There must have been something in the African water these last few weeks. From Uganda to Namibia there has been a rash of capricious interventions by regulators and ministers, so often a toxic mix anywhere. The predictable results have included turmoil and long faces for operators and passengers alike.
Last week, Cornwell Muleya, CEO of Air Uganda was suddenly advised that the airline's AOC had been revoked by the Uganda CAA. Operations ceased immediately. The trigger seems to have been a standard ICAO audit highlighting, as they always do, various deficiencies in the regulator's safety oversight. Although this is more about the regulator than the airline ,the company is now having to submit an application for its AOC to be reinstated.
A similar thing happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo three weeks ago. An ICAO audit highlighted deficiencies in local navaids. The knee jerk response to this not unprecedented state of affairs was to declare them all unserviceable. This instantly converted domestic operations to VFR only although dispensations were granted to enable international links to continue from Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Karongo, part owned by Brussels Airlines, instantly stopped flying. This in a country with no real road or rail alternatives. Do we need to describe the results?
Down in Namibia, Air Namibia's routine application to renew its AOC was rejected and the company's MD suspended. Politics is at play here but the airline now faced grounding when its AOC expired and has no MD to sort it all out. Disruption and discomfort loomed. Fortunately the country's civil aviation authority has now cleared it to continue flying.
Meanwhile Kenyan officialdom has also drunk the water. Despite the country saying it is trying to diversify its inbound markets to reduce its over dependence on Europe and an announcement last week urging more Nigerians to visit the country, the shutters have come down on the South Africans. From here on they are hit with a US$70 visa fee, even for transits, along with something that must surely come from a 1952 manual,- the need for a return ticket and a letter of invitation to visit. Not only that but in a new 2014 twist applicants must also visit Pretoria for "biometrics". Who from outside the immediate area is going to do that? In what sort of world do these regulators live? South African tour operators are up in arms and Kenya Airways and the tourism industry pay the price of over zealous jobsworths.
As if to add another block of concrete to the feet of Kenya Airways in particular, there is now VAT on airline tickets sold in Kenya as well as on aircraft and spares purchases. Aviation and tourism are essential to the economy.They have been thriving in Kenya and since privatisation the "national" airline has been one of the continent's big success stories. Maybe that in itself has made it vulnerable. Some people just can't stand success if it makes others look good.
The consistent theme seems to be one of not just firing odd shots into one's own feet but machine gunning them just to make sure. Mind you, the UK with its official reluctance or hesitation to build new runways, railway lines as well as to build or even maintain roads despite its exorbitant taxes on vehicles, fuel and air travel hardly sets anybody a good example.
-John Williams-
Last week, Cornwell Muleya, CEO of Air Uganda was suddenly advised that the airline's AOC had been revoked by the Uganda CAA. Operations ceased immediately. The trigger seems to have been a standard ICAO audit highlighting, as they always do, various deficiencies in the regulator's safety oversight. Although this is more about the regulator than the airline ,the company is now having to submit an application for its AOC to be reinstated.
A similar thing happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo three weeks ago. An ICAO audit highlighted deficiencies in local navaids. The knee jerk response to this not unprecedented state of affairs was to declare them all unserviceable. This instantly converted domestic operations to VFR only although dispensations were granted to enable international links to continue from Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Karongo, part owned by Brussels Airlines, instantly stopped flying. This in a country with no real road or rail alternatives. Do we need to describe the results?
Down in Namibia, Air Namibia's routine application to renew its AOC was rejected and the company's MD suspended. Politics is at play here but the airline now faced grounding when its AOC expired and has no MD to sort it all out. Disruption and discomfort loomed. Fortunately the country's civil aviation authority has now cleared it to continue flying.
Meanwhile Kenyan officialdom has also drunk the water. Despite the country saying it is trying to diversify its inbound markets to reduce its over dependence on Europe and an announcement last week urging more Nigerians to visit the country, the shutters have come down on the South Africans. From here on they are hit with a US$70 visa fee, even for transits, along with something that must surely come from a 1952 manual,- the need for a return ticket and a letter of invitation to visit. Not only that but in a new 2014 twist applicants must also visit Pretoria for "biometrics". Who from outside the immediate area is going to do that? In what sort of world do these regulators live? South African tour operators are up in arms and Kenya Airways and the tourism industry pay the price of over zealous jobsworths.
As if to add another block of concrete to the feet of Kenya Airways in particular, there is now VAT on airline tickets sold in Kenya as well as on aircraft and spares purchases. Aviation and tourism are essential to the economy.They have been thriving in Kenya and since privatisation the "national" airline has been one of the continent's big success stories. Maybe that in itself has made it vulnerable. Some people just can't stand success if it makes others look good.
The consistent theme seems to be one of not just firing odd shots into one's own feet but machine gunning them just to make sure. Mind you, the UK with its official reluctance or hesitation to build new runways, railway lines as well as to build or even maintain roads despite its exorbitant taxes on vehicles, fuel and air travel hardly sets anybody a good example.
-John Williams-
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