Interview: Tony Tyler, IATA Director General

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The European Union's blacklist of foreign carriers lacks transparency and is yet another example of Brussels making up its own rules instead of pursuing international standards, IATA director general Tony Tyler has told African Aerospace.

"What they should be doing – like everybody else in the world – is going with what [the United Nations' aviation agency] ICAO does, which is a global standard," he said. "ICAO does its own inspections of the regulatory authorities and helps them lift their game where necessary. But Europe is going off on its own again, as it seems to love doing in this industry."

IATA has previously criticised the EU for unilaterally imposing its Emissions Trading System (ETS) – a climate change levy that was partly suspended last year amid warnings that it could trigger a global trade war...

Interview: Innocent Mavhunga, Air Zimbabwe Acting CEO

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Air Zimbabwe has returned to the skies following a successful IOSA safety audit and the signing of new aircraft leases, but the glory days of Air Rhodesia are unlikely to return soon. Martin Rivers speaks to acting CEO Innocent Mavhunga.

Although Zimbabwe's GDP per capita remains the second lowest in the world, the decision to abandon its local currency in 2009 brought a welcome end to hyperinflation. Economic growth has averaged 7.5% since dollarisation, and amid slow but steady progress the Government is focussing again on its ailing flag-carrier...

Interview: Nico Bezuidenhout, South African Airways Acting CEO

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When Nico Bezuidenhout stepped down as interim CEO at South African Airways (SAA) on 1 June, he handed successor Monwabisi Kalawe the daunting task of executing a 20-year turnaround strategy at the troubled flag carrier. Martin Rivers investigates whether SAA is at long last embarking on the path to profitability.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, SAA's shareholder, has voiced strong optimism that Kalawe will "hit the ground running" in his new role, despite lacking any experience in the airline industry.

The new man takes over the helm from Bezuidenhout, an experienced industry executive who co-hosted the IATA AGM in Cape Town this June and now returns to his role as CEO of Mango, SAA's low-cost subsidiary. Kalawe's immediate priority will be implementing the turnaround plan – drafted collaboratively by Bezuidenhout and Gigaba – which aims to lessen the carrier's reliance on state support...

Interview: Theo Namases, Air Namibia CEO

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In late 2012, Air Namibia's very existence was brought into question by a wave of industrial action, leasing disputes and an increasingly impatient shareholder. Having successfully weathered the storm, chief executive Theo Namases is now plotting a course for calmer waters. Martin Rivers reports.

News that Air Namibia was trying to back out of a 12-year leasing agreement for two Airbus A330s sent shockwaves through the southern African nation last year, coming alongside repeated warnings from the government that its losses had become unsustainable. The wide-body jets had been billed as a key step towards turning around the airline's loss-making Frankfurt route, which is currently served by two fuel-inefficient A340s...

FastJet's turbulent winter

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Shares in FastJet halved in value over the course of two days in June, when auditor KPMG warned of "material uncertainty" about its ability to continue operating amid deepening losses. The Stelios Haji-Ioannou-backed carrier posted a net loss of $56 million across its FastJet and Fly540 brands during the 18 months to December 2012, prompting KPMG to warn that continued fundraising would almost certainly be required if the airline is to stay afloat.

But strong sales figures later that week coupled with continued progress in entering the South African market saw its share price immediately bounce back. Though the volatile stock was still 75% down on its January peak at the time of going to press, chief executive Ed Winter is confident the tide has begun to turn in Africa's fledgling low-cost carrier market...

Gambia's dream team

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Since launching regional and intercontinental services in October 2012, Gambia Bird, west Africa's newest flag carrier, has encountered more than its fair share of obstacles. The airline's inability to gain traffic rights to Lagos remains the largest setback, forcing a rethink of early plans for a high-frequency service to the Nigerian metropolis. The prospect, however remote, of Islamist rebellions spreading from Mali across the wider Sahel region is another cause for concern, rattling some European travellers.

But for Gambia Bird's management team – comprising chief executive officer Thomas Wazinski, chief commercial officer Karsten Balke, and chief administration officer Malleh Sallah – the dream of unifying and expanding west Africa's fragmented air infrastructure is inching ever closer to reality...

Fast and furious

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Despite launching operations on-time and with load factors approaching 80%, African low-cost start-up FastJet has flown into myriad legal difficulties since taking to the skies in November 2012. The Stelios Haji-Ioannou-backed carrier not only disputes bills from one of its leasing companies and the Tanzanian government, but it is now embroiled in a complex ownership and branding battle with Five Forty Aviation, the parent company of its Fly540 affiliate.

The strength of the respective legal arguments by FastJet and Five Forty Aviation will be determined in court, but it is clear that the dispute stems from the founding contract signed between the two parties last year. Both sides effectively claim ownership of the Fly540 brand, while rejecting liability for Fly540's historic debts...

Ten times too many

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The collapse of South Africa’s 1time Airline in November 2012 was first and foremost a tragedy for the 1,000 employees it left jobless, few of whom can expect to be reinstated permanently if newcomer FastJet completes its proposed takeover of the defunct carrier. In an emotive statement announcing the failure of the business rescue plan, chief executive Blacky Komani spoke of the “end of a dream and an era for all of us”.

But, looking beyond the human toll of the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) failure, the South African media has been quick to ask why 10 of the 11 independent airlines created since deregulation in1991 have collapsed...

FastJet answers the low-cost call

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With the low-cost carrier (LCC) market transforming how Europeans think about air travel in the space of just two decades, it is little wonder that Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyJet, has been keen to export his philosophy to other corners of the globe.

Drawing inspiration from EasyJet’s brand name – not to mention headhunting several of its former executives and even leasing one of its old aircraft – the Greek Cypriot tycoon’s vision became reality in November 2012, when the inaugural FastJet flight took off from the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam to the northern city of Mwanza...