due to several factors, including staff members reporting side effect following their COVID-19 vaccinations. Other airlines, particularly in Europe, managed to avoid the same fate, and the wave of flight cancellations were specific to Delta.  

In 2019, cancellations in Europe were largely confined to Spain, as the country faced widespread strike action by airport employees. In the US, severe storms disrupted schedules in multiple states, resulting in more than 1000 cancellations across the Eastern coast, while the remainder of the US was unaffected.  

2018 saw one of the worst Easters in aviation for decades, as travel in Europe was paralyzed by Eurocontrol system failures. In the US, a cyclone, dubbed ‘nor’easter’, led to thousands of cancelations during the week before the festive weekend. 

Unprecedented chaos  

In 2022, however, it seems that many of these factors have combined to cause unprecedented chaos. And with the Easter weekend just a few days away, many European countries have already been reporting a surge in cancellations unlike anything the industry has experienced before.  

In the United Kingdom, airports have been impacted by a spike in COVID-related absences, resulting in delays and cancellations. The disruption is showing little sign of coming under control before the Easter weekend, as British Airways and easyJet, the nation’s two largest carriers, continue to suffer as a result of staff shortages and the resulting disruptions.  

Additionally, many popular holiday destinations, such as Spain and Malta, have scaled back restrictions ahead of the Easter break. Since then, Spain announced that it would be expanding its public transport schedules to cope with the increased demand, as well as the possible spillover of the chaos seen at UK airports.  

However, Spain and Portugal are still reeling from the aftermath of historic storms, with disruption expected to last for weeks to come.  

Strike action, standstills and staff shortages  

The outcome of strike action looms larger still with airport staff in at least five European countries, many of which are considered major travel destinations, having organized or announced strikes in the days leading up to Easter.  

A union strike by Italy’s air traffic control (ATC) workers is expected to have minimal effect on travel due to its short duration and preemptive measures to mitigate its impact, implemented by Spanish authorities. Similarly, unprecedented walkouts of German airport workers, which resulted in thousands of flights cancellations during the last week, appear to have led to agreements and a return to schedule. However, German airports have still reported a shortage of workers, warning that the numbers are inadequate to manage the surge in travelers during the Easter period.  

However, the impact of strike action by air traffic controllers in Poland is expected to be far greater. Conflict between ATC workers and the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) has resulted in staff shortages across the country’s airports leading to an unprecedented number of flight delays and cancellations. Alongside an increase in travel associated with the relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions and the wider effect of the war in Ukraine, the ongoing strike action has prompted Poland’s Civil Aviation Authority to issue a warning to passengers that the difficulties could continue.  

In Portugal, airport security companies, alongside baggage handlers from at least one major airport, called for strikes leading up to Easter. Similarly, an indefinite strike notice was issued by a Belgian trade union to Ryanair management in Dublin on behalf of the Belgium-based cabin crew of the low-cost airline. Lastly, Heathrow cargo handlers have also threatened to strike, a development that could bring air transportation in the UK to a near standstill. 

Trade unions across Europe say the strikes are a response to major blunders in post-pandemic policy and planning that has resulted in airports being understaffed and employees overworked and underpaid. If true, this could be as devastating as the pandemic itself, at least in the short term. 

However, it is too early to tell if these factors will result in the worst Easter in the history of air travel. But, so far, the signs suggest that it could well be the case, as thousands of travelers face the possibility of spending a significant part of their Easter break stranded in European airports.

Source: Aerotime Hub

Competition heats up in Uganda with startups lining up

Competition in the Ugandan air service sector is set to receive a shot in the arm with the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) having received four new applications for air services licenses (ASLs) after having greenlighted startup Bar Aviation (Kajjansi) earlier this year, according to local media reports.

New Vision newspaper reports that Ugandan engineering and construction company Dott Services Limited, Safari Air International Limited, freight company Panafrica Aviation Limited, and Aberdair Aviation Uganda Limited – the Ugandan affiliate of Kenya’s Aberdair Aviation Group – will defend their ASL applications before the UCAA on May 5, 2022.

They report the licenses are for the following:

  • Dott Services Limited has applied for an ASL to operate a Cessna 510;
  • Safari Air International Limited has applied for an ASL to operate Cessna Aircraft Company 421C Golden Eagle, Beech (twin piston) Baron G58, and the Fuji FA-200 Aero Subaru single-piston-powered monoplane;
  • Panafric Aviation Limited has applied for an ASL using Piper (twin turboprop) PA-34 Seneca; and
  • Aberdair Aviation Uganda Limited has applied for an ASL using DHC-8-300, E110, and Airbus H125 helicopter.

The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) was not immediately available for comment.

As reported, Bar Aviation launched domestic schedules from Entebbe/Kampala to four national parks in the country in an interline partnership with Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe/Kampala) on February 1, 2022, with a Cessna (single turboprop)208B Grand Caravan.

Uganda currently has only four scheduled active airlines, including national carrier Uganda Airlines, which holds about 46% market share (in terms of weekly aircraft seat capacity) at Entebbe/Kampala; AirKenya subsidiary AeroLink Uganda (A8, Entebbe/Kampala) has a 45% market share, and Eagle Air (EGU, Entebbe/Kampala), which provides domestic and charter flights to East and Central Africa.

Source: Ch-aviation

Dubai leads the world in business travel recovery

Dubai has outpaced London to become the top destination for global business travel this year, as the United Arab Emirates has seen the strongest travel recovery of any country, according to data from travel technology firm Travelport.

Travelport’s figures show bookings to Dubai in 2022 are outpacing its 2019 performance by 14 per cent, with the UK providing the most visitors to the destination.

The emirate ranks fifth in the world in terms of recovery for individual destinations, with leisure-focused destinations such as the Dominican Republic, Montego Bay in Jamaica and the Mexican resort of Cancun topping the list.

Travelport reported that corporate travel has made up nearly one-third (29 per cent) of Dubai’s total bookings this year, putting the emirate at the top of the list of global business travel destinations so far in 2022. London had been the top corporate destination in 2019 before the Covid-19 crisis.

Dubai’s high vaccination rate as well as hosting major events including Expo 2020 Dubai and the Dubai World Cup horse race have contributed to the recovery, said Travelport.

The Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh has recovered at an even faster rate than Dubai this year with bookings 15 per cent ahead of 2019 levels. 

Bookings across the entire UAE are currently up 10 per cent from 2019 levels, higher than any other country in the world, added Travelport.

On a global scale, bookings have recovered to about two-thirds (67 per cent) of pre-pandemic levels.

Source: BTN