Kenya Airways route expansion lifts passengers by 15.4 pc

Kenyan’s national carrier, Kenya airways said on Thursday it registered a 15.4 per cent increase in passenger numbers for its third quarter with 956,742 passengers using the airline compared to the same period last year.

The airline said in a statement released in Nairobi that its capacity in the domestic front and to Europe registered the largest increases growing by 16.9 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively.

"The European region registered the highest growth of 14.7 percent largely due to introduction of flights to Rome and double daily weekend flights to London," Kenya Airways said.

"The total passenger tally at 956,742, indicate a growth of 15.4 per cent over prior year.

"The achieved system wide average cabin factor of 72.0 percent was better than 69.8 per cent realised last year," Kenya Airways said.

The airline, one of the most successful airlines in Africa after South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines carried 502,435 passengers within Africa but excluding Kenya posting a growth of 14.1 per cent compared to last year’s 3.9 per cent growth.

"Passengers uplifted within Kenya at 205,654 showed a 26.0 percent growth.

"The resulting cabin factor of 74.6 per cent was above 70.3 percent realised last year.

"Cargo tonnage at 16,131 increased by 6.2 per cent compared to last year’s level indicating improved sales," it said.

Passenger traffic in the Middle East, Far East and India regions reached 131,126 showing an increase of 6.8 percent and also realized cabin factor of 75.4 percent which was marginally below prior year.

Kenya airways registered a stronger Q3 ending December 2011 putting in capacity totalling 3,560m seat kilometres as a result of increases in frequencies to several routes following the purchase of new jets as well as new destinations.

Northern Africa region capacity rose slightly by 1.9 per cent due to the introduction of double dailies to Juba in Southern Sudan on the Embraer aircraft to meet the rising demand for business travellers.

"Capacity availed into the East African region shrunk by 14.2 per cent compared to last year largely as a result of operating combined flights to Kigali and Bujumbura as opposed to direct flights evidenced last year," it said.

Central Africa region’s capacity declined by 15.5 per cent mainly due to reduced demand as a result of cancelling combined flights to Malabo via Douala and Kisangani via Entebbe.

The airline said the introduction of Nampula in December 2010 and increased frequencies to Maputo via Harare and to Lubumbashi via Ndola boosted Southern Africa capacity by 16.9 per cent while West Africa capacity grew by 4.0 per cent mainly from increased operations on Bamako Dakar and Yaounde.

African Airlines start joint fuel plan to lower costs

Nine African airlines are to jointly source for jet fuel as a way of reducing costs in an unpredictable international oil market.

The nine, all members of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), have already concluded evaluating tender bids from fuel companies.

“We expect that there will be reasonable savings from the project,” Kenya Airways finance director Alex Mbugua said at a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday.

The nine airlines are: Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Precision Air, Air Malawi, RwandAir, Air Namibia, TAAG Angola Airlines, LAM Mozambique Airlines and Air Seychelles.

The Joint Aviation Fuel Purchase Project will see the airlines sign year-long contracts for a cumulative 700 million litres of fuel worth over $1.5 billion.

AFRAA is an umbrella body for 32 airlines whose purpose is to foster commercial and technical co-operation among themselves. Its members represent 83 per cent of the total international traffic carried by African airlines.

The association says unity among the carriers will give them increased clout in price negotiation. They will also attain a stable unit price of fuel for the participating airlines.

The new fuel regime will take effect this year once existing fuel purchase contracts expire. However, it will not affect existent hedging contracts.
“Hedging contracts are signed with financial institutions. The two are not necessarily linked,” said Mr Mbugua.

Skyrocketing fuel prices have eaten into aviation industry revenues, with recent estimates indicating that they constitute 40 to 50 per cent of airline operating costs.

The fuel purchase project is expected to make African carriers more competitive internationally. “Oil taxes and charges are very high in Africa, making airlines in the region uncompetitive,” said AFRAA secretary general Elijah Chingosho.

“This tax will mean additional punitive costs to airlines that are already handicapped by high fuel charges and taxes,” said Dr Chingosho.

Regional Airlines Take Over Airzim Clientele

Victoria Falls — REGIONAL airlines have taken over beleaguered Air Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls clientele.

With Air Zimbabwe having indefinitely suspended servicing its domestic, regional and international routes citing "viability" challenges, its competitors have stepped in to fill the void.

According to sources at the Victoria Falls International Airport, South African Airways and British Airways (Comair) are now plying the Johannesburg-Victoria Falls route daily. Air Namibia lands at Victoria Falls Airport about three times a week.

Some visitors to the resort town are also using One Time Airways, Zambia Airways and other airlines from South Africa that land just across in Livingstone town.

As if that competition is not enough, there are about three airlines that have proposed to fly into Victoria Falls in a development that could see increased traffic and revenue for the tourism sector.

Recently, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr David Chawota told Chronicle that three new long haul airlines were courting the authority to fly direct into the resort town. He also said Fly Emirates had already indicated that it would start flying into the country next month landing at Harare International Airport.

Commenting on the matter, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Engineer Walter Mzembi, said it would have been wonderful to see the national airline being one of the airlines competing on the different routes.

"We need a paradigm shift here; we must see the opening up of domestic air routes and liberalisation of the airspace. Victoria Falls has become accessible to foreigners as foreign airlines continue landing here yet we say charity should begin at home," he said.

According to tour and adventure operators the landing of more airlines either in Livingstone or Victoria Falls should be commended as it was a clear sign that the tourism sector was now out of the doldrums after years of continued demonisation of the country by its detractors who included the Western media.

"For the tourism sector, it is a pity that our national pride has been compromised by Air Zimbabwe's failure to play a leading role. We are, however, happy that our clients coming in either through Livingstone or direct into Victoria Falls, are being serviced by other airlines.

"We commend the Government for considering other airlines that have expressed interest in landing in the country. We need to open the airspace and allow more players because at the end of the day it is the number of visitors that counts," said an operator on condition of anonymity.

Other operators who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was true that some travel agents were omitting Air Zimbabwe on their lists of airlines.

"It is no secret that travel agents are omitting Air Zimbabwe. This is because of its track record where travellers have grown accustomed to delays and cancellations. Right now some of the employees are on strike and as long as it is like that, no traveller in his or her right senses will choose Air Zimbabwe," said the operator.

A total of 18 international airlines have left the country in the last 10 years due to economic challenges facing the country and negative publicity.

These include Lufthansa, Qantas, Austrian Airlines, Swissair, Air India, Air France and TAP Air Portugal.

African airlines that no longer fly into Harare include Egyptair, Air Mauritius, Linhas Aereas de Mocambique, Air Namibia, Royal Swazi Airlines and Air Seychelles. Air Tanzania, Ghana Airways, Air Uganda and Air Cameroon have also pulled out.

Kenya Airways seeks to expand Middle East service

With the Nairobi-Dubai route currently accounting for around 12 per cent of Kenya Airways' revenue, the African carrier is looking to expand its Middle East presence.

"We have a 10-year growth plan in which the Middle East features prominently. While we currently operate to Dubai, Muscat and Jeddah, future plans include launching services to Beirut, increasing frequency to Dubai to 14 a week, and also looking at a few other cities in the Middle East," Abraham Joseph, Kenya Airways regional manager for the Middle East and Pakistan, told Gulf News.

He added that the carrier expects to contribute a better share from the region over the next two to three years, and at present enjoys a healthy load factor of 85 per cent on the Kenya-UAE route.

Outlining improved profitability achieved by Kenya Airways in the half-year ended September 30 against the year earlier period, the carrier stated that the Middle East passenger numbers grew by 24 per cent.

"The response to our newly-launched Jeddah route has been very positive, which adds to our success," said Joseph.

Increase in turnover

The airline said last month that its half-year turnover reached 54.9 billion Kenyan shillings (Dh2.23 billion), a 33.3 per cent increase over the previous year's 41.2 billion shillings, resulting in a 2.034 billion shilling profit after tax compared to 1.436 billion shillings a year ago.

"The Middle East market is very important to Kenya Airways," said Joseph. "There is considerable trade between the UAE and various countries in Africa, and Nairobi, being a prominent hub, plays an important role.

"Oman, on the other hand, has cultural and historical links with East Africa, because of which there is sufficient passenger and cargo traffic between the two countries."

Asked about the challenges to the carrier's growth in this region, Joseph listed the availability of aircraft as the key one.

"We had ordered nine Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, the delivery of which was to start from October 2010.

"But due to the delay at the manufacturer's end, the delivery has now been pushed to the third quarter of 2013," he said.

Joseph added that in order for the company to go ahead with its expansion plans, Kenya Airways has made alternative arrangements, so that the first of Boeing's 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft will join the Kenya Airways fleet in the second half of 2012.

"We have, in a manner of speaking, reached a saturation point and further growth is possible only when we increase our capacity on the Middle East routes," Joseph added.

Ethiopian Airlines Receives AFRAA Award for Best Financial Performance

Addis Ababa- Ethiopian Airlines has earned another accolade from The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) for being consistently profitable over the years and recording the best financial results in 2010.

Ethiopian was honored with the prestigious award at the 43rd AFRAA Annual General Assembly held in Marrakesh, Morocco on November 21, 2011.

Mr. Yissehak Zewoldi, Vice President Alliances and Corporate Strategic Planning received the award at the event. Upon receiving the award Mr. Yissehak said, “It is indeed an honor for Ethiopian Airlines to receive such an award especially from fellow African carriers. This is a testimony in recognition of the persistent effort exerted by the airline to move the African Aviation to new heights.”

Ethiopian has received three prestigious awards in a row in 2011 for its outstanding service and achievements in the aviation industry.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the addition of new flight services to Milan, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 62 international destinations spanning four continents.

Recently, Ethiopian received the 2011 “AFRICAN CARGO AIRLINE OF THE YEAR” Award for its excellence in air cargo. Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 and the 2009 “Airline of the Year” award from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA). In August 2008, Ethiopian won “the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award” of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry. Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

Senegal Airlines announces new services to Central Africa

Dakar, Senegal - The new Senegalese airlines company, Senegal Airlines, on Tuesday announced the opening of new services to Cotonou (Benin), Libreville (Gabon) and Douala (Cameroon) from Dakar, with a technical stopover in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. A communiqué issued by Senegal Airlines said the opening of new stopovers is made possible by the arrival of a third Airbus A320, which will go into operation early July. According to the communiqué, the new flight schedule of the company is characterized by the reinforcement of the Dakar-Abidjan service, adding that the airline will propose 14 weekly non-stop flights between both capitals, with schedules adapted to the needs of the business clientele (daily departures from Dakar).

The opening of new direct services to depart Abidjan to Bamako and Cotonou: three times per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday); to Libreville: two times per week (Wednesday, Sunday); to Douala: two times per week (Monday, Friday), it also announced.

Non-stop flights between Dakar and Ouagadougou: two times per week on Thursdays and Saturdays was also announced, in replacement of the flights operated hitherto via Bamako and non-stop flights between Dakar and Praia (Cape Verde): two times per week, on Fridays and Sundays.

Senegal Airlines will serve all these destinations with the assistance of its strategic partner, Emirates, for the transportation of the passengers to Dubai and beyond towards the Asian continent.

Iberia Offers Destinations in Africa and The Middle East

Iberia's customers can now book to new destinations in Africa and the Middle East. 

Since today, under code shares with British Airways, the Spanish airline is offering flights to Accra (Ghana), Lusaka (Zambia), Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Meanwhile, British Airways has added its code to Iberia flights to Santiago de Chile, Guatemala and San Salvador.

The new code-sharing arrangements are a consequence of the merger of Iberia and British on January 24 of this year. Since then, more and more flights have both airlines’ codes. British Airways is placing its code in Iberia’s Latin American destinations, while Iberia is placing its code in British Airways flights to Africa, Asia and the Middle East. More destinations will be added to this code-share agreement in the coming months, so customers from both airlines will have access to a broader network.

 

Flights operated by each airline are progressively becoming available on the other's web site and telephone reservations lines. It is also possible in certain routes to combine fares of the two airlines, and to choose the most suitable. Other advantages to passengers include access to more than 120 VIP lounges in Airport s around the world.

Airlines lose N7.2bn to aviation fuel scarcity

The un-abating scarcity of aviation fuel, known as JET-A1, which is an essential commodity in flight operations is hitting airlines harder by the day, as many of them are now cutting their flight schedules, out-rightly canceling them or delaying flights to enable them take full advantage of the meager supply from marketers.
The airlines are said to have lost in two weeks N7.2 billion to aviation fuel scarcity.
The product sells for N160 per litre from N98 which it hitherto sold for.
As a result of the scarcity, oil marketers are unable to supply enough JET-A1 to airlines. The price of the commodity in Nigeria is regarded as the highest in the world, leaving operators to groan under heavy operational costs, of which aviation fuel alone, accounts for over 50 percent.
Currently, some of the major airlines like Arik Air, Aero and Air Nigeria are finding it difficult to cope with the situation which has refused to abate.
Two weeks ago, when the scarcity again became noticeable, Arik Air and Air Nigeria’s flights that were scheduled to depart Enugu at 10.30a.m could not do so until 5.30p.m, leading to protests from passengers.
By the following Tuesday, an Aero flight scheduled to depart Lagos for Abuja at 9.50p.m did not depart the airport until well past midnight. The passengers only arrived at their destinations at 2a.m the next day.
One of the passengers on the flight said the flight was originally scheduled to depart at 5.55pm, but was asked to reschedule for 9.50p.m.
According to an Arik Air passenger, “The excuse they gave us was that they have not been able to get fuel from oil marketers due to its scarcity, but they have kept us in the dark since morning. The only thing I want from them now is the refund of my money.”
Another passenger of the airline to Port Harcourt who refused to disclose her identity said she was billed to sit for an exam in Port Harcourt penultimate Tuesday at 2p.m, but as at 5:30p.m, she was still stranded at the Lagos airport.
This development has put virtually all the airlines in a tight corner, leading to massive cut on their scheduled routes, amid serious competition for the few available seats offered to travellers.
Arik for instance, does an estimated 120 flights per day, but could only do 80 flights leading to a loss of 40 flights as a result of delays and cancellations, thus losing N269 million a day. Arik spends N400 million on fuel every week.
As for Aero Contractors which is second largest domestic carrier, and ordinarily operates about 80 flights per day, it has been operating between 40 and 45 flights per day leaving it with a short fall of about 15 to 20 flights per day. The airline by calculation has been losing close to N119 million per day.
Also lamenting the loss which his airline has had to endure, a senior official with IRS said the airline operates 15 flights daily, but has had to scale down flight operations. The airline operates with Fokker 100 which carries at least 100 passengers at once. For having to slow down on its operations, it is losing well over N25 million a day to the biting cost of aviation fuel.
And for Air Nigeria, the third largest airline, BusinessDay investigations show that the airline is losing about N100 million a day. “We have had to cope with the crippling effect of this aviation gas for operations. You can see we can’t fly as well as we should and have had to ration our routes,” an official of the airline said.
As a result of the high cost of the commodity in the country, both local and international airlines say they prefer to refuel their aircraft in neighboring countries like Ghana, Togo and elsewhere, thereby depriving the country from milking from the huge businesses that abound.
Lamenting the situation, Harold Demuren, director general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said while marketers have raised the price of their product over time, the carriers have only marginally increased air fares and thus stressed: “We cannot operate this way.”
Demuren noted that, “The price of aviation fuel in Nigeria is ridiculously too high. We need to knock this down. We are working on it and I believe we will be able to do this. We can’t continue this way.”
The marketers have however attributed the cost of the product to high cost of import, maintaining that crude oil is not refined in Nigeria.
While they say they regretted that the cost of refining and importation to Nigeria were on the high side, they added that only when these are solved could the industry witness stability.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has set a 24-month target to carry out full rehabilitation work on the country’s three refineries for maximum efficiency.
The refineries are Port Harcourt Refining Company with an installed capacity of 210, 000 barrels of crude oil per day; Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company with a production capacity of 110,000 barrels per day and Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company with an installed capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, bringing the total national capacity to 445, 000 barrels per day.
BusinessDay gathered that when completed, the Federal Government is expected to save annual revenue of about N1.3 trillion currently spent on petroleum products importation and the associated subsidy, which has become a major cesspool for oil cartels in the country.
All these targets are coming on the heels of the ongoing negotiation with the Chinese for the construction of three new Greenfield Refineries to be sited in Lagos, Bayelsa and Kogi States.
A top presidency source told BusinessDay on Sunday that the nation’s carrier, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has already mobilised financial resources from its internally generated funds to handle the major rehabilitation works in the affected refineries.
BusinessDay investigations revealed that Austen Oniwon, Group Managing Director (GMD), NNPC, under the directives of Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of petroleum resources, has begun ordering long lead items ahead of the conclusion of negotiations between NNPC and JGC/Tecnimont Consortium, the original contractors that built the refinery, by August this year, for the commencement of the rehabilitation works at the Port Harcourt refinery, the first on the line of rehabilitation, which is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2012.
Kaduna Refinery is expected to follow immediately, in the 24 months rehabilitation timetable of the Federal Government, while Warri, which is currently operating at over 65 percent installed capacity will end the rehabilitation programme before the end of 2013.
Though the source was reluctant to say how much NNPC will be spending in all for the rehabilitation of the three refineries, BusinessDay, however, gathered that the Port Harcourt refinery alone is expected to gulp not more than N1.5 billion ($150 million).
Once completed, the presidency source, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the country will once again return to the part of sufficiency in kerosene and diesel production, thus ending the long years of sufferings of the ordinary Nigerian.
“This is going to save the Federal Government huge sums of money because in the first place, government is not going to spend a kobo to do the work. NNPC through its savings has been able to muster enough resources to carry out the work. This is not only a feat under the current minister of petroleum resources and the GMD of NNPC, but also for Nigeria as a country. This is the first time that NNPC is undertaking this type of exercise that it won’t be asking for Federal Government financial intervention,” the source said.

1Time sells 70million shares to black economic empowerment BEE

Low-priced airline 1Time has sold 70 million shares to a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium headed by its chairman, Sipho Twala, and plans to use the equity capital of R49 million to grow the airline and its maintenance and charter business.

Glenn Orsmond, the 1Time group chief executive, said the funding would “give impetus to our growth plans for the airline by introducing new routes into Africa, as well as facilitate the growth of the airline maintenance business”.

1Time was looking for opportunities anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa and hoped to form partnerships with local airlines. Its competitiveness would be increased by being able to fly from Lanseria Airport, as well as from OR Tambo International Airport. Until now rival kulula.com has had exclusive use of Lanseria.

Twala said 1Time hoped to obtain air traffic rights to flights to Victoria falls, Zimbabwe and to Lusaka in Zambia in addition to its route to Livingstone on the Zambian side of Victoria Falls. It would also like to fly to Lubumbashi and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The members of the BEE consortium have experience in the aviation or travel business.

In addition to Twala, Busiwe Magongo, the managing director of Mtha Aviation, has been appointed an executive director of 1Time Holdings. Blacky Komani, the chairman of Mtha Aviation, will serve as a non-executive director.

1Time shares fell 5.71 percent to close at 66c yesterday, while the JSE’s travel and leisure sector rose 0.06 percent. - Audrey D’Angelo