Ethiopian Airlines sponsored U-15 African Nations Cup in the UK

Ethiopian aircraft

One of the big player in airline business in Africa, Ethiopian Airline will be sponsoring under 15 African Nations Cup in the United Kingdom .  According to the media consultant to the airline, Emerald Media in a press statement, ‘ Some 640 African-originating participants, all living in the UK, wearing the colours of 20 African countries, will provide a colourful warm up to the forthcoming World Cup on Saturday 31st May, when the Ethiopian Airlines’ sponsored African Nations Cup UK (ANCUK) kicks off at the West Ham Memorial Grounds.’

 The statement further expressed that the event is the sixth annual edition, one of the biggest community football tournaments in the UK, supported by the Football Association (FA) and the first year in which Ethiopian Airlines has taken sponsorship.  The official ceremony will start at 0930 am with a formal opening by The High Commissioner of the Republic of Rwanda to the UK, His Excellency Williams Nkurunziza.   At 10:05 there will be a minute’s silence to honour those who lost their lives during the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda 20 years ago.  The national anthems and a photo shoot of the teams will follow.

The matches, including Ethiopia’s first - against Morocco - on Pitch 5, commence at 11 am.

All the teams consist of 11 players aged 18 years and up who originate from the respective countries, although most of the players now live in the UK.  All referees will be from the FA. For the first time this year too the Tournament includes a Youth Side.  Countries represented in the under 15 years of age category include Zanzibar, Nigeria, Somalia and Morocco.

The tournament, being held in in association with The Metropolitan Police, Newham London, Essex County Football Association, Let’s Kick Racism out of Football and the Terence Higgins Trust, is being supported by entertainment activities and will include food stalls, drinks, crafts and music from renowned local African DJ’s and artists.

SAHCOL Clings Ethiopian Airlines and Azman Air contracts

SAHCOL servicing Ethiopian Airline in Kano

The skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited, SAHCOL has achieved yet another success, as it signed full handling contracts with Ethiopian Airlines and AZMAN Air, to offer ground handling services to them.

SAHCOL shall now perform full handling services (Ramp, Passenger and Cargo/Warehousing) to Ethiopian Airlines' four(4) times a week passenger flights, and three (3) times weekly cargo flights, to/from the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.

Meanwhile, SAHCOL has also been picked by AZMAN Air, the latest airline on the Nigerian domestic scene, to manage its ground handling operations. The contract includes all AZMAN Air passenger, baggage and ramp handling services.

 SAHCOL, an ISAGO certified Ground Handling Company, and a 100% subsidiary of the Sifax Group continues to expand and gain credibility of airlines operating within/into Nigeria since the company became privatized in December, 2009.

SAHCOL has successfully established a strong market presence in the domestic and international airline industry, with unmatched expertise in Passenger, Ramp and Cargo/Warehousing services.

With its now Private Sector Management Orientation, SAHCOL has kicked off the implementation of business models geared towards ensuring efficient and speedy delivery of Aviation Ground Handling Services to all its customers, as a result making it the reference point where efficiency of a successful flight is born.

The new face of SAHCOL is witnessing massive deployment of modern State-of-the-art Ground Support Equipment (GSE), Training/Retraining of all categories of staff, Infrastructural development, Management repositioning, re-fleeting of vehicles, boosting of clients' confidence/ patronage, and massive Infrastructural Development, which includes an almost completed First-of-its-kind (West African Sub Region) Custom Bonded Cargo Warehouse, among others, all geared towards its goal of exceeding customers expectations.

SAHCOL, an Aviation Ground Handling Provider, offers services in Cargo Handling/Warehousing, Passenger Handling, Ramp Handling, Aviation Security, Baggage Reconciliation, Executive Lounge Services, and other related Ground Handling Services; while ensuring that Ground Handling assignment is carried out in an efficient, speedy and safe manner, by deploying the right tools.

Owing to the current boost in confidence, SAHCOL list of growing clientele includes the world best airlines, amongst which are Arik Air, The United Airlines, Air France, Egypt Air, Middle East Airlines (MEA), Allied Air, Aero Contractors Airline, Dana Air, Sudan Air, African Open Sky Airlines, Med-view Airlines, Camair-Co, South African Airways, Etihad Airways, Atlas Jet Airlines, Max Air, Kabo Air, African Word Airways (AWA), Gambia Bird Airlines, and other ad-hoc operators.

Arik Air Rewards Customers with All -Expense Paid Trip to Brazil

Arik Air

Arik Air has rewarded four of its loyal customers with an all-expense paid trip to Brazil following the conclusion of draws in the Brazil 2014 sales promotion inaugurated in March.

The four lucky winners were picked on Thursday May 22nd, 2014 from the tickets of many loyal customers who flew Arik Air’s business class from Lagos to London, New York or Johannesburg between March 1 and April 30, 2014. The lucky winners are; Onuegbu Chima Godwin, Fashawe Oluwayemisi, Aluko Bade and Samuel Bayode.

The draws were supervised by the Director of Consumer Protection Directorate, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi while Nigeria’s music super star, Ice Prince was a special guest at the event.

Speaking at the draws, Arik Air Senior Vice President, Operations/Deputy Managing Director, Captain Ado Sanusi said: “The idea of this draw came about a year ago when Nigeria qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The aim was actually to fly to Brazil and we have been working on that for over two years, trying to make sure that we fly Lagos to Brazil before the commencement of the World Cup finals”.

Captain Sanusi disclosed that the dream of Arik Air to commence commercial flights to Brazil before the World Cup could not be actualised due to some challenges but expressed optimism that someday Arik Air would link Nigeria and Brazil.

The Director of Consumer Protection, NCAA, Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi  appreciated Arik Air’s good gesture of rewarding customers, stressing that offering all-expense paid trip is a way of cementing the good relationship between Arik Air and its customers.

The NCAA Director expressed optimism that the airline would do more in the coming years saying “It is a very good development that Arik is rewarding loyal customers. I am sure that it is just the beginning. If you had a direct flight to Brazil, I am sure the number that will benefit will be more than this”.

Abdullahi who used the opportunity to address the issue of flight delays and cancellation in the industry explaining that “delays and cancellations in aviation are inevitable” but however advised that passengers should be carried along whenever flights are delayed.

He also urged passengers to show understanding when there is a delay or when there is cancellation of flight stressing that “nobody wants to go up there for maintenance; because up there, there is no mechanic workshop, you rather do all the repairs here before you leave. Nobody wants to go up there when the weather is bad en-route or when the destination weather is bad.”

ICAO Delivers Agreement on Airline Flight Tracking Proficiency

ICAO President Dr. O.B. Aliu

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agrees after a  Special Meeting on Global Flight Tracking of Aircraft, forged consensus among its Member States and the international air transport industry sector on the near-term priority to track airline flights, no matter their global location or destination. Furthermore, the meeting established a framework for future efforts in this regard for the medium- and long-term.

 According to a  statement by the world aviation regulatory body, under the ICAO framework, contributions by industry through an Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) coordinated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) will help address the near-term needs for flight tracking.

“Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been an unprecedented event for aviation and we have responded here in a similarly unprecedented manner,” commented ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu.  “While our flight safety work logically focuses the majority of our energy and resources on accident prevention, everyone in our sector also deeply sympathizes with the families of this lost aircraft’s passengers and crew.”

In parallel with IATA’s Task Force work, ICAO will begin developing a flight tracking concept of operations covering how the new tracking data gets shared, with whom, and under what circumstances. The UN aviation organization will also begin considering performance-based international Standards, on a priority basis, to ensure broader adoption of airline flight tracking throughout the aviation system.

The meeting also recognized the challenges faced by States when coordinating their search and rescue (SAR) efforts across national and regional areas of responsibility, stressing the usefulness of regularly run practice exercises to identify procedural or operational gaps. The strong levels of international cooperation and resource sharing on the MH370 SAR efforts demonstrated to date were also recognized.

“Cooperation is the key to everything we achieve in global air transport,” stressed Aliu as he completed his introduction to the meeting’s concluding press conference.  “This has been true since the first States came together and signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation seven decades ago in 1944, and it will remain true as we begin to address the doubling of traffic volumes projected for 2030.”

Boeing, Embraer to Open Joint Research Center for Sustainable Aviation Biofuel

Boeing and Embraer 

 The two giant aircraft manufacturers from United States of America and Brazil, Boeing and Embraer announced that they will open a joint research center to advance a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the two companies will perform joint biofuel research, as well as fund and coordinate research with Brazilian universities and other institutions. The research will focus on technologies that address gaps in a supply chain for sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil, such as feedstock production and processing technologies. The companies' biofuel research center will be located in Sao Jose dos Campos Technology Park.

"Boeing is working aggressively around the world to expand the supply of sustainable aviation biofuel and reduce aviation's carbon emissions," said Julie Felgar, managing director of Environmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "With our joint biofuel research center, Boeing and Embraer are making a strong commitment toward a successful, sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil."

"Embraer is committed in supporting the development of sustainable biofuels for aviation and the joint efforts with Boeing will undoubtedly contribute to the company continuing to be in the forefront of research in this area," says Mauro Kern, Executive Vice President, Engineering and Technology, Embraer. "Brazil has tradition in the area of alternative fuels and enormous potential yet to be explored in bioenergy research."

"Boeing and Embraer have a tremendous opportunity to work together to enhance Brazil's aviation biofuel capabilities, as well as the global industry's access to aviation biofuel," said Al Bryant, vice president, Boeing Research & Technology-Brazil.

In 2013, Boeing, Embraer and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) completed an action plan – Flightpath to Aviation Biofuels in Brazil – that identified gaps in a potential biofuel supply chain. The joint research between Boeing and Embraer will help address those gaps.

When produced sustainably, aviation biofuel emits 50 to 80 percent lower carbon emissions through its lifecycle than petroleum jet fuel. Globally, more than 1,500 passenger flights using biofuel have been conducted since the fuel was approved for use in 2011.

Arik Air increases regional frequencies

Arik Air has reacted to passengers' request by increasing the frequencies  of its regional routes on  Lagos-Monrovia (Liberia) and Lagos-Luanda (Angola).

Arik Air aircraft

This was communicated through an online press statement from the airline. According to the airline, the Lagos-Monrovia service has been increased from three to four weekly flights using a Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The new flight will operate on Saturday, adding to the existing Monday, Wednesday and Friday services. All four weekly flights are operated via Accra with a fifth freedom traffic rights approval facilitating traffic between these two cities as well.

Similarly, the twice weekly Lagos-Luanda service has been increased to three weekly flights. The service will now operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The outbound flight will depart Lagos at 9:30pm (local time) and arrive in Luanda at 12:35am (local time) while the inbound flight will depart Luanda at 02:00am (local time) and arrive in Lagos at 05:05am (local time).

Commenting on the additional frequencies, Arik Air Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue said:

“There is an increasing demand from our guests on the Lagos-Monrovia and Lagos-Luanda routes. Arik Air is committed to providing all of its guests with a range of services, all at suitable times. We have identified and delivered on the demands and are continuously reviewing our route network to offer increased and seamless connections.”