Senegal rescinds decision to retire from ASECNA

Senegal has changed its decision to resign from the Agency for the Safety of Aerial Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA).

On 15 November, Senegal had, through its Transportation Minister, Farba Senghor, confirmed its willingness to withdraw from the agency as Dakar was not satisfied with its services.

Senegal’s decision to withdraw from ASECNA was « irrevocable », Mr Senghor echoed at a press conference before stressing that a commission was set up to assess the modalities including the potential moving of the agency’s headquarters to another country.

According to the minister, the move to withdraw from ASECNA would enable Dakar to “ensure the safety of its airspace as of May 2008 through a Senegalese aerial safety Agency that was to be set up in the “coming days”.

In early November, Senegal had announced its decision to withdraw the management of its airports and airfields from ASECNA, arguing that the country “loses 50 billion CFA Francs per year due to ASECNA’s inadequate investment in the equipment, training and upgrading of the facilities”.

Why NCAA stopped licensing cabin crew

THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has finally disclosed why it stopped the licensing of cabin crew members in the country. The Director General of the agency, Dr. Harold Demuren, speaking at a programme organised by Ramp officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended standards did not require the Civil Aviation Authorities to issue license to cabin crew.- COURTESY THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

FAAN buys Boeing 727 plane

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria recently acquired a Boeing 727-200F aircraft hull for one naira from the DHL Aviation Nigeria Limitedto be used for the practical training of the authority’s firemen and women in rescue operations in a smoky environment.

When i first heard this, i was thinking along the lines of a Bombardier Challenger private jet.

No Arabic passport, no entry into Libya

The Libyan government abruptly denied entry to tourists without an Arabic translation of their passports, forcing several planeloads of foreigners to turn back on arrival and stranding at least two French tour groups on the night of Monday 12th November.

The change, which was not officially announced, makes Libya the only country in the Middle East to currently demand Arabic translations for foreign passports.
Eighteen French nationals were stranded at Tripoli International Airport since Sunday night, until France's ambassador to Libya intervened Monday and they were allowed to return home, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said. Another group of 83 was expected to be allowed to leave later Monday.

The development reflects confusion in government policies, amid recent strides by Libya to promote itself as a lucrative tourist destination and to inch closer to a long-sought political goal of getting back into the West's good graces after years of ostracism.

Airlines whose planes were turned back included Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and British Airways. Jean-Claude Donzel, a spokesman for Swiss, an airline owned by Lufthansa, told The Associated Press the airline's office in Libya was caught unaware of the new rules, which came into force just hours before one of its planes landed Sunday. The flight returned to Zurich.

"The government has been pushing to promote its thousands of miles of pristine Mediterranean coastline, sweeping desert sand dunes and ancient ruins as a travel destination. COURTESY YAHOO NEWS

This is retroactive, in this day and age? But the final conclusion is that a visa does not entitle one to enter into a country. All of us planning holidays in Libya , please take note.

Oceanic Bank appointed BSP Bank

Oceanic Bank International Plc has been appointed as the settlement bank for the planned International Air Transport Association (IATA) Billing and Settlement Plan in Nigeria. BSP, as we all know, is aimed at facilitating timely revenue processing and settlement among airlines operating in the country. Speaking at the Nigeria Aviation 2007 International Conference and Exhibition held in Abuja recently, Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru said the bank was chosen because of its expertise in providing electronic banking and payment services in the country and beyond. COURTESY BUSINESSDAY

This does not come as a surprise, Oceanic Bank Plc, has been at the forefront of Aviation lending and actually was at the head of the consortium that bankrolled the development of the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 Terminal to the tune of N20bn.

Dubai Air Show: Virgin Nigeria buys Embraer jets. Dana enters airline industry

Brazil's Embraer has agreed to sell 10 aircraft to Virgin Nigeria in a deal that could be worth $811 million, the planemaker said on Sunday. Virgin Nigeria agreed to buy seven Embraer 170 aircraft and three 190s, it said in a statement at the Dubai Airshow. The deal gives the airline the option to buy six more 190s and purchase rights for eight 190 and 195 aircraft, it said. The deal would be worth $811 million if all options were exercised, Embraer said. COURTESY REUTERS

The E-170 is a regional jet in the class of the Bombardier CRJ-900, and this deal is indicative of the immediate vision of Virgin Nigeria. Whereas Arik seems to be going intercontinental, VK seems to be concentrating on regional routes. No matter the strategy, we welcome the fact that new planes are being added to Nigeria's register everyday. It is a total win-win situation. Congrats VK. Meanwhile, DANA Group Lagos, will be entering the airline industry with two brand new business jets.

Another plane crash in the Sudan

We sincerely hope we wont be blogging about plane crashes but this particular one is interesting because of the plane involved, an Antonov (picture shown) which accounts for nearly half of all the accidents that have take place in Africa in the past decade. And mostly in the Congo DRC.

A cargo plane crash landed and caught fire at Khartoum airport but no one was killed, civil aviation officials said on Thursday. The Antonov 12 cargo plane belonging to the privately owned Juba Air Cargo company took off for the south Sudan capital of Juba but due to technical problems had to return to Khartoum, officials said. "The plane landed outside the civilian airport close to the military airport," a Sudanese Civil Aviation official said. "It is burnt but all the crew are well," he added.

COURTESY REUTERS AFRICA

Nigeria is the first country in Africa to issue e passports

It is not everyday that Nigeria pioneers something, so we thought it nice to publicise this fact. This of course is in line with IATA's initiative to Simplify the Business and bring about annual savings of over 3 billion USD to the industry.

"The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) would deploy e-passport processing facilities to Nigerian consulates in New York, London, New Delhi and Johannesburg before Christmas, this is according to the comptroller-general Mr Chukwurah Udeh, the NIS chief, said that the plan was aimed at addressing the plight of Nigerians in obtaining the document. Besides, he said the NIS would deploy the facilities to 16 new processing centres across the country. He described Nigeria as the first country in Africa to issue e-passports in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendations."

COURTESY LEADERSHIP ABUJA

Plane crash avoided in South Africa

A Nationwide Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport 7TH November when an engine fell off during takeoff.

The plane, which had been bound for Johannesburg, landed safely after airport fire and rescue services hurriedly cleared the debris from the runway.

The incident was confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) executive manager for air safety investigations, Gilbert Thwala, late this afternoon.

"A 737 from Nationwide was taking off and the engine dislodged from the wing," he said.

"It was able to come back and land safely at the airport."

There were 106 passengers on board.

Thwala said a two-person team of CAA investigators was on its way from Johannesburg to Cape Town to compile a report on the incident.

COURTESY SOUTH AFRICAN TIMES