► UNITED STATES: (Pics) Ethiopian Airlines gets the keys to its first of ten 787s and finalizes the $1.2billion loan to pay for them.

After constant delays pushed back Boeing's 787 Dreamliner launch date by over 3 years, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its very own, and Africa's first, Dreamliner to be named "Africa First" (MSN 34745 | ET-AOQ) at a ceremony in Everett, north of Seattle yesterday.

The 'keys' to Africa First (Boeing)

"Today begins the first day in a new era of flying for our passengers and brings us even closer to our vision for the future, Vision 2025," said Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. "We are pleased to be the first airline in the world outside Japan to receive this technologically advanced aircraft. We have been waiting for this airplane and now that we officially have it and will show it to the world, I can say with pride, it was worth the wait. This airplane is going to move Ethiopian Airlines to the forefront of aviation leadership around the globe."

The 787 Dreamliner is composed of light-weight composites and features numerous system, engine and aerodynamic advancements making it more efficient to operate compared with its competition. It is the first mid-sized airplane capable of flying long-range routes, enabling airlines to open new, non-stop routes preferred by passengers.

"Today marks not just another milestone for Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines, but a new beginning in our 65-year partnership," said Van Rex Gallard, vice president of Sales for Africa, Latin America, & Caribbean, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.  "Ethiopian Airlines continues to show their strong leadership in African aviation and their growing presence around the globe. Being the first in Africa and one of the first in the world further confirms their position globally."

After taking delivery, Ethiopian will fly its Dreamliner to Washington D.C. where the aircraft will be on display and is expected to be visited by VIP guests and media. The aircraft will then make its inaugural trip to Africa with its first revenue flight from Dulles International Airport to Bole Addis Ababa International Airport.  

Ethiopian Airways has nine more 787 Dreamliners remaining on order. The airline was the first African airline to operate the 777-200LR, the first to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the first to order the 777 Freighter. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767 and 777, and now 787 airplanes in passenger service and a 757, MD11 and 747 in cargo operations."

 Source [Boeing]

Also on the trip, Ethiopian put pen to paper with the United States Export Import Bank and secured a loan for USD$1.2billion to pay for the fleet of 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, three of which are due for delivery before the end of year.

"The purchase of the Dreamliner required a range of loan arrangements including a loan guarantee that was acquired from The US Export-Import Bank in charge of export credit arrangements in the United States.

The junior lenders, contributing 12.5% of the total amount required for the purchase of the Dreamliners, are Dutch financier ING Capital, the Netherlands Development Financial Company, US Emerging Capital Partners, and US ICF International or Inner City Fund noted Nega.  85% of the loan was arranged through JP Morgan Chase & Co. and the ING Group and Ethiopian Airlines covered the balance.  

The payment of the loan from the major financier, JP Morgan, will be paid back over a 12 year year period said Tewolde, Gebremariam, Chief Executive of the Airline."

 Source [2merkato Ethiopia]

Ethiopian will now fly its Dreamliner "Africa First" to Washington D.C , where the aircraft will be on display to foreign dignitaries amongst whom will be US Senators and House Representatives as well as Ambassadors, Executives from the World Bank and IMF, members of the Ethiopian community, the media and other invited guests. 

It should be noted that since its early days with the Boeing 707 and 720, Ethiopian has maintained a very strong bond with Boeing and its financiers at the Export-Import Bank of the United States.

Thereafter, Ethiopian Airlines on 16 August, will operate its first revenue flight between Washington Dulles – Addis Ababa. The Dreamliner is scheduled to touchdown at Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport on Thursday 16 August 2012 following which the airline will hold massive celebrations.

►►For a list of the various destinations to be visited by the 787 on its tour, see this post.

Now for the part you've all been waiting for, from the ceremony itself:

ALL PICTURES COPYRIGHT BOEING (VIA TWITTER)

 CONGRATULATIONS ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES!!!!

► SOUTH SUDAN: RwandAir rumoured to start Juba in November as Lagos goes daily from October.

Rwanda's national carrier Rwandair (WB) is rumoured to be considering flights to the South Sudanese capital of Juba after it receives its two Bombardier CRJ900s sometime in October or November of this year according to the usually reliable Wolfganghthome blog.

"From sources in Juba it is understood that the South Sudan capital may well be on the drawing board, either nonstop or via Entebbe, while a number of destinations South of Rwanda are said to be under intense scrutiny vis a vis viability, as is an added West African destination, either stand alone or in combination with the airlines flights to Lagos."

Source [Wolfganghthome]

Rwandair's Route Network

The African Aviation Tribune has already reported on another much anticipated Rwandair route: that of Lusaka, Zambia and Cape Town, South Africa, which too, should come into effect after the arrival of the new jets, thereby freeing up their Boeing 737-800s for longer, more fetching routes.

As always, we'll keep you updated on the latest developments.

Meanwhile, the Rwandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Joseph Habineza, recently announced plans for the airline to start a daily Kigali - Lagos, Nigeria service effective October 2012, in addition to a cargo service. Rwandair currently serves Lagos from its Kigali hub three times weekly.

"Habineza at a forum with stakeholders in Lagos said, “We can easily go to Europe or America but traveling within Africa is pretty difficult. But we want to break this barrier. In October, we will start daily flight from Lagos to Kigali. From Kigali they can connect East and Southern Africa, Dubai and other parts of the world.” While adding that the cargo business would soon start, he said the routes expansion became necessary owing to increased traffic to Rwanda from Nigeria."

Source [Daily Trust Nigeria]

As Mr Habineza mentioned, Rwandair has indeed focussed its energies on expanding its African network over expanding into Europe and the US - certainly a very prudent move to take given Europe's stagnant economies - which, despite its false allure and prestige, has often been the bane of many African carriers and start ups.

► ITALY: Air Arabia Maroc to start Marrakech - Milan from October.

Air Arabia Maroc (3O), the LCC joint venture between various Moroccan investors and Air Arabia (G9), is to start a once (1x) weekly Sunday service between Marrakech, Morocco and Milan (Bergamo), Italy effective 28 October 2012. The flight will operate with an Airbus A320.

► BOTSWANA: Air Botswana BAe146 suffers substantial engine damage following aborted take off in Gaborone.

On Saturday 11th August 2012, an Air Botswana (BP) Avro RJ85 (MSN# 1160 | A2-ABF) performing flight BP 205 from Gaborone, Botswana to Johannesburg, South Africa with 28 passengers aboard, suffered a #2 engine failure during its take off roll at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport.

The Air Botswana BAe146 'A2-ABF' in happier times  (KeithB)

"During the take-off roll, one of the engines failed and it is reported that it spat out debris. It is the hot debris from the engine that caused a small grass fire adjacent to the runway. The commander of the aircraft, Captain Adam Kereng reported that indications in the flight deck showed a malfunction of the number two engine, and therefore the take-off was aborted in compliance with standard operating procedures for this type of failure.

Once the aircraft had stopped, the passengers were disembarked and taken to the terminal building where they were briefed on the exact nature of the problem, and also on the alternative aircraft that would be made available for them to complete their flights to Johannesburg."

Source [Air Botswana]

Passengers did however complain to the Botswana press after the incident, claiming that they were "made to wait for more than 10 minutes inside the aircraft which continued to produce a cloud of smoke" and subsequently, had "to wait another 40 minutes before a minibus picked them up, as no senior personnel at Air Botswana showed up to address them, except the airhostess who also looked panicky."

Passengers were rebooked onto other flights thereafter whilst the stricken Avro (also known as a Bae 146-100) was towed away to a hangar. Fortunately, the airline is due to receive another BAe146 in coming weeks as part of Air Botswana's fleet renewal plan.

The Botswana Accident Investigations Department at the Ministry of Transport is investigating the accident.
 

► SOUTH SUDAN: Kush Air to take delivery of an Antonov AN-12.

South Sudanese carrier and charter company Kush Air is set to receive an Antonov An-12 (MSN# 347007 | ST-KNR) joining its Let 410 and Fokker 50 (MSN# 20204 | 5Y-BYE) turboprop leased from Kenya’s Skyward Aviation International.

Kush Air's Fokker 50 (Andreas Fotopoulos)

The airline currently serves Wau, Bentiu, Aweil and Malakal from its base in Juba, with plans to offer flights to Rumbek, Yambio and Renk.

► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines debuts daily 787 flights to Washington DC from September.

With its first Boeing 787 due on Tuesday, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has announced its new début Boeing 787 Dreamliner destination will be Washington DC, which will receive a daily 787 flight from Addis Ababa effective 20 September 2012. Currently the flight is flown with a Boeing 777-200LR.

ET-AOQ: due for delivery Tuesday 14 August 2012 (moonm)

Guangzhou, China was originally slated to be Ethiopian's 787 launch destination, but was later dropped.

Ethiopian Airlines:Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Washington DC, USA

-Effective 20 September 2012

• ET500 ADD2215 – 0325+1FCO0425+1 – 0840+1IAD 787 D
• ET501 IAD1115 – 0745+1ADD 787 D

Source [Airline Route]

For a list of Ethiopian's Dream-Tour 787 Destinations, see this post.

► RÉUNION: Air Austral to continue French services until January 2013.

Réunion based carrier Air Austral (UU) is to continue its services between Réunion and various French cities namely Marseilles, Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes into January of 2013, having previously announced their suspension for 28 October 2012. Its service to Bordeaux however (routed via Marseille) is to end on 28 October 2012.

Air Austral Route Network

Air Austral: St. Denis de la Réunion – Lyon, France – Nantes, France
-Effective until 20 January 2013

• UU947 RUN2300 – 0705+1LYS0815+1 – 0925+1NTE 77W 3
• UU948 NTE1515 – 1620LYS1730 – 0700+1RUN 77W 4
  

St. Denis de la Réunion – Marseille, France – Toulouse, France

-Effective until 20 January 2013

• UU945 RUN2300 – 0650+1MRS0800 – 0855+1TLS 77W 5
• UU946 TLS1515 – 1610MRS1725 – 0630+1RUN 77W 6

St. Denis de la Réunion – Marseille, France – Bordeaux, France

-Service ends 28 October 2012

Source [AirlineRoute]

The route rationalizations come as part of Air Austral's efforts to return to profitability following a nasty 2011 financial year which ultimately forced the cancellation of the carrier's Australian and South Pacific operations, as well as the cancellation of two Airbus A380s it had ordered.

► ETHIOPIA: A weaker Birr helps, but isn't enough as Ethiopian Airlines records 40% drop in profits.

After having posted "record revenues" in H1 of its 2011/2012 Financial Year, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) came tumbling back down to earth as it reported a 40% drop in annual profits for its recently ended 2011/2012 Financial Year.

The most surprising part of it all is, whilst the usual suspects for the drop were to blame - that is: high global oil prices and the Eurozone Crisis - Ethiopian voluntarily awarded wage increases of between 6 and 7% to its staff, in stark contrast to its southern rival, Kenya Airways (KQ), who has been forced to make redundancies, claiming high worker wages were partly to blame for its 57% drop in Q1 2012/2013 profits.

It should be noted that a weaker Ethiopian Birr (ETB) also helped to somewhat inflate profits for the 2010/2011 Financial Year which implies that things may not have been quite so rosy without it:

"“One of the contributing factors for the surge in profit in that fiscal year was the devaluation [of the Ethiopian Birr]. And it is unfair to compare the profit made in 2010/2011 to the 2011/2012 fiscal year,” the official said."

Source [CapitalEthiopia]

Ethiopian Airlines Profits 2008 - 2012 (Ethiopian Airlines)

Ethiopian Airlines Financial Year 2011/2012 Results Summarized:

- Figures For 2011/2012 (% Change on 2010/2011)

• Net Profit: USD$40.8million (-40%)
• Operating Profit: USD$55.70million (-)
• Operating Revenue:  USD$1.88billion (+37%)
• Operating Overheads & Costs: USD$320million (+35%)
• Number of Passengers Carried: 4.6million (+25%)
• Capacity Deployed: - (+22%)

Causes:

• High Global Oil Prices
• Devalued Ethiopian Birr
• Weaker Eurozone economy & economic stagnation in China and SE Asia

Source [The Reporter, Ethiopia]

Tewolde Gebremariam (JeuneAfrique)

Despite a third successive year of declining profits, Ethiopian has remained resolute and will forge ahead with its Vision 2025 plans which, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam outlined as being focused on BRICS countries, as well as building further hubs in Central and Southern Africa - something akin to its ASKY airline which operates fairly successfully out of its Lomé, Togo hub.

In order  to achieve this, Tewolde stated that Ethiopian would have to grow at a rate of 25 - 30% per year (looking at the figures above, operating revenue grew 37% on 2011). But, with oil prices sitting high and eating into everyone's profits, there may be cuts and belt tightening measures lurking just around the corner for Ethiopian as well..

► BAHRAIN: Gulf Air brings forward Khartoum & Cairo capacity increases to September.

Bahraini carrier Gulf Air (GF) has announced that, encouraged by strong passenger growth witnessed across its network during the summer 2012 season, it will bring forward its planned Winter schedule to 10 September 2012 which would otherwise have started in late October.

Khartoum International Airport, Sudan (Eduard Onyshchenko)

Gulf Air: Bahrain - Cairo, Egypt

- Equipment to vary between Airbus A330 and Airbus A321.

 Bahrain - Khartoum, Sudan

- Frequency has been increased from six to 11x per week with one new flight departing Bahrain early morning while four flights leave at 11h15 hours. 

Source [Gulf Air]

As the timetables become available, so we will update the post accordingly.

■ KENYA: Courts block Kenya Airways staff layoffs.

Kenya Airways' (KQ) move to can over 300 of their employee's in a bid to reduce its bloated wage bill following a hefty 57% knock on profits in Q1 of the 2012/2013 Financial Year, has been put on hold by the Kenyan courts "until a lawsuit brought by the Aviation and Allied Workers Union (AAWU) challenging the layoffs is heard and determined."

The Union alleges in its suit that Kenya Airways, in addition to the Minister of Labour and the Attorney General, did not follow the prescribed procedures in labour law when announcing and planning for the restructuring exercise.

"The respondent [Kenya Airways] is hereby restrained by way of temporary injunction from proceeding with any negotiations or any staff rationalization that may render members redundant pending the hearing," Judge Onesmus Makau said in court orders seen by Reuters on Saturday.

Source [Reuters]

This development comes after a Tuesday meeting between the Kenya Airways board and the AAWU to discuss the redundancies, never took off (pardon the pun):

"The AAWU, which maintains that it had not been informed in advance about the retrenchment until last Thursday, had requested a meeting with KQ to present its proposal, and a date was fixed for yesterday.“We never met. They never contacted us,” Mpojiwa said yesterday evening."

Source [The Star Kenya]

A court date for the case has been set for 21 September 2012.

Titus Naikuni (StandardMedia)

Kenya Airways has been subject to numerous union backed strikes over the past few years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 all of which had to do with salary-related grievances and all of which invariably cost the airline dearly as Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni pointed out that in addition to high oil prices and an excessive workforce, "significant annual staff salary increments, and costly decisions driven by the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) negotiations with the staff unions had driven labour costs to unsustainable levels."

Under the intended restructuring plan, various junior staff and management were given until 10 August 2012 to adhere to the voluntary redundancy programme. In the likely event that adequate numbers were not reached, then mandatory lay offs would have to be effected. As part of the downsizing exercise, Naikuni noted that some positions would be declared redundant and in some cases, the airline would have to "outsource labour and services in some of the non-core functions of the airline, due to the technical nature of the industry."

► GHANA: Starbow expands regionally; Antrak returns to the skies whilst CTK CiTylinK suspends operations.

Ghana's civil aviation market has started to heat up considerably ahead of the launch of two new airlines - Africa World Airlines in September (tentatively) and that of Fly540's successor FastJet in November.

► SEYCHELLES: Blue Panorama to axe Mahé flights?

Italian private airline Blue Panorama Airlines (BV), which operates scheduled and charter flights to various global destinations, is to drop its Italy-Seychelles flights from "mid September" onwards, citing poor loads and passenger numbers, as the Italian economy continues to reel amid the ongoing Eurozone crisis.

Blue Panorama Boeing 767 in Mahè, Seychelles (Okke Behm)

The seasonal charter flights presently operate from Milan-Malpensa and Rome-Fiumicino.

"The tourist board and private sector have to talk to the travel agents and the tour operators to accept the situation and start using for instance Etihad and then connect from Abu Dhabi with Air Seychelles to Mahe. The alternative is to use Qatar Airways or Emirates to come here"

Source [WolfgangThome's Blog]

Italian Tourist Arrivals in Seychelles (NSB)

After Air Seychelles dropped its European routes in January of this year, Blue Panorama moved to fill the void left. However, the departure of Blue Panorama itself would mean there are no longer any direct flights between the Seychelles and Italy - historically a strong source of tourists for the islands.

No official confirmation from Blue Panorama itself has been heard as of publishing.

[UPDATE 31 AUGUST 2012] Amadeus lists the last flight out of Milan Malpensa as leaving on 3 September 2012, with the last flight leaving the Seychelles on 5 September 2012.

► NIGERIA: See pics of Overland Airways' new ATR72!

Ikeja-based Overland Airways (OJ), a Nigerian domestic carrier, is set to receive its first ATR 72 (F-WNUA) for use on its network, currently comprising Lagos, Abuja, Asaba, Ilorin, Minna, Calabar, Bauchi and Ibadan.

► MAURITIUS: Despite record passenger numbers, Air Mauritius still in the red for Q1 2012.

Despite having increased passenger numbers by 7.4 % on Q1 2011 to 292'449, persistently high global oil prices coupled with the Eurozone crisis have eaten away at Air Mauritius' (MK) profits for the first quarter of the 2012 Financial Year. Overall the company posted a net loss of €10.4million - a 12% improvement on the airlines' performance in 2011 - which it claims, would have been significantly less at just €2.4million had it not been for a weaker Euro/US Dollar exchange rate.

► BOTSWANA: See pics of Air Botswana's latest Avro RJ85 in a new livery!

As reported by The African Aviation Tribune in May, Botswana's national carrier Air Botswana (BP) is set to receive another BAe 146/Avro RJ85 (MSN#: E2303|A2-ABG) in the next few weeks (sporting a new fuselage livery) which will bring the number of the type operated by the airline to two.

Air Botswana BAe Avro RJ85 (A2-ABG) (Markus Altmann)

Air Botswana BAe Avro RJ85 (A2-ABG) (Jan Bekker)

Air Botswana is expected to receive a further 2 aircraft (one of which is another ex-Lufthansa Avro RJ85) in the near future for use on its routes between Gaborone, Francistown, Kasane and Maun domestically and Johannesburg, Cape Town, Harare and Lusaka regionally.

►► DJIBOUTI: Daallo Airlines adds a BAe146-200 to fleet.

Updated: 9 August 2012 [New Photo]. Djibouti-based airline Daallo Airlines (D3) has announced the addition of a BAe146-200 from UK-based aircraft management company Falko to its fleet which at present, consists of 2 Antonov An-24s and a DC 9.

► GHANA: See pics of Fly540's just arrived Embraer ERJ-170!

Fly540 Ghana (5G) recently took delivery of their first Embraer ERJ-170 Jet (MSN #4|9G-FLZ) which will be used to supplement their lone ATR 72-500 on their network that currently consists of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale in Ghana. A second 66-seat ATR72-200 is set to join the Fly540 fleet at some stage, though it is uncertain as to which branch of Fly540 (Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya or Angola) it will go.

Fly540 Ghana Embraer ERJ-170 Jet (9G-FLZ) (BK Bishop)

In related news, Fly540's parent company, FastJet, reported a 48% rise in passenger numbers in July compared with the same month last year translating into 60,367 customers flown whilst aircraft capacity utilisation stood at 65%.

FastJet is scheduled to take delivery of the first leased 156-seat Airbus A319 in either September or October with hopes of starting service from November onwards. Once the brand has settled and become profitable the Fly540 brand is then to be phased out.

► NIGERIA: (Pics) Arik Air set to lease A330 from Pembroke Group.

Nigerian carrier Arik Air (W3) are set to receive an Airbus A330 from Irish aviation specialists Pembroke Group as the airline looks set to capitalize on its primary competitor, Air Nigeria's (VK), continuing woes.

■ NAMIBIA: Air Namibia in partnership talks with Kenya Airways & Emirates as Ethiopian prepares for possible Windhoek launch.

Air Namibia (SW) is reportedly in talks with fellow African carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) over the possibility of forming a partnership, reports from Windhoek say with Kenya Airways' CEO Titus Naikuni expected in the Namibian capital sometime this week.

■ CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui M'Poko International Airport to be upgraded and modernized from 2016 onwards.

Following years of neglect that have seen the degradation of its runways, taxiways and airport terminal, the Central African Republic's capital city Bangui's M'poko International Airport is to be upgraded to international standards after the Central African parliament's recent adoption of a bill establishing the Corporation for Airport Infrastructure Development in Central Africa (SODIAC), which is to oversee the project and various others.