During the global COVID-19 pandemic, the business aviation industry has experienced significant growth, and this has also been the case in the Africa region.

With an expanding business aviation industry comes the increased need for business aircraft handling services. With this uptick in demand, current infrastructure, the provision of security services and opportunities for investment have been a focus for ground service providers in Africa’s business aircraft handling sector.

Infrastructure in Africa

A defining preference of business aviation travelers is to move away from the standard experience, instead going through an exclusive private experience that enhances the overall objectives of their travel and creates a flexibility that regular flights do not offer.

According to officials with UAS Africa, however, some airport administrators and authorities in Africa do not fully appreciate this concept and prefer to place security considerations above anything else.

“In some cases, the funds are not just available to develop infrastructures for business aviation due to current volume of traffic, despite the potential that such facilities may hold for the future,” say UAS Africa officials. “At African airports, FBOs or private terminals are not very common. In fact, VIPs and business travelers are often subject to the same immigration and custom procedures as regular airline passengers. This means that most times it is not convenient for VIPs and business travelers, and it erodes the ideas and experience associated with private or business travels.”

The exclusive facilities that FBOs offer include private meeting rooms and lounges for VIPs who travel for short meetings lasting only a few hours and then returning, thereby avoiding chaotic traffic situations common in African urban cities, according to UAS Africa representatives.

“Other FBO features that are attractive to business aircraft include dedicated fuel services (and) easy access to light maintenance,” they say. “We have seen the effects of these facilities in Nigeria and South Africa on the exponential growth of business traffic in these two countries in the last decade.”

Security Services

According to UAS Africa officials, aviation security threat issues are quite similar globally and exist in any region.

“Africa no doubt has its own share of such threats, which are unique and peculiar to Africa. The first threats are theft and pilferage of baggage and cargo,” say officials at UAS Africa. “Poor baggage surveillance systems at some airports can lead some people to take advantage and steal valuable items and cargo.”

When aircraft are parked overnight, for long periods in remote locations or at parts of airports with limited security surveillance, reports have been made of fuel thefts and removal of minor parts of an aircraft, according to UAS Africa officials.

“The ‘stowaway’ issue is a phenomenon often associated with Africa. People often take chances with this extreme but disastrous route,” they say. “These are often airport staff who have easy access to aircraft, or inhabitants of neighboring residential areas to airports who over time have discovered security loopholes.”

Another threat for some airports that are located in the heart of a city, or which over time have been caught in developments around the airport, is that they could be compromised in terms of security, especially if they have fences that are not properly secured to completely ward off intruders, according to UAS Africa officials.

“For airports that are at quite some distance from a city and hotels and require passengers to travel long distances at night or odd hours, providing security escorts becomes imperative especially in areas with histories of insurgencies, banditry, wars and general insecurity,” say UAS Africa representatives.

In certain parts of Africa there is also the need to prevent the infiltration by insurgent groups that mean to cause harm to passengers or airport infrastructure.

“These include Al Shabab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria Sahel region and others. We have seen a recent case in Kaduna, Nigeria where people were allegedly attempting to overrun and take over the airport but were repelled by security forces,” say officials at UAS Africa.

For what concerns the movement of contraband, it is known that Africa is rich in minerals and valuable resources, observe UAS Africa representatives.

“Unscrupulous people move minerals like gold from its source to more lucrative markets by taking advantage of porous borders and corrupt government systems. Likewise, Asia is a ready market for rare animal species and trophies and some people will use all means to move these through our airports to the markets,” they say. “All these threats can easily be addressed by considering additional aircraft security on the ground. Operators may also want to consider secured crew transfers with escorts. In general, however, most airports in Africa are generally safe and secure.”

Investment Opportunities

Opportunities abound everywhere in Africa for investment in infrastructures, UAS Africa officials explain.

“In the area of FBOs, Africa lags other continents. FBOs in Africa are in only a few countries, yet they are the future of growing business travel. The long-term prospects are that the concept is gaining traction and many airport authorities are seeing the need to have public-private partnerships to develop FBOs,” they say.

With Africa’s growing fleets, aircraft maintenance is in high demand. But maintenance facilities are thin across Africa apart from Ethiopia and South Africa, which have comprehensive MRO facilities for large aircraft.

“Investing in MROs would surely be a great idea. Aircraft spares supply and distribution is another area which investors are overlooking,” say officials at UAS Africa. “We have seen numerous AOG situations where aircraft wait on end to secure parts from Europe, America and even the Middle East for spares as simple as aircraft tires – all with very cumbersome customs clearing processes. Investments in this area would be worthwhile, too.”

Additionally, many African airports have minimal parking space and cannot easily accommodate large aircraft.

“The high cost of airport infrastructure prevents them from making it a priority to develop and expand airport infrastructure. The effects are that despite economic growth on the continent, some countries will continue to rely on neighboring countries to ship in their goods by air or transport large numbers of passengers on planes,” says UAS Africa officials. “This ends up being more costly for the economies. There is therefore a great opportunity in developing modern airports that can accommodate large and modern aircraft and terminal facilities for passengers.”

Another opportunity is in upgrading airports with the latest technology to minimize time taken filling forms, checking in and other manual procedures.

“These include self-service check-in systems and automated passport control,” note UAS Africa officials. “These are happening at some locations, and although very slowly, there are prospects of wider coverage in the very long term.”

UAS Africa representatives highlight that good hotels in and around the airports create a multiplier effect of business and infrastructural developments around the airports.

“Hotels are an integral part of the travel industry and with growing urbanization, which is also rapidly creating situations of chaotic traffic jams and insecurity. Airport hotels are becoming popular. Unfortunately, investments in this area are still slow,” say UAS Africa officials.

One last important point to highlight is catering.

“It may be shocking to know that there are still quite a few major international airports in Africa where one cannot get catering items as minor as ice, except if one procures from the city or the hotels,” say officials at UAS Africa. “Even where catering companies are available, their leaning tends to be towards the regular commercial airlines catering where the volume is. Specialized business or VIP catering could be the way to go.”

Source: Aviation Pros

Wealthy Kenyans and private aviation firms have resumed flying and buying planes after a slowdown in 2020 following the Covid-19 pandemic that reduced the millionaires’ net worth and hit demand for travel.

Official data show the number of registered planes increased by 47, excluding those owned by the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces, to 782 last year.

This is a rebound from the previous year when the rich and aviation firms sold and grounded 72 planes after coronavirus triggered a slump in air travel and reduced the need for purchase of commercial flights.

The virus, which disrupted businesses and hammered most asset classes, reduced the net worth of wealthy Kenyans and saw the rich reduce their appetite for helicopters and small jets.

Kenya’s economy has rebounded following the easing of measures aimed at curbing Covid-19’s spread while travel has also resumed.

“ The resumption of international flights on August 1, 2021, within the Covid-19 operating period spurred revival of passenger operations within the aviation industry and operators renewed their certificates of airworthiness in order to continue with operations,” said KCAA on Thursday.

“Most aircrafts had been parked during the Covid period 2019/2020.”

Kenya’s business magnates, politicians and new millionaires are fast taking to the skies as the preferred mode of transport – expanding the market for leasing and private ownership of planes.

Apart from urban-based business leaders, politicians and wealthy deal-makers, Kenyan skies are also dominated by large-scale farmers and ranchers based in Narok, Laikipia and Nanyuki.

The farmers mostly use their small aircraft to spray their crops.

Aero Club of East Africa – a lobby group of private aircraft owners – attributed the recent growth in the number of registered planes to Nairobi’s rising status as the region’s business hub and a growing number of wealthy individuals with the means to own and maintain an aircraft.

Kenya has been ranked fourth in terms of the number of dollar millionaires, according to a report by research firm New World Wealth and Henley & Partners which helps high-net-worth individuals to acquire residence or citizenship through investment.

The Africa Wealth Report 2022 indicates that Kenya has 8,500 individuals with a net worth of over $1 million (Sh115.7 million).

The population of Kenya’s dollar millionaires in the study is significantly higher than estimates in other reports, indicating the difficulty of tracking the wealthy in Africa.

The latest Knight Frank Wealth Report put the number of Kenya dollar millionaires at 3,323.

When the devolved system of government was introduced in 2013, it raised hopes of addressing the economic imbalance, but analysts say there is a need to offer incentives to attract private investors to counties.

Besides convenience, wealthy individuals have also acquired aircraft to satisfy their ambitions for reliable and personalised travel.

Source: Business Daily

As the number of refugees escaping the war in Ukraine tops four million, surpassing even the United Nations’ worst-case prediction, many businesses operating in the region are working out their next set of contingency plans.

The number of “what if” questions is on the rise, partly because of the uncertainty surrounding ongoing peace talks.

“Over the last 48 hours, there has been a marked change of tone from Russian state-affiliated media outlets, indicating that the Kremlin may actually be serious about changing its objectives,” noted international security company Global Guardian on Wednesday. However, it said Russia will use this time to regroup, reorganize and resupply.

Now one crisis specialist is advising corporate clients on a range of issues, ultimately designed to alleviate stress levels in the face of an expanded geopolitical crisis.

“From our sources, there’s no let-up. It’s more a repositioning, not a withdrawal,” said Julian Moro, senior vice president of security solutions, at risk management company International SOS, which has had a team in Ukraine since January 26.

“While many organizations reduced their exposure to Ukraine, they are thinking about their other populations. What do we tell our employees in other locations to show we are thinking about it, that we have done some contingency planning.”

Perception Versus Reality

That planning has become more difficult for many companies after their crisis teams battled the pandemic for long periods. “There are two things about Covid. One positive is that a lot of companies now have crisis teams, whereas they didn’t pre-Covid,” Moro said. “On the flip side, many crisis teams are exhausted after two years of the pandemic.”

International SOS is now advising company bosses and crisis management teams, where perceptions and emotions rather than the reality are coming into play. It’s talking about Russia’s weapon systems, the distances involved, and what’s the doctrine of the Russians when they are in conflict.

“I feel like we’re helping them manage their anxiety in adjacent countries, about the likeness of an escalation, what would that look like, what are the different scenarios,” Moro said.

Meanwhile, more work around mental health support is emerging, with many of International SOS’s clients requesting multi-lingual crisis hotlines for emotional support, for evacuees, their families and staff members.

Global Guardian, meanwhile, continues to operate in Ukraine evacuating employees of American companies and their families. It has so far helped almost 10,000 people to safety, more recently focusing on retrieving valuable physical assets left behind by U.S. companies.

Source: Skift

Kenya has scored a major win after countries directed UNEP to return all its key departments to Nairobi.

Although UNEP is headquartered in Nairobi, African nations complained the Kenya office was just a shell because key departments are based in Europe, where their high-level meetings are held.

On Thursday, ministers who attended the UN Environment Assembly said this must stop. They signed a political declaration directing all these departments to return to Kenya and their meetings to be held in Nairobi. Other institutions affiliated with UNEP were asked to bring their meetings to Nairobi.

“[We invite] the governing bodies of all the multilateral environmental agreements, in particular those hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, to consider convening, within their mandates, their meetings more frequently in Nairobi,” the ministers said.

They said not only must UNEP offices in Gigiri be upgraded, but all UN member states who have not joined the programme should now do so.

The ministers said the matter was already settled at the UN General Assembly, where members agreed to strengthen the Nairobi office.

“[We] invite all member states and members of specialised agencies who have not yet done so, to become accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme,” the resolution seen by the Star says.

“In that regard, take note with interest of the adoption of General Assembly resolution 76/246 and underline the need to continue improving the United Nations Office at Nairobi, as the only United Nations headquarters duty station in the global South and the host of the headquarters of the UNEP and, furthermore, invite the United Nations Office at Nairobi to provide more competitive services.”

In 2018, former UNEP executive director Eric Solheim resigned following revelations he was working in Europe, away from Nairobi, 80 per cent of the time. He also unofficially allowed chosen European staff to work from Europe rather than at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi.

An internal UN audit in 2018 showed Solheim alone had spent almost Sh56.95 million ($500,000) on air travel and hotels in just 22 months. He refunded the amount.

Yesterday, the ministers also stressed the importance of advancing equitable geographic distribution and gender parity among the staff of the secretariat of the UNEP, particularly in professional and senior-level positions.

Currently, Africans are underrepresented in those positions, although the body is based on the continent. UNEP will now be required to regularly report to the Committee of Permanent Representatives on progress achieved on the diversity of its staff.

The agreement was signed by heads of State and government, ministers and high-level representatives, at the special session of the UNEP to mark 50 years since its establishment at the KICC in 1972.

Mid last month, Kenya’s Permanent Representative to UNEP Makena Muchiri, complained some of the headquarters departments of UNEP are based in France and Geneva.

“We have been talking about how do we bring all that together to Nairobi where UNEP is headquartered,” she said.

“UNEP is a big organisation taking care of other international bodies that are headquartered here. So, you cannot push that agenda too much.”

Source: The Star

Airbnb head Brian Chesky is planning to travel across the country over the next few months, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking a break from running the short-term rental platform.

The CEO believes travel among remote workers will be bigger than ever as the pandemic pushes employers to offer more flexible working conditions. To prove it’s possible to work from just about anywhere, Chesky plans to live and work from Airbnbs across the U.S. over the next several months, returning to his home in San Francisco between each one-to-two-week trip.

“All you need is a laptop and someone’s internet in their home and you can do your job. In fact, you can even run a nearly $100 billion company,” he told USA TODAY. 

“I generally like homes that feel like they’re part of a community,” he said. “Some Airbnbs feel a little bit more lived-in than others.” 

Chesky suggests remote workers who want to travel through Airbnb look for listings with good Wi-Fi and take a close look at reviews. The longer, the better, he said.  

“The more passionate somebody is a better review, the longer they’re going to leave reviews,” Chesky said. “So if you see a bunch of reviews and they’re like one or two sentences on Airbnb, even they’re positive, clearly that property didn’t leave the same impression.”

The CEO plans to use his time working remotely to find ways to improve the platform. Airbnb has announced major upgrades in recent months, and Chesky said “some pretty big updates” related to remote work will drop before the summer travel season arrives.

‘A revolution in travel’

Before the pandemic, customers primarily viewed Airbnb as a way to find an apartment in a city to stay at for a few days, according to Chesky. That’s changed over the past two years. 

About 20% of nights booked between July and September were 28 days or longer. Half of the nights booked in that same time were at least seven days long – up from 44% in 2019.  

“We’re on the verge of a revolution in travel,” Chesky said. “The world is getting digitized. The world is getting smaller. It’s getting more global. And I think this has probably been the biggest change in daily living.”  

While the pandemic won’t last forever, Chesky believes the remote working trend is here to stay with the “vast majority” of workers not returning to the office five days a week. He expects this will be especially big for workers without kids who are tethered to a school system but added that remote work could open doors for families who want to travel for extended periods over the summer.  

The shift is a boon for employees who want to fit in more travel, but Chesky said it makes sense from a business perspective as well: Why would a company limit their labour pool to only people who live near their office?  

“I think ultimately, people are going to want to compete for the very best talent,” he said. 

‘I feel like I can be anywhere’

Chesky’s next stop is still undecided. Cities with friends he’d like to visit are high on the list, but he’s not discounting small towns and rural communities as options. 

“I’m still kind of still figuring out where my next adventure is,” he said. “I think I’m going to go to Nashville and then I think I’m gonna go to L.A. I’m not sure where next – maybe Miami.” 

Chesky is considering posting a poll on social media to ask advice on where to go next.

“It’s a really fun adventure,” he said. “I always had this dream of being able to live anywhere. … (Now,) as long as I’m in a reasonable time zone, I feel like I can be anywhere, and I can be just as effective here as at my house. So my office is everywhere.”

Source: USA Today

Just when travel restrictions were finally easing up and travelers began rejoicing, Omicron crashed the party. News of the Covid variant prompted border closures, new travel warnings and quarantines, indicating that the pandemic will continue to change the way we travel for some time to come.

Fortunately, many of the changes we can expect to see in the travel insurance industry this year—and beyond—are aimed at easing pandemic travel woes.

Since the pandemic started, travelers have been buying more protection for trip cancellations, and the industry is addressing coverage for Covid-related issues and moving toward more flexibility and transparency.

Many travelers are eager to book voyages for 2022, and they’re adding insurance to their plans. Travel insurance sales increased 53% in the days right after news of the Omicron variant, according to Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison provider.

Here are some of the travel insurance trends you can expect to see in 2022.

Trip Cancellation Insurance Will Continue to Gain Steam

Trip cancellation insurance reimburses you for prepaid, non-refundable deposits if you cancel for a reason that’s listed in your policy, such as an illness or family emergency.

Trip cancellation insurance has always been a popular component of travel insurance. It has been part of 80% to 90% of travel insurance policies, according to Squaremouth.

As the pandemic continues to affect travel, this trend shows no sign of slowing down. Sales of travel insurance plans with trip cancellation coverage increased 255% year-over-year, says Squaremouth.

“Cancel for Any Reason” Coverage Will Maintain Momentum

“Cancel for any reason” (CFAR) insurance is an upgrade available for some policies that expands your ability to make a trip cancellation claim. If you have CFAR coverage, you can cancel for any reason not listed in the base policy and still get some reimbursement for your lost deposits—often 75%.

CFAR is a superior coverage to have during uncertain travel times because it can apply to situations that aren’t typically covered by a base travel insurance policy. For example, you could make a CFAR claim because of a border closure or because you don’t like your destination’s Covid testing or quarantine requirements.

“Cancel for any reason” coverage-built momentum during the pandemic and remains popular among travelers. Sales of this coverage spiked 147% from 2020 and 2021, according to Squaremouth.

Covid Coverage Will Become More Common

With a couple years of the pandemic under their belts, many travel insurance companies are now including Covid-related coverage as part of standard travel medical insurance and trip cancellation benefits.

“The majority of providers do now cover Covid under travel medical expenses and cancellation, looking at it like any other illness in most cases,” says Megan Moncrief, spokesperson for Squaremouth.

Travel medical insurance pays for the costs of an ambulance, medical treatment, medicine and more if you become ill or injured during your trip. There is a wide variety of coverage levels available, with some policies providing up to $500,000 in medical coverage per person.

If Covid coverage is important to you, make sure to verify that your policy includes it under trip cancellation and medical benefits.

Trip Delay Benefits Becoming Priority

While trip cancellation remains a top concern among travelers, trip delay benefits are poised to gain in popularity as concerns mount over new variants and quarantines, says Moncrief.

“With variants coming into play, concern about contracting the virus and being forced into quarantine while on a trip is now starting to take the lead over concerns about canceling,” says Moncrief. “We expect in 2022 that interest in trip delay coverage will increase.”

Travel delay insurance can compensate you for meals, an extended hotel stay and other extra costs if you have to quarantine while on your trip, under certain conditions: You must test positive for Covid and you must have a plan that covers Covid-related expenses. Benefits can generally be extended for seven days beyond your return date if you’re forced to quarantine at your destination longer than planned.

Travel insurance generally does not pay out if you don’t have Covid but have to do a mandatory quarantine somewhere.

More Travel Insurance Policy Flexibility

Some travel insurance companies will now accommodate customer requests for changes to trip dates on policies. This allows you to postpone the trip—and your travel insurance coverage—without canceling and rebuying the insurance.

Additionally, Moncrief says, many travel insurance companies are still willing to waive penalties for canceled or changed trips, so you may be able to recoup trip expenses that would have been lost otherwise.

More Benefit Options on Deck

To better meet the needs of travelers during the pandemic, travel insurance companies are bolstering certain benefits, which is likely to continue.

For example, some countries require that visitors have a certain minimum amount of travel insurance coverage. Costa Rica, one of the most popular destinations over the past year, mandates that unvaccinated visitors have $50,000 in medical expense insurance and $2,000 in trip delay benefits to pay for quarantine-related lodging.

Many of the travel insurance companies that didn’t offer these amounts of coverage revised their plans to match the required limits, says Moncrief.

“I anticipate we’ll continue to see that type of response in 2022 as long as these types of mandates are in place,” she says. “We may even see trip delay benefits be extended from seven to 10 days after a policy end date.”

Benefits for Emerging Pandemic-Related Issues

As new pandemic travel concerns crop up, the travel insurance industry appears to be responding.

For instance, some insurers are considering adding coverage for border closures and travel warnings in the wake of Omicron, says Moncrief, although it will take time to get approval in each state and work out the pricing details.

“It’s like terrorism. No policy had [terrorism coverage] before 9/11 and now it’s specifically listed and covered in most cancellation policies,” she says.

Trips Abroad Are Popular Despite New Entry Rules

It’s becoming “normal” for travelers to have to show some combination of proof of vaccination and a negative test result or proof or recovery from Covid when entering other countries and then upon returning to the U.S.

In January 2021, The Centers for Disease Control issued a new rule requiring all international air passengers arriving in the U.S. to get tested for Covid no more than three days before their departure. (It’s recently been changed to one day before.) You must show a negative result, or proof that you recovered from Covid in the past 90 days, before boarding.

Despite the pandemic and various country-entry requirements, more than 80% of bookings in 2021 were for international destinations, according to Squaremouth.

European destinations, however, are not nearing the popularity they had pre-pandemic, says Moncrief. “Even with the borders opening, I think people are still in the ‘wait-and-see’ mode,” she says. “And the Caribbean and Mexico are still more popular than they were before the pandemic.”

Younger Travelers Lead the Pack

Senior travelers are still sticking close to home, as younger travelers brave Covid travel turbulence.

Before the pandemic, most travel insurance was purchased by people over age 50. That’s changing. Now many travel insurance policies are bought by people under age 50, according to Squaremouth.

“Older people still aren’t comfortable with the potential risk of traveling right now, and younger people are more inclined to go,” says Moncrief. “We expect the trend of younger people, millennial, Generation X and baby boomers all comprising similar market share to continue in 2022.”

Beyond 2022: Policy Language to be Clarified

Some travel insurance companies are likely to begin revising the language in their policies to better reflect the new reality of living—and traveling—in a pandemic world.

A policy may have certain travel insurance benefits that are applicable to Covid, such as travel medical insurance, while others are not. But it’s not always spelled out.

Travel insurance companies have added information around Covid-related issues on their websites to bridge the information gap.

Adding explicit language to policies for Covid-related issues will take some time because state insurance departments must approve changes, but Moncrief believes insurers in 2022 will make progress in clarifying the terms of what is and isn’t covered.

Source: Forbes

Performances and themed events already scheduled for Expo 2020 Dubai will be unaffected by the UAE’s shift to a new working week, a senior official said.

Shows already announced for the coming months at the world fair will not alter their schedules because these are often part of wider global tours.

But visitors can look forward to new additions to the packed itinerary at the international extravaganza.

The UAE announced on Tuesday that federal government employees would work full days from Monday to Thursday, with a half day on Friday.

The new weekend will be Saturday and Sunday as of January 1. Abu Dhabi and Dubai governments and schools also confirmed they would switch to the new schedule.

Plans are being drawn up for more celebrations at the Expo site on Sunday, January 2, which is the UAE’s newest public holiday.

“We will be following UAE directives in terms of the weekend, but we haven’t changed anything as yet,” Sconaid McGeachin, senior vice president of communications, told The National.

“There will definitely be announcements coming for January 2. A lot of people take time off during the Christmas, new year period anyway so we do have a packed programme during that time.”

The theme weeks from January until March on travel, health, food, agriculture and water will continue as planned as speakers have been booked and activities scheduled.

“In that time when the weekend changes we will still keep the thematic weeks from Sunday to Saturday because it is a packed programme every day and it lasts for a week,” she said.

“For all our other activities we will be looking at it given the announcement has just come out.

“It’s too early to tell. We will be able to respond in due course once more is known.”

The Expo calendar for the duration of the six-month world fair was released before the October launch.

“Anybody who has already been announced – that won’t be changing because that is when those performers are scheduled to come,” she said.

“They are often coming as part of a wider tour of anything they might be doing globally.”

New concerts have sometimes been revealed weeks before, such as the show by Alicia Keys, who will launch her new double album Keys at Al Wasl Plaza on Friday.

Details will soon be given on another global pop name for a performance on December 17, Ms McGeachin said.

Organisers are gearing up for a packed holiday season.

AR Rahman, an Academy Award-winning composer and musician, will take to the stage on December 22, followed by a Christmas Day performance by Lea Salonga, a Broadway star and the singing voice for princesses in two Disney musicals.

Visitor numbers since Expo opened on October 1 have climbed to more than 5.6 million after a colourful National Day weekend filled with fireworks and parades.

Source: The National