Travel agents in East Africa have been thrust into a state of uncertainty after Saham insurance announced that they would not be renewing the Default Insurance Program (DIP) for the year 2020.

This was after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) introduced new requirements that Saham insurance refused to comply with.

The withdrawal of this facility means that travel agents have less than three months to come up with a solution on financial security to ensure that the ticket sales market is not affected.

Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) CEO Mr. Nicanor Sabula said that the Association has reached out to IATA to provide an immediate solution to the impasse.

“We have engaged with various industry stakeholders including government agencies in an effort to find a quick and favourable solution,” he added.

Mr. Sabula urged members to remain calm as the Association works towards finding a lasting resolution.

Airlines globally use agents through a centralised distribution system to issue tickets to their clients. To participate in this ticketing platform, travel agents are required by IATA on behalf of airlines to provide financial security.

 

Kenya has been feted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for its enhance improvement in ensuring security to support the aviation sector.

The nation was awarded with the ICAO Council President Certificate in recognition to effective implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in Aviation Security in 2018.

Uganda and Rwanda among other 28 countries have also been feted.

In 2016, Kenya scored 88 per cent against the global average of 64 per cent in the ICAO Universal Security Audit Programme – Continuous Monitoring Approach ((USAP-CMA).

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) Director General Gilbert Kibe has reiterated the acknowledgement in ensuring that the Kenyan airspace is safe and secure for aviation consumers, saying it looks to improve the score in the upcoming USAP Audit in 2020.

“Over the years, the authority has strived towards improving our aviation security processes and systems in compliance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) which in turn have enhanced our National Aviation Security of the Kenyan airspace. This award gives us the impetus to do more,” Kibe said.

The awards, established by the ICAO Council in support of its ongoing No Country Left Behind initiative, were developed to recognise and encourage states’ commitment and progress in making the aviation global network safer and secure.

The implementation of SARPs is considered a fundamental prerequisite for establishing air transport’s rapid global connectivity, and in turn the realise socio-economic benefits for each nation.

 

Our Source: https://www.the-star.co.ke/business/2019-10-11-kenya-feted-for-enhancing-security-in-aviation-industry/

Qatar Airways is set to increase its flights between Mombasa and Doha in December, stepping up competition for struggling national carrier Kenya Airways.

The Middle East carrier, which operates three daily flights to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, said they would be flying to Mombasa five times a week, up from four. The additional flight will run from December 20 to March 27.

“The increase in frequency will allow passengers to enjoy the wonders that this coastal city has to offer, and locals will have more opportunities to enjoy Qatar Airways’ extensive global network of more than 160 destinations,” said group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker in a statement yesterday.

The airline would deploy Airbus A320 on the Mombasa route for the additional flight. The aircraft has 12 business class seats and 120 seats in economy class. The additional flight on Fridays will depart Doha at 02:30hrs to arrive in Mombasa at 08:40hrs and leave Mombasa at 16:50hrs to arrive in Doha at 23:05hrs.

“This increase allows for further growth, and strengthens the bonds between the State of Qatar and Kenya,” said Mr Al Baker.

Our Source: https://www.nation.co.ke/business/Qatar-Airways-increases-Mombasa/996-5315532-69bhd3/index.html

South Africa’s embattled state-owned airline is open to outside investment and in talks with a number of potential partners, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

The economy of the African continent’s most industrialized nation has come under ever growing pressure as the government grapples with lacklustre growth, high unemployment and a heavy debt burden, especially from state-owned enterprises such as South African Airways (SAA) and power firm Eskom.

“South African Airways is one of those state-owned enterprises that has relied on lots of state bailouts,” Ramaphosa told the FT Africa conference in London.

“We are on record as saying we are open to the participation of the private sector. As we speak now, we’re talking to a few interested parties when it comes to SAA.”

In September, the cash-strapped national airline said a government cash injection of 5.5 billion rand ($372 million) had been approved for the 2019/20 financial year but that it still needed more money.

Ramaphosa also said his government realized it had to pursue prudent fiscal policies in order to grow the economy, create jobs and attract investment.

“At a time when our fiscus is under great pressure, we are committed to ensuring debt sustainability, improving the composition of spending and reducing risks arising from contingent liabilities, especially of our state-owned enterprises.”

The government is due to publish a number of key papers and decisions in the coming days: a special paper laying out how to rescue Eskom and who will be the utility’s new chief executive as well as the country’s long-term energy plan, the so-called the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

Asked if he thought the government was doing enough to maintain its investment grade rating with Moody’s, Ramaphosa said he expected “Moody’s and others will be very happy.”

Moody’s is the last of the top three ratings firms to still rank Pretoria’s debt at investment grade – Baa3 with a stable outlook – and has not made a widely expected downgrade.

Our source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-economy-privatisation/south-african-airways-in-talks-with-potential-partners-idUSKBN1WT159

The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (Kalpa) has suspended talks with the Kenya Airways (KQ) management on a collective bargaining agreement after differing on how the airline should address its pilot shortage.

General-Secretary Murithi Nyagah in a letter to KQ’s outgoing Chief Executive Sebastian Mikosz, says the engagements had been halted until they engage in “fair and honest” talks.

“The Association hereby suspends participation in CBA negotiations due to gross violations of the CBA and the lack of goodwill thereof from management,” said Captain Nyagah.

He also notified Kalpa members that the union had filed a dispute in court after the talks collapsed.

“CBA negotiations will remain suspended until such a time we feel we are engaging in a fair and honest industrial climate. To this end the executive council is left with no choice but to declare a trade dispute at the Ministry of Labour,” said the letter dated October 14.

The airline, which has been losing Sh5.18 billion ($50 million) annually as a result of the shortage of pilots has been operating with 435 pilots.

The current number of pilots based on its fleets is 435 against a requirement of 497 pilots, resulting in a deficit of 62 pilots, according to the airline’s director of operations Paul Njoroge.

Forty-four of these pilots are also undergoing training due to the current promotion policy.

To bridge the pilot’s deficit, the airline has insisted on hiring 20 pilots for the Boeing 737 planes despite opposition from the union.

Our Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/companies/Kenya-Airways-salary-talks-with-pilots/4003102-5311154-hwvag1z/index.html

The Slovenian State Secretary within the Ministry for Economy, Eva Štravs Podlogar, has met with representatives of Germany’s Lufthansa in Frankfurt to “analyse the aviation market in the wake of Adria Airways’ bankruptcy”. Ms Štravs Podlogar was accompanied by both the CEO and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Slovenia’s Bank Assets Management Company. The ministry said it was examining legal and organisational alternatives that would help fill the void created by Adria’s demise, noting that talks with various stakeholders were under way. It added that any potential decision concerning the creation of a new flag carrier would have to take into account Lufthansa’s plans for the Slovenian market.

The Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Počivalšek, is believed to have proposed the creation of a new national airline which would launch towards the end of February 2020 with a fleet of ten to twelve aircraft. Mr Počivalšek previously said any new flag carrier should be established only in partnership with Lufthansa. Former Adria Airways employees, who were tasked with looking into rescue initiatives for the airline, have said a foreign carrier has plans to set up a new company at Ljubljana Airport. On the other hand, the Slovenian Prime Minister, Marjan Šarec, has said that establishing a new state-owned airline would be “too risky”, but stopped short of dismissing the idea all together. “Launching such a project without providing incentives to the company for a period of at least three years would be too risky and meaningless”, the Prime Minister said.

Adria Airways’ receiver has invited interested parties to bid for assets of the collapsed airline. The formal tender states that the bankruptcy administrator, Janez Pustatičnik, is offering the entirety, or part, of Adria Airways for sale. It says that participants in the process must submit their offers no later than November 10, and bidders will be informed of the outcome within fifteen days of the deadline. Some of Adria’s assets include land property rights and the head office building, aircraft parts and two apartments. The airline had no aircraft in its ownership and leased its entire fleet. “With the invitation for non-binding bids I would like to check the interest of potential buyers”, Mr Pustatičnik said.

Meanwhile, Slovenia’s parliamentary finance committee has proposed for Adria’s sale to Germany’s 4K Invest in 2016 be formally examined. It issued a decision stating that the country’s Court of Audit should investigate the sale and the contract under which the airline was sold. It added that the results of the investigation should be submitted to the National Assembly “as soon as possible”. The committee has also sought to spur the Slovenian government into exploring conditions under which it could establish a new state-owned airline, with the support of former Adria employees.

Our Source: https://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/10/slovenia-holds-talks-with-lufthansa.html

Climate now ‘top of the agenda’ for investors as airlines try to lower carbon emissions

Escalating pressure from investors is pushing airlines to address environmental concerns, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), which acknowledged that the trend toward “flight-shaming” could weigh on the industry’s future growth.

Speaking at a conference in London where airlines vied to demonstrate plans to decarbonise, Iata said the climate was now “top of the agenda” for investors.

Citing HSBC research, Iata’s chief economist, Brian Pearce, said climate issues came up an average of seven times on each call between European airlines and investors in 2019, compared with an average of less than once per earnings call between 2013 and 2017.

Pearce said: “Climate change is not just an issue for protesters or scientists. You can see the spike this year. This is on the top of the agenda for mainstream investors now. We’re getting pressure from all quarters.”

He said flygskam, or flight-shaming – the trend towards making air travel socially unacceptable due to its carbon cost – “could be a factor slowing growth in the future”.

Although airlines have signed up to the Corsia offsetting scheme set up by the UN aviation agency, ICAO, many believe taxes and a consumer backlash could grow. Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, said: “If there is one name everyone in the airline industry knows todaythat it perhaps didn’t know a year ago, it’s Greta Thunberg.”

However, Pearce said that even if Europeans flew less, the predicted growth of air travel in China alone would mean an additional 1.5-2bn passengers travelling each year by 2040. “Solving the climate issue really depends on China, India and Asia,” he said.

Álex Cruz, the chief executive of British Airways, which last week promised to offset all domestic flight emissions, said the airline would make it easier for customers to voluntarily offset international flights. He said there were “huge areas of opportunity” to cut emissions via better air traffic management, while changes such as lighter food trolleys on BA’s fleet had cut 30,000 tonnes a year of CO2 emissions.

Virgin’s new feeder airline, Virgin Connect (formerly Flybe), could axe some routes over environmental concerns, its boss suggested. Mark Anderson, the chief executive of the parent company Connect Airways, said it might decide certain journeys made more sense by train or car.

He told PA news agency: “We need to be responsible. Maybe there are some routes in the future that we will potentially not fly.”

The pledge appeared to be one for the long term, as Weiss told the Airlines 2050 conference that his ambition was for Virgin Connect to operate 12 domestic routes to Heathrow. Virgin Atlantic wants to use the airline’s fleet of 70 aircraft to ensure enough connections to prop up a long-haul network to rival BA’s.

Our Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/17/flight-shaming-could-slow-growth-of-airline-industry-says-iata

Ethiopian Airlines will fly daily nonstop between Brussels and Addis Ababa from October 28.

The flag carrier currently makes stopovers in Vienna three days per week, increasing the journey time from seven hours to nine hours.

The daily service will depart Brussels at 2130 and land in the Ethiopian capital at 0630, while the return departs at 0045 and lands at 0615.

It will be operated by a mix of Boeing 787s and 777s, Luchtvaart Nieuws reports.

Ethiopian is the only carrier with nonstop flights between the capitals.

The Star Alliance member provides connections to more than 50 destinations around Africa, as well as seven domestic airports.

It also encourages passengers to visit Addis Ababa by allowing passengers to extend their layover at no extra cost.

The airline is now the largest in Africa, and one of the continent’s most profitable.

It launched its first flights from the UK’s Manchester Airport late last year. While the four weekly Manchester flights to Addis Ababa stop in Brussels, the airline said these won’t change with the Brussels increase.

It also added that its Vienna flights will continue to operate, along with Geneva and Marseille.

A $363m second terminal recently opened at Addis Ababa Bole International, more than doubling the airport’s capacity to 22 million annual passengers, though when Business Traveller visited earlier this year it still had several areas waiting to be completed.

Our Source: https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/10/15/ethiopian-airlines-to-fly-brussels-addis-ababa-nonstop-daily/

Swiss says it has resumed all flight operations after it grounded its entire fleet of A220 aircraft on Tuesday.

“As of today [Thursday], Swiss flight operations are resumed on a regular basis, meaning all 29 A220 aircraft have been inspected (with no findings) and released,” a spokesperson told Business Traveller.

Around 100 flights were cancelled this week, affecting 10,000 passengers, after Swiss took the decision to ground the A220s following what it called “technical irregularities” on various short-haul flights.

Swiss said there have been three “incidents” since July 25 involving the aircraft, but added that it could not make further statements about the cause as it was coordinating with engine manufacturers Pratt and Whitney as well as Airbus Canada.

It also said: “The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority.

“We very much regret the inconveniences for our passengers. Swiss will actively inform affected passengers if contact details were provided at the time of booking. They will be rebooked to the best possible alternative at Swiss’s expense.

“In addition, tickets of passengers who were/are booked on a cancelled flight can be rebooked or refunded free of charge.”

The Lufthansa group airline has 20 of the A220-300 variant and nine of the A220-100.

The A220 is a single-aisle plane that was formerly known as the Bombardier C Series before Airbus took a majority stake in the project.

“Together with the engine maker we are supporting our customer in its daily operations,” an Airbus spokesman told Bloomberg by email.

Our source: https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/10/15/swiss-cancels-flights-as-a220s-grounded-for-technical-inspections/

Passengers using fast trains operating between Nairobi and Mombasa are set to lose the freedom to bring food and drinks from outside, the Kenya Railways has said.

Under the new changes set to take effect “soon”, passengers travelling on the standard gauge railway (SGR) will no longer be allowed to carry packed food and drinks as they have done since the Madaraka Express train was launched in June 2017.

Just like the promotional prices, which lapsed several months back, travellers will have to buy food and drinks on offer inside the coaches by NAS Airport Services. NAS is a local subsidiary of Servair, the third-largest airline catering and logistics business globally.

“Kenya Railways wishes to remind our passengers and customers that alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and cooked food are strictly prohibited into the termini and stations.

“Those items will be confiscated at security checkpoints at the termini and train stations. Please note that items once confiscated will not be repossessed,” said the firm in a public notice yesterday.

Source: https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/economy/SGR-no-carrying-own-food-and-drinks/3946234-5297696-9dj4jgz/index.html