Arik Air Aims To Expand Across Africa

Nigerian-Based Arik Air, which is also the country’s flag-carrier, is aiming to operate with the same quality as top airlines in the United States and Europe by paying special attention to maintenance with no cutting corners and by operating with new aircraft according to international standards.

The airline has a maintenance partnership with Lufthansa and is currently building a maintenance facility.

The airlines Chairman., Johnson Arumeni ,has revealed that Arik now has 23 aircraft in its fleet ,namely wide-bodied Airbus A340-500s for long-range flights; 13 Boeing 737s regional aircraft; four Bombardier CRJ-900s and two Q-400s ,and two Hawker 125-800XPs for charter, all fully -owned from financing by the US Export-Import Bank and the Export Development Canada.

The airline is soon to receive two Airbus A330-200s from Pembroke, in Ireland, for use until it replaces them with Airbus A350XWB airliners.

Arik has also ordered seven B787-9s; Dream liners, two B747-800s and eight 737-800s from Boeing.

Arumenis plans for Ariks reach across Africa are to focus on West Africa with direct flights from Lagos to Dakar, Freetown, Banjul, Accra, and Roberts Field/Monrovia.

Using its subsidiary, Savannah Express, the carrier will operate from Lagos to Cotonou (Benin) ,Ouagadougou( Burkina Faso) and Bamako (Mali) and Dakar.

Beyond West Africa the airline flies to Douala, in Cameroon, Kinshasha, in the DRC, Luanda, in Angola and Johannesburg, in South Africa.

Plans for the coming year are to extend its reach to Egypt and North Africa then to East Africa with more frequencies to South Africa.

Currently, the airline flies to New York three times a week, but from next month, it will operate on a daily basis employing the leased Airbus A330-200s.

Defunct Uganda Airlines May Be Revived

Reports emanating from Kampala reveal that the Uganda Government is seriously considering revamping the defunct Uganda Airlines as a State-operated national flag carrier aimed at boosting tourism and trade in the country.

A draft proposal has been drawn up and will apparently be presented to the cabinet “soon ” with the objective ,some sources claim, of reinstating Uganda Airlines by the year end. The Minister of Works and Transport, Abraham Byandala, confirmed that the matter was being discussed within his ministry.

Although he refrained from discussing the issue further at this stage, Byandala did indicate that the government had embarked on expanding and renovating airfields in Kasese, Arua and Gulu to enable them handle domestic flights.

The proposal deals with how the airline will operate and, at the time of writing, was being discussed by transport experts prior to its presentation to the cabinet.

It is understood that among the various issues is whether the airline, if it is resurrected, should be wholly owned by the government or whether the share-holding should be on a public-private partnership basis, the exact nature of the split having yet to be announced.

The draft proposal has apparently pointed out that a revived Uganda Airlines could be operated on the same basis as other carriers in the area such as Kenya Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines,among others. The proposal has also drawn up suggestions for the domestic and international routes on which the airline could operate.

“The political will is enormous. Most Cabinet Ministers will back it once it is presented before them.The say Uganda Airlines is a symbol of national pride,” a source is quoted as saying.

Uganda Airlines was established after the collapse of East African Airways in 1976,due to political disagreement among the East African Community leaders, which ultimately led to the establishment of Kenya Airways, Uganda Airlines and Air Tanzania.

Uganda Airlines became insolvent and collapsed 13 years ago due to bankruptcy and debt.At the time, the government was blamed for the collapse because of its failure to support the carrier,as well as not developing Entebbe airport as a hub for the airline.

Attempts to privatize the airline to revive its profitability and competitiveness also failed.Initially, Air Mauritius, Inter Air, Kenya Airways and Sabena expressed interest, but later declined to submit bids.

This left only South African Airways as a possibility, but it, too, lost interest which forced the Government to liquidate the airline in 2001.

nthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Aviation Air News on Expansion & Revival of African Airlines. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

nthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Aviation Air News on Expansion & Revival of African Airlines. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

Author Bio: nthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Aviation Air News on Expansion & Revival of African Airlines. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/flight-news.html

Category: Travel
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