AFRAA BULLETIN

A F R I C A N A I R L I N E S A S S O C I A T I O N

A S S O C I A T I O N D E S C O M P A G N I E S A E R I E N N E S A F R I C A I N E S

From the editor

Compliments of the season from

the AFRAA Secretariat.

Among other stories, this issue

features highlights of the signing

of various commercial/

cooperation/aircraft order agree-

ments, product/service offerings

for some of our partners and

discounts/increased capacity to

various destinations offered by a

number of our member airlines

with the festive season here with

us.

We would like to take this oppor-

tunity to wish all our members,

partners and readers a wonderful

festive season and a happy new

year.

Inside this Issue:

Kenya Airways expands

fleet, forecasts significant

traffic growth

2

Air Namibia recognized

at 2013 Feather Awards 2

Ethiopian Airlines com-

mences operations to

Semera

3

Air Seychelles to resume

operations to Paris

3

Changi Airport wel-

comes the arrival of

Ethiopian Airlines

4

SITA brings self-service

to Kuwait International 4

2Gether 4Safety Seminar

2014 5

Volume 5, Issue 12

November 2013 Issue

AFRAA Fuel Committee concludes the 2014 Fuel Tender

T he AFRAA Fuel Committee concluded the tender process

for the Jan – Dec 2014 Fuel

Tender. The tender process ran from October to December 2013.

Now in its third year, the Joint Fuel Tender Project has 11 AFRAA mem-

bers namely: Kenya Airways, Ethiopi-

an Airlines, TAAG Angola, Rwan-dAir, Precision Air, Air Burundi,

ASKY, Air Namibia, LAM Mozam-

bique, Astral Aviation and Air Bot-swana having tendered out over 1

billion litres of jet fuel.

2014 will be yet another successful

year for participating airlines in terms

of savings and service gained from the Joint Fuel Purchase Project. Through

the project, AFRAA looks forward to

continuing the pursuit of better prices and ensuring that African airlines

remain competitive in the global air-

line industry.

Eng Chris Oanda, Head of Supply Chain - Kenya Airways and

Chairman of the AFRAA Fuel Project, makes a presentation to

member airlines on the activities and achievements of the project

during the closed session at the recently concluded 45th AFRAA

Annual General Assembly held in Mombasa - Kenya

Issued by the African Airlines Associ-

The African Airlines Association

(AFRAA) is pleased to announce that it will hold the 3rd Aviation Suppliers &

Stakeholders Convention in Nairobi, Ken-

ya from 4-6 May 2014 at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi – Kenya.

The Aviation Suppliers and Stakeholders Convention is a comprehensive forum by

AFRAA in Africa that brings together

users and providers of aviation products, solutions and services all under one roof.

The 2014 Convention will be held under

the theme: Partnering for Aviation Busi-

ness.

Opportunities available for:

Sponsorship

Exhibition

Master Classes

One-to-one meeting sessions

For more details, please visit the event

website: http://asasc.afraa.org or contact

Maureen Kahonge: mkahonge@afraa.org.

Coming in May 2014: The 3rd Aviation

Suppliers & Stakeholders Convention

AFRAA NEWSLETTER

Volume 5, Issue 12 Page 2

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Kenya Airways expands fleet, forecasts significant traffic growth Air Mauritius signs com-

mercial agreement with

Emirates

A ir Mauritius has signed an

enhanced commercial agree-

ment with Emirates. The

agreement will see Air Mau-

ritius codesharing with Emirates, allow-

ing the tourism hotspot to extend its route

opportunities.

Similarly, Air Mauritius signed a

codeshare agreement with Virgin Austral-

ia, in December 2013, which enables it to

expand its reach in Australia beyond the

hub in Perth. This free flow codeshare

agreement will allow Air Mauritius to sell

its code on Virgin Australia flights be-

yond Perth to and from Sydney, Mel-

bourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

“This agreement improves our coverage

of Australia through our hub in Perth. The

new Air Mauritius - Virgin Australia

partnership will enhance customer experi-

ence and also offer better choice and

flexibility for our passengers,” Andre

Viljoen CEO of Air Mauritius. Source:

Air Mauritius

A ir Côte d’Ivoire has firmed a

conditional purchase agree-

ment with Bombardier for

two Dash 8-400NextGen

aircraft with options for an additional two

of the type. The contract value for the two

firm-ordered Q400 NextGen aircraft is

approximately USD69 million, if the

options are converted to firm orders, the

contract value would increase to

USD141million. Source: Air Côte d'Iv-

oire

A ir Namibia scooped a

Feather Award for the

best regional airline at

O.R Tambo Internation-

al Airport in 2013. The awards by the

Airport Company of South Africa

(ACSA) recognize suppliers and

airlines that consistently go the extra

mile in providing passenger service

excellence at O. R. Tambo Interna-

tional Airport. The awards are based

on clients’ and passengers’ opinion

survey carried out by external and

independent companies for ACSA

through interviews.

“We are truly thrilled to note that, our

passengers and other businesses, we

provide services to, are still keeping us

on our toes, to confirm it. Their nomi-

nation and subsequent confirmation

research are testimony that Air Namibia

truly cares about its clients,” said Pau-

lus Homateni Nakawa: Air Namibia

Head of Corporate Communica-

tions. Source: Air Namibia

Air Namibia recognized at 2013 Feather Awards

T AAG Angola Airlines and

Emirates have signed an

operational and commer-

cial cooperation agree-

ment, a precursor to a strategic coop-

eration agreement. Among the digni-

taries who oversaw the agreement

were the Secretary of State for Civil

Aviation, Dr Mário Domingues,

representing the Minister for

Transport, Dr Augusto da Silva

Tomás, and various senior officials

from TAAG and Angola's civil avia-

tion regulatory authorities, Instituto

Nacional da Aviação Civil (INAVIC)

TAAG Angola Airlines and Emirates sign agreement

Air Côte d'Ivoire firms

purchase agreement with

Bombardier

W ith the recent addi-

tion of a B777-

300ER aircraft,

Kenya Airways

forecasts a significant growth in its

passenger traffic over the next one

year. Kenya Airways expects to take

delivery of two additional 777-

300ER aircraft in 2014.

Kenya Airways' Group Managing

Director and Chief Executive Officer,

Dr. Titus Naikuni, remarked that the

expansion of the fleet, in line with the

airline's long-term strategic plan,

paves way for the introduction of

new continental routes. "The year 2014

is going to be an interesting year for us.

With the arrival of the two other 777-

300ER aircraft, and the four 777-200

that we already have, we will have

4,400 passengers at any one time that

they land," adds Dr. Naikuni.

KQ announced increased frequency to

11 destinations during the month of

December as the airline prepares for an

anticipated surge in demand on these

routes during the festive season. Some

of the routes include: Malindi, Kiliman-

jaro, Antananarivo, Seychelles, Ghana

via Freetown or Monrovia and Paris. At

EgyptAir offers up to 15 % discount on international flights

Photo: Kenya Airways

W ith the approach of

2014, EgyptAir

announces offering

up to 15 % discount

on the international tickets issued

from www.egyptair.com – offer is not

applicable on flights to Jeddah and

Medina or the code-share flights;

other terms and conditions apply.

This offer is valid for tickets pur-

chased on 19, 20 and 21 of December

for travel from January 7th until

March 15th 2014.

In another development, EgyptAir

plans to start operations to Jakarta in

December 2013. This service is aimed

at sustaining the carrier’s positioning in

South East Asia and integrating its

services in this fast growing region of

the world. EgyptAir will operate 4

weekly flights via Bangkok on

Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and

Sundays on its Boeing 777-300ER.

EgyptAir also announced the operation

of 693 scheduled and additional flights

to the domestic touristic destinations,

coinciding with the Christmas and New

Year’s celebrations; which include

Sharm El- Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor

and Aswan from the 20th of Decem-

ber until January 11th 2014. Source:

EgyptAir

Photo: EgyptAir

Photo: Air Namibia

and Empresa Nacional de Exploração

de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea

(ENANA).

The agreement is broken down into two

phases; the first involves developing

operational and commercial coopera-

tion between TAAG and Emirates in

the areas of training, passenger & cargo

services and frequent flyer programs.

The second involves the establishment

of a comprehensive strategic partner-

ship between the two airlines. Since

2008, the Angolan Government has

sought to restructure airline into a mod-

Photo: Air Mauritius

Photo: Air Côte d'Ivoire

ern, profitable carrier capable of

leveraging Luanda's ideal location for

a strategic Central African hub.

Source: TAAG Angola

Photo: TAAG Angola

the same time, KQ announced that it

will commence the fog schedule for

flights between its Nairobi hub and

Delhi. Under this schedule, KQ will fly

four times to Delhi – on Monday,

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Source: Kenya Airways

AFRAA NEWSLETTER

Volume 5, Issue 12 Page 3

Issued by the African Airlines Association

S outh African Airways

(SAA) announced that it

will deploy more capacity

on the Cape Town and

East London routes, following an

increase in demand for seats from

passengers wishing to travel on these

routes. “We have seen a spike in

demand for seats and have conse-

quently decided to deploy more

capacity to accommodate as many

passengers as possible,” said SAA

Spokesperson, Mr. Tlali Tlali.

In another development, SAA ex-

tended its code share agreement with

Mango. The existing code share with

Mango will be extended to include

E thiopian Airlines an-

nounced the commence-

ment of services to

Semera, in the North

Eastern part of Ethiopia in Decem-

ber 2013. The new service will be

operated thrice weekly with Ethiopi-

an Q-400 Bombardier aircraft on,

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief

Executive Officer of Ethiopian

Airlines said: “Today, Ethiopian

S A Express bought and donated

sixteen wheelchairs to disabled

children from Richards Bay and

the greater part of Zululand. The

donation, forming part of SAX’s Corporate

Social Investment (CSI) programmes, was

made to Inkosi Community Project, a non-

governmental community development

initiative operating in the Mhlathuze locali-

ty. The donation was handed over at a func-

tion held at the local stadium and attended

by local community leaders and SAX exec-

utives.

Speaking at the function, which also dou-

bled up as a Christmas party for about 3 000

children, Mr. Inati Ntshanga, SA Express

CEO, said: “Hopefully, through this modest

gesture, we will be able to make their lives a

little easier than they have been so far. This

is a start of a journey of the partnership with

this community. What we do in Richards

Bay will be replicated in other provinces of

our country where we have operations. We

are working as hard as we can in the Free

State to ensure that we also contribute to the

upliftment of the lives of people of that

province.”

Apart from its own CSI programmes, SA

Express also supports other programmes of

the Department of Public Enterprises and

encourages its more than 1 000 employees

to give their time and skills to their commu-

nities. Source: SA Express

SA Express opens its heart

to Richards Bay disabled

children

Ethiopian Airlines commences operations to Semera

Regional Services covers 18 domes-

tic points, the largest domestic net-

work in Africa. Now that Semera

airport is ready, we are very happy to

start our flights and to support the

region’s economic development.”

In another development, Ethiopian

Airlines plans to partner with Nigeri-

an Eagle, providing it with an un-

specified number of long-haul air-

craft while it awaits delivery of

Boeing aircraft.

Photo: SAA

the routes between Johannesburg to

Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth

and George. Other routes to be in-

cluded are those between Cape Town

and Bloemfontein and Cape Town

and Port Elizabeth.

“Mango’s exceptional on-time perfor-

mance record, its quality on-board

product and growing domestic net-

work provides a natural value-fit to

SAA and its passengers.” said Kendy

Phohleli, SAA Ag. General Manager

Commercial.

Mango Chief Executive Officer Nico

Bezuidenhout said, “The success of

existing code-share activities between

Photo: Air Seychelles

A ir Seychelles is set to

resume operations to

Paris Orly via Abu

Dhabi in February

2014. Air Seychelles also plans to

significantly expand its operations

in the Indian Ocean in Q4 2014,

following the delivery of an A319-

100. New flights to Antananarivo,

St. Denis de la Réunion and Mum-

bai will be added while existing

frequencies to Abu Dhabi will grow

from seven to 11 times weekly.

In another development, Air Sey-

chelles entered into an agreement

with Viking for purchase of three

Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400s as

part of a plan to renew its domestic

fleet. Air Seychelles expects to take

all three turboprops by mid-2015 but

holds an option for earlier delivery if

aircraft become available. It currently

operates one Viking Twin Otter

Series 400 and three de Havilland

Canada-built Series 300s which will

be replaced with the new aircraft.

In 2013, Air Seychelles signed

codeshare agreements with Airberlin,

South African Airways and Czech

Airlines, expanded the number of

codeshare destinations with equity

partner Etihad Airways, witnessed

Source: Ethiopian Airlines

SAA increases capacity to Cape Town and East London

Air Seychelles set to resume operations to Paris

B ombardier signed a firm

purchase agreement with

American Airlines to acquire

thirty CRJ-900 NextGen aircraft

with options on an additional forty. The

order is the first between American Airlines

and Bombardier. The aircraft will be

operated by US Airways subsidiary PSA

Airlines. Source: Bombardier

Bombardier signs purchase

agreement with American

Airlines

the carriers bodes well for further intra-

group network growth; by adding great-

er network choice through collaboration,

not only will SAA passengers benefit,

but commercially it represents a giant

leap forward for both brands.” Source:

SAA

surging passenger growth in its domestic

services and posted its first profit in three

years. Source: Air Seychelles

A SKY is planning to

launch its first dedicat-

ed extra-African flights

to Beirut, CEO of

ASKY Mr. Yissehak Zewoldi told

Ethiopia's Reporter news service.

Speaking on the sidelines of the

45th African Airlines Association

(AFRAA) Annual General Assem-

bly held in November 2013 in Ken-

ya, Mr Zewoldi said that ASKY is

looking to tap into the growing Mid-

dle East - South American market.

“We want to establish a natural route.

If you look at a map it will be a

straight flight from Beirut to São

Paulo Guarulhos via Lomé. We will

feed passengers to Ethiopian Airlines.

This route will be the shortest from

the Middle East to South America,”

Mr. Zewoldi said. Source: ASKY

Airlines

ASKY plans to commence operations to Beirut

Photo: Ethiopian Airlines

Photo: SA Express

Photo: ASKY

AFRAA NEWSLETTER

Volume 5, Issue 12 Page 4

Issued by the African Airlines Association

A irbus signed a research

agreement with the

Massachusetts Institute

of Technology (MIT) to

explore the use of digital manufactur-

ing in aerospace. Working with Neil

Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Cen-

ter for Bits and Atoms (CBA) and his

team, the aircraft manufacturer will

evaluate how the digital material

concepts being developed at MIT can

C hangi Airport Group

welcomed the arrival of

Ethiopian Airlines, the

latest addition to the

family of airlines operating at Sin-

gapore Changi Airport. Ethiopian

Airlines will operate a thrice-weekly

service between Singapore and the

capital city of Addis Ababa in Ethi-

opia via Bangkok.

To commemorate this new link,

Ethiopia’s State Minister for Trade

m ercator will now provide

its market leading reve-

nue accounting services,

RAPID, to Biman Bang-

ladesh Airlines. The agreement was an-

nounced during IATAs 2nd Integrated Set-

tlement Week held from 2-6 December in

Montreal, Canada.

"mercator is delighted to provide Biman

with a revenue accounting technology to

realise their long term financial objectives,"

said Patrick Naef, Divisional Senior Vice

President Emirates Group IT and Head of

mercator. "Our dedicated team has a deep

understanding of the challenges facing

airline expansion in the industry, and also

the experience to create technologies that

can provide support as their operations

continue to scale in size. We look forward

to accompanying Biman on the road to

greater success," he added.

"This is a positive step forward for Biman.

We needed a robust system to support our

growth plans for expansion, and our deci-

sion to select mercator as a partner is based

on their worldwide reputation as a premier

provider of revenue accounting services and

their recent launch of the upgraded version

of RAPID 3.0," said Kevin Steele, Manag-

ing Director & CEO of Biman Bangladesh

Airlines. Source: Mercator

mercator to provide its rev-

enue accounting services,

RAPID, to Biman Bangla-

desh Airlines

Changi Airport welcomes the arrival of Ethiopian Airlines

and Industry, Mr Taddesse Haile and

Singapore’s Senior Minister of State

for Trade and Industry and National

Development, Mr Lee Yi Shyan,

were on board the inaugural flight

that landed at Changi. They were

accompanied by the Chief Executive

Officer for Ethiopian Airlines, Mr

Tewolde Gebremariam, among other

senior government officials. Show-

ing strong support for bilateral Ethio-

pia-Singapore ties, the Ambassador

of the Federal Democratic Republic

of Ethiopia to Singapore, His Excel- Photo: Changi Airport

B oeing won FAA type inspection

authorization (TIA) for the

B787-9, marking the start of a

new phase of flight testing in

which agency personnel join the company’s

engineers in Washington state’s Puget

Sound region to gather the data required for

certification. The authorization applies to

787-9 test airplanes powered by Rolls-

Royce Trent 1000 engines—ZB001 and

ZB002, the first two members of the fleet.

The company expects to soon earn TIA for

the third 787-9 test airplane, a General-

Electric GEnx-powered Dreamliner

carrying serial number ZB021, according to

Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice

president of marketing Randy Tinseth.

Source: AIN

potentially be applied to the design

and construction of aerospace vehi-

cles.

As Airbus seeks to explore new effi-

cient and cost-effective ways to de-

sign and manufacture its aircraft in

the future, this approach radically

challenges the traditional airframe

architecture, which consists of manu-

facturing large structures or parts in

I lyushin Finance is entering the

business aviation market with

plans to have some of the

airliners it has on order for its

lease portfolio outfitted with VIP

interiors. For the most part, the air-

craft to be offered for lease for pri-

vate and corporate clients will be

Russian-made airliners, such as the

Tupolev Tu-204 and Antonov An-

158, but the company also has orders

for new aircraft such as Sukhoi’s

Superjet SSJ-100 and Irkut’s MC-21.

IFC spokesman Andrei Lipovetsky

told AIN that the move into the busi-

ness aviation sector is in line with the

group’s strategy of providing compre-

lency Seyoum Mesfin, was also present to

welcome Ethiopian’s first flight to Singa-

pore. Source: Changi Airport

Airbus Signs agreement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology

single pieces. Airbus is also exploring the

use of 3D digital printing for the cost and

weight saving potential it offers in the

production of individual parts or even

larger airframe structures. Source: Airbus

SITA brings self-service to Kuwait International Airport

K uwait International

Airport’s seven million

annual passengers will

enjoy new self-service

check-in kiosks in a deal with SITA.

The new kiosks, which are in the

final stages of testing, are part of an

eight-year contract renewal for

SITA’s AirportConnect Open pas-

senger processing platform.

Mohammed Hariri, Chairman of the

Airline Operating Committee, Ku-

wait International Airport, said:

“SITA’s passenger processing plat-

form gives us more flexibility and

enhances our operational efficiency as

passenger numbers continue to rise.

We’re excited to take this technology

one step further and offer self-service

kiosks in the airport for the first time.”

Hani El-Assaad, SITA President Mid-

dle East, India and Africa, said: “The

combination of SITA’s AirportCon-

nect Open platform and the new ki-

Embraer signs order agreement with American Airlines

hensive, and sometime non-standard,

solutions to clients. Source: AIN

Boeing 787-9 Earns Type

Inspection Authorization

for the B787-9

osks will help reduce queues, while giv-

ing passengers more control over their

journeys. In fact our studies have shown

that the kiosks can help increase passen-

ger processing speed by up to 25%, while

making more efficient use of an airport’s

limited physical space and infrastruc-

ture.” Source: SITA

E mbraer signed a firm

order agreement with

American Airlines for

sixty EMB-175 with

options for another ninety of the

type. Based on list prices, the firm

orders have a value of USD2.5billion.

American Airlines will configure the

EMB-175s with 12 First Class, 20

Main Cabin Extra and 44 Main Cabin

seats, for a total of 76 seats. The

delivery of the first aircraft is sched-

uled for the first quarter of 2015. Source:

Embraer

Ilyushin Finance to offer leased bizplanes

Issued by the African Airlines Association

About AFRAA

AFRAA, is a trade organization of Airlines from the member states of the African Union (AU) whose aim is to foster commercial and technical cooperation for

airlines and represent their common interest. Founded in Accra, Ghana in April, 1968, and currently headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the Association members

represent 83% of total intercontinental traffic carried by African Airlines. For more information, visit: www.afraa.org

The AFRAA Bulletin is monthly publication by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA). Send articles or enquiries to: Raphael.kuuchi@afraa.org

AFRAA NEWSLETTER

Volume 5, Issue 12 Page 5

T he AviAssist Foundation will hold

it’s next edition of 2Gether 4Safety

forum from 13 -14 March 2014 in

Entebbe. The event will bring to-

gether experts in the field to provide the latest

best practice in the aviation industry. Delegates

will benefit from updates on the future of regu-

lation, technology and training with practical

implementation tools from their peers.

Further details about this event can be found

on the event website www.2gether4safety.org

or contact Mr. Tom Kok - Director AviAssist

Foundation, email: tom.kok@aviassist.org

2Gether 4Safety Seminar 2014 ACI-Africa to hold its Regional Security Conference in April 2014

The theme for this year’s event is “Smart Security:

Meeting the Threat”. Over the three-day conference

you will hear from high-level industry experts from

airports and key regional and international civil aviation

authorities and trade organizations. For more infor-

mation, please visit the website: http://www.aci-

africa.aero

A irports Council International Africa (ACI

-Africa) will hold its Regional Security

Conference and Exhibition from 8 to 10

April 2014 i1n Dakar, Senegal. This

Conference will kindly be hosted by Agence des Aéro-

ports du Sénégal (ADS) and will be held in the King

Fahd Palace Hotel.

Capacity Data

NB: Data is for all Passenger flights, both non-stop and flights with stops

December 2013

Source: AFRAA/OAG Source: AFRAA/OAG

African Airlines Other Carriers

December 2013

flights seats

%

African

Carriers

flights seats

%

Other

Carriers

Intra Africa 73,478 7,576,105 92.89% 3,222 580,291 7.11%

Africa Europe 5,458 884,623 33.02% 9,003 1,794,409 66.98%

Africa - N. America 284 78,341 62.12% 212 47,771 37.88%

Africa - M. East 2,168 365,778 32.43% 3,600 762,233 67.57%

Africa - Asia 736 190,124 82.72% 153 39,729 17.28%

TOTAL 82,124 9,094,971 16,190 3,224,433

November 2013

Intra Africa 70,867 7,191,561 95.77% 3,129 557,370 4.23%

Africa Europe 5,210 828,456 37.32% 8,752 1,732,324 62.68%

Africa - N. America 270 74,548 55.44% 217 48,685 44.56%

Africa - M. East 2161 370217 37.99% 3,527 732,430 62.01%

Africa - Asia 686 176,210 83.25% 138 34,447 16.75%

TOTAL 79,194 8,640,992 15,763 3,105,256

November 2013