Africa/Middle East
BMED chief executive David Richardson was in Washington recently to promote his new services from London to West Africa to the US travel trade.
Bookings on BMED’s on new services to Dakar, Senegal, and Freetown, Sierra Leone, from London Heathrow Airport are better than expected, according to chief executive David Richardson. Launched at the end of October, the bookings for December and January are “way over budget”, he says.
Richardson was in Washington for a reception at the British Embassy, sponsored by UK Trade & Investment and British Airways, to celebrate the new service; there are an 40,000-60,000 residents in the Washington area with West African roots.
A franchise partner of British Airways since 1997, BMED operates the new services three times a week with narrow-body Airbus aircraft, equipped with Club World and World Traveller seating. The flights are timed for connections to and from BA’s 40 daily US-UK transatlantic flights.
BMED currently has three A320s and five A321s in its fleet and has five more A321s on order. “We’re looking forward to further expansion in the next few years.” With the new service, the carrier flies to 17 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, including many points other carriers avoid, such as in Kazakhstan, Syria, Iran and Lebanon, where it started flying in 1994 as British Mediterranean Airways. “We’re used to serving challenging destinations,” Richardson notes.
The airline makes a point of hiring local managers at each airport. They are both a fantastic source of information on local culture and markets, he says, and the airline has been able to help with inward investment, playing a role in the development of the local economies it serves. “We have no expat managers at all,” Richardson adds. “It gives us a bit of an edge.”
Iain Burns, the British Airways public relations chief who resigned in early October in the wake of the still on-going UK/US probe into price-fixing, has swapped chilly Waterside for sunny Abu Dhabi. Burns, a highly experience PR operator, has been named as the head of corporate communications at Etihad Airways, the fast growing Middle East carrier that is vying to give Emirates a run for its money.
It is a remarkable and swift renaissance for Burns and he will be looking to put the price-fixing issue behind him very quickly. Etihad will be getting a seasoned airline PR operator. Etihad's new chief executive, James Hogan, says that the experience Burns has in the aviation sector "is ideally suited in telling the story of our expansive agenda to the media and our own employees".
Burns, 48, left BA after five years as its head of corporate communications. He had joined from PR consultancy Bell Pottinger where, in a neat twist, he handled European and North American PR for Emriates. Burns had two spells at BA, and managed the PR for American Airlines in the UK. In his first public words since leaving BA, Burns said: "This is an exciting time to join Etihad which has come a long way in a short period of time and has great plans for the future. I am very much looking forward to playing my part in articulating the airline's formidable strategy to a growing audience around the globe."
Burns is expected to begin work at Etihad in 2007.
Expect appointment news from the other BA official who resigned in after the price-fixing probe - commercial director Martin George - shortly as well. Word on the street is that, not surprisingly for this well-regarding executive, offers have been coming his way.
Qatar Airways, which operates Doha International Airport, has built its first and business class passengers a shiny new terminal.
It offers a range of services to pamper premium passengers – from duty free shopping, restaurants and spa treatments, sauna and jacuzzi to conference rooms and secretarial services.
Let’s not forget the children and nanny who will be travelling at the back of the aircraft – they too can check in at the terminal and use selected areas, including a play area and nursery.
Any medical concerns can be swiftly dealt with before embarkation too – there is a doctor and nurse on duty in a fully manned medical centre.
Dedicated check-in facilities, concierge meet and greet services, fast-track security and five dedicated boarding gates should all ensure a stress-free passage through the terminal.
The facility, which was opened on 27 November, was built as part of $200 million expansion at the airport to support the ambitious growth plans of its home carrier. Qatar Airways is by far the largest operator using the airport, operating some 90% of flights in and out of Doha. The carrier has 20 Boeing 777s on order and is still planning a large order for Airbus A350s once the final configuration of the aircraft is known.
It was inevitable that safety became a topic of heated discussions during November’s Annual General Assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) in Cairo. While it is true that cold statistics clearly show the safety record among airlines on the continent to be considerably worse than that in other, more developed regions of the world, airline chiefs insist that this creates an entirely false picture.
Their ire is directed particularly at the European Union (EU) whose blacklist of nearly 100 African airlines has caused consternation and has been detrimental to the air transport industry, and the loss of income incalculable.
The countries with the greatest number on the banned list for flying into the EU – Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone – said AFRAA secretary general Christian Folly-Kossi are “tarnishing the whole of Africa, creating an [undeserved] perception that safety on the whole continent is poor”. Furthermore, said another leader, “most of these airlines are not even owned or managed by Africans, and it is governments that must get a grip on licensing”.
No one disputes that airport and air navigation infrastructure is badly in need of upgrading and that more modern aircraft have to be introduced. But, says Gabriel Gbenga Olowo, executive director at Nigeria’s Bellview Airlines, it is wrong to suggest that ageing aircraft are to blame for the poor safety record.
Not one of the major accident investigations has found any technical fault with the aircraft, he insists, adding that “the real problem is the human factor”. Airlines have inherited pilots and maintenance staff from the largely unregulated early days of a fledgling industry, from the failed Nigeria Airways and Air Afrique and others.
“Old pilots and engineers are complacent and unwilling to adapt to new methods and technology,” he says, “we need to train a younger generation of pilots and engineers, but it will take time.”
In spite of the negative publicity about safety standards in Africa, there are encouraging signs of progress. The more established carriers are engaging in IATA’s six-point Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Five African airlines have already passed IOSA, three more have been audited, another eight have contracted for an audit, and 11 more are currently in negotiation with one or more audit organisations.
IOSA, says Air Mauritius chairman Sanjay Bhuckory, should be seen as a “certificate of morality”.
There is nothing better the Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker likes to do, it seems, is spar with the press.
He was positively beaming as he took his seat at the airline’s annual press conference at World Travel Market in London the other day. The room was packed, for Al Baker is good value. He says stuff: Often controversial stuff.
But what’s this, he starts with an apology. He had promised last year that his airline would launch 10 destinations during 2006. It didn’t, it only launched one (in March it kicked off a daily service between its Doha hub and Hong Kong).
The reason was because “of protracted negotiations with Boeing and Airbus for our next aircraft order”, said Al Baker. Those negotiations were fruitless and Qatar could not get its hands on the airliners to launch its new routes.
That will all change in 2007 as all four of its A340-600s come into service and first of 20 777s start flying towards the end of the year.
Now what: green taxes? Al Baker is not in favour. He favours putting collection boxes at airports so that people can contribute voluntarily. “The biggest polluters are countries that have a total disregard (for climate change),” he says.
Also, he believes, green campaigners should look harder at those dirty military fast jets rather than bleating on about the more fuel-efficient civil airliners. I felt the PR team wince at that one.
Next: low-cost carriers in the Middle East. Now Al Baker’s been asked that one a few times before. “I’ll have to record my answer,” he says, and play it back the next time. The answer is that low-cost carriers are a no-no for Al Baker in his region. A lack of market access and strong passenger demands to carry a lot of luggage are just two good reasons why it won’t work.
What about access to Australia? Unfortunately not yet, he says resignedly. “Australian carriers are very troubled by competition from Middle Eastern carriers. We are being restricted by the government of Australia which is putting up unacceptable hurdles.”
The way out question. Sometimes at press conferences you get a question from the left field. Al Baker’s came from a journalist determined to pin him down about a recent trip he had made with Qatar. The vegetarian meal he had ordered did not come, there was some sort of delay at Singapore Changi that was down to Qatar and his application for a frequent flyer card had not been processed.
Al Baker took this in his stride, apologizing and promising to look into these matters. In fact, his commercial general manager, Peter Spencer, who was also on the podium, took the chance to e-mail Doha HQ and find some answers while the conference continued. Later he passed the reply back to Al Baker. His boss could reply right away to the miffed journalist, at least on one point. The answer: he had not filled in the application properly – no address was supplied. Oh no, said the scribe, I did fill it out. Puzzled looks all round.
Al Baker turns to Spencer, who is confident his team has unearthed the errant form, and says it will all be checked, and adds: “If he’s giving you the wrong information, you know what happens!” We all snigger in jest, for Al Baker is alluding to his reputation of something of a tough task master. We all know however that he is only half joking.
Roll on the next Qatar Airways press conference. They are top value.
“We have a very strong compensation clause with a limited excusable delay beyond which Airbus will have to give me loads of money and the aircraft as a gift,” said Akbar Al Baker (centre), with only a hint of pathos, speaking at his annual press conference at London’s World Travel Market show yesterday about discussions between his airline and Airbus about A380 deliveries.
Over the past few weeks, all the customers of the Airbus A380 have been nagged by journalists over how much the manufacturer is giving airlines for delays to their deliveries. “As far as compensation is concerned we have a very rigid mechanism in our purchase agreement which I cannot disclose,” said the head of Qatar Airways.
A press conference held by Al Baker is always an entertaining affair, and his appearance at WTM did not disappoint. Although his central message was to announce his carrier is getting back on its ambitious growth track with a whole load of new route launches next year, after just one (Hong Kong) this year, the hour-long discussion ranged over topics as diverse as the Airbus A380, the environment, passenger service, Australian routes, in-flight catering monopolies, female pilots, Live TV and financial results.
Among the highlights was the clearest indication yet about when Qatar will take its first of the Airbus superjumbos. The airline had already delayed its first delivery from 2007 to 2009 because of delays to the construction of the New Doha International Airport, said Al Baker. Already “disappointed” with a further delay, Qatar now knows it will receive its first A380 in late 2010 and the second in early 2011. Two options will follow a year later if exercised.
Low-cost carriers will finally be welcomed with open arms at Dubai when the ambitious Jebel Ali airport complex – branded Dubai World Central - opens in early 2008. At present, a lack of capacity at over-crowded Dubai International Airport means that low-cost services are not possible.
“We have turned away low-cost carriers because we don’t have the facilities,” said Anita Mehra Homayoun (above), director of marketing and communications for Dubai Civil Aviation, speaking at this week’s World Route Development Forum in Dubai. The main low-fare player operating in the emirate is Air Arabia, which is based at nearby Sharjah International Airport.
The emphasis on low-fare services will change at Jebel Ali, she said, where DCA is building a low-cost terminal able to handle at least five million passengers a year in the first phase of the airport’s construction. “The first phase of Dubai World Central will be for logistics services and low-cost carriers,” said Mehra Homayoun. Although prices at the current Dubai International Airport are competitive, rates at the new airport will be lower and “definitely not be the same prices we are asking to pay there”, she said.
Dubai urgently needs the extra capacity because its current terminal complex, designed to handle 22 million passengers annually, is now over the 25 million level, with some 29 million passengers expected this year, she said.
The new terminal being added at Dubai will take the airport’s capacity to 60 million passengers by 2008. This airport could eventually be dedicated to home carrier Emirates. “I’m thinking that all other airlines will probably go to Dubai World Central,” said Mehra, although no firm decisions have been reached yet.
One of the most impressive stands at Routes was a huge model of the vast Dubai World Central site (see below). With its six runways, monster airport, dedicated cargo and logistics centre, two 18-hole golf courses, industrial zone, residential city and commercial centre, it is a staggering undertaking, and one that only Dubai could seemingly envision.
Etihad Airways has become the second Middle East carrier after Emirates to welcome the A380 to its home base. An A380 test aircraft flew into Abu Dhabi for hot weather testing on the 24 July and Etihad used the occasion to show off the aircraft (see the pictures below).
The arid Gulf provides an ideal location for heat testing, which must be performed at outside temperatures over 38°C. The tests look at the performance of the engines, auxiliary power unit, air conditioning, hydraulic and electrical systems, both in the air and on the ground.
Etihad has placed an $8 billion order with Airbus for 24 aircraft, including four A380s. The A380’s huge capacity – it can accommodate up to 555 guests in a standard three-zone configuration – has ensured abundant media attention. “The A380 is set to change the future of air travel,” said Etihad Airways chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan.
After the visit to Abu Dhabi, the A380 will continue hot weather testing in Al Ain. These tests form part of the A380’s overall EASA and FAA certification programme.
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No your eyes are not deceiving you - this is the interior of an aircraft, not a fancy New York, Dubai (sorry Abu Dhabi restaurant) or Paris restaurant. The mood lighting is not created by candlelight - at least I don't think so.
Middle Eastern carriers are determined to outdo each other in the premium cabin, and Etihad Airways is no exception. It has just launched this interior concept on its Airbus A340-500s that began flying between London Heathrow and Abu Dhabi at the beginning of July.
This, I hardly need to say, is first, or Diamond Class. The seats spin. Not in the way kids like to play with office chairs, but through 180 degrees so "Guests", as Etihad calls them, can have meetings, chat or eat.
But don't worry those of you who can contemplate paying for this service - rotation is not complusory. Each seat also has a privacy shell.
Whoever said first class was dead?
Etihad Airways surely gets the award for the most prolific issuer of press releases over the past year. Hardly a week seems to go by without a new route starting up or a new aircraft being delivered.
The latest is worth mentioning because it documents the fact that the Abu Dhabi upstart has brought on board 30 international destinations in as many months. Such frenetic growth is usually the preserve of low-cost players. Etihad is doing it with Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.
This week alone the carrier begins new services to Paris and Dhaka, while routes to Islamabad, Jakarta, Lahore, Manila, Muscat and Peshawar have come on stream in the last six months. The past week have also seen it take delivery of its third A330-200 and fourth 777-300ER.
The carrier is on target to achieve its ambitions of flying to 70 destinations across the globe by 2010, says its chairman HH Dr Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saif Al Nahyan.
As the network spreads it will be fascinating to see if Etihad’s traffic and yield manages to keep pace.
Finding the word sombre in an Emirates press release is a rarity. A carrier that has just set new group and airline profit records, boosted its dividends to new highs and seen revenue growth of 27% would seem to have little to worry about.
But sky high fuel prices affect even the most stalwart carriers. In announcing its annual results for the financial year that ended on 31 March, Emirates noted that its fuel bill rose from 21.4% of spending in the previous year to a record 27.2%, making its easily the largest of all its costs.
Surcharges on tickets helped to soften the blow, but only covered 41% of incremental costs, it said. Hedging helped too, saving the company $189 million, double what it saved the previous year.
So now comes its warning: “The outlook remains somber in a volatile global market where oil prices have hit new highs.”
The worry for those competing with Emirates is that it can achieve such profits in this environment. And there is surely more to come. Opening the review of its annual results, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of the Emirates Airline and Group (seen above) sought to debunk accusations that his carrier receives hidden government support and subsidies.
“Profitability through growth seems to have become a theme of Emirates for the past decade,” he said. “I must stress that we have never set out to be a threat to any other airline. We have simply concentrated on trying to provide a superb service for our passengers and cargo customers.”
The Emirates bandwagon just seems to roll on and on.
This is a photograph guaranteed to scare the life of most mortal airline chief executives worried about the market power of Emirates. And it doesn't contain any potentially game-changing 500-plus seat Airbus A380s yet.
The carrier, shown here with a large chunk of its fleet gathered at its Dubai hub and powerbase, recently took delivery of its 90th aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER. By the end of the year it will reach the magic 100-aircraft mark, and will easily exceed it during 2007. What this means is that aircraft in Emirates livery will soon be visited a major city near you, or if they are already in town, they will be upping frequency.
Such seemingly unstoppable, and by all accounts profitable, growth, makes others nervous and jealous. And the story is far from over. As its chairman, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, says: "The Emirates fleet, which started on a humble footing of just two leased aircraft in 1985, has since doubled in size every five years on average."
That progress will continue it seems because the airline has over 100 aircraft on order, including 45 A380s and 60 777s, and more orders to come.
Sama may not be the first low-cost carrier start-up in the Middle East – that distinction goes to Sharjah-based Air Arabia – but it certainly appears to have the loftiest ambitions. As the proposed Saudi Arabian entrant said on its brand launch on 5 February: “Our objective is simple: To be the preferred and most successful low fares airline in the Middle East.”
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The carrier, which has the approval of the Saudi government, has backing from 30 Saudi private and institutional investors. It is being headed up by a management team consisting of former executives from UK low-cost carriers easyJet and go.
Sama aims to begin services by the middle of this year using leased Boeing 737-300s to bring the low-cost revolution to Saudi for the first time. Initially it will serve domestic destinations, expanding to other states in the region over time.
The word Sama in Arabic is a verb, says the carrier, with a number of meanings: to rise (high), tower up, go up, to be or become elevated, high, exalted or sublime. The brand image is a modern white and blue geometric design, with echoes of that of US low-fares carrier Spirit Airlines.
To keep abreast of Sama’s development, and to find out where it will be flying, visit its website.
The 10m long steel scaffold pole swings precariously close to the transfer bus door as the ex-patriate Indian worker, clad in full-face scarf to ward off the swirling dust, heaves it up to a colleague on the next level. Work is in full swing in and around the daily operations during a busy peak at Doha’s international airport.
Workers crawl all over the modestly sized terminal and apron to expand the Qatari capital’s airport capacity in advance of a bright, shiny new model (see artist's impressions above and below) scheduled to open in 2009. It is urgently needed. The small Gulf state’s flag carrier Qatar Airways is out-growing its home base. In fact it has virtually out-grown it already, and is already capacity constrained at peak times.
So, even though the new airport complex is within sight, some $300 million is being spent at the current one to cope with the ambitions of Qatar Airways. This interim measure will expand the apron and terminal and include the fast-track construction of a dedicated first and business class terminal to open in the third quarter. It is badly needed: the airport’s lounges were bursting at the seams during a recent visit.
The new airport will be impressive, and a testament to the aspirations of this gas-rich state to develop a flourishing economy and tourist trade. In fact, so fast is the growth of Qatar Airways that the airport’s planned second phase has already been approved. This will boost its capacity from 12 million passengers annually to double that number.
In common with near-neighbours Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Qatar is pouring concrete like mad to meet anticipated demand. It is an amazing story that needs to be seen at first hand to appreciate the scale and speed of progress.
And although for many the only sight of Qatar is in a brief glimpse as they transfer to an airport bound for Bangkok, Berlin or another such destination, more are making a stopover. That is why in January and early February alone Qatar hosted a professional cycle tour event, a round of the European golf tour and a charity concert given by rock star Bryan Adams.
More is in the calendar before the big one: The 2006 Asian Games, which arrives in Doha in December. For most Qatar may still be an alien destination, but within five years I predict many of us will have witnessed its progress at first hand.
The prospect of high-flying Emirates using some of its Airbus A380s in a high-density layout to operate what would be medium or long-haul low-cost carrier-style services is enough to send a shudder down the spine of many of its competitors. But it is a thought on the mind of the carrier's vice-chairman and group president Maurice Flanagan (seen below).
Emirates has already stated that it will configure its A380s in three-different layouts to suit different markets, and has studied using the aircraft in a single-class layout too, says Flanagan, building on remarks made by the airline's president Tim Clark in the April 2005 issue of Airline Business. "It could work," says Flanagan. "The aircraft offers an interesting set of possibilities. In principle I quite like the idea."
The carrier has dubbed its internal concept airline Emirates Express, and this would see an A380 with a lot more seats on it than the maximum the airline is planning to date, or another alternative it has considered is setting aside a low-cost area on the aircraft. Its most dense configuration will be a two-class cabin of 644 seats for routes into the Indian subcontinent. Long-haul routes see a three-class A380 with 489 seats, while medium-haul sectors will feature a three-class 530-seat aircraft.
For once the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel had competition on the Dubai skyline as the Airbus A380 took to the skies (pictured) as part of the Dubai Airshow. Flying low along Dubai’s beachfront in full Emirates livery, the type apparently received spontaneous applause from onlookers. And reports suggest the A380 literally stole the show, receiving huge amounts of interest from visitors.
But despite all the fanfare and ticker tape, Airbus may not be having it all its own way in the large airliner market. The Dubai Airshow has now come and gone with no further orders, and Boeing has finally responded to the A380 with its stretched version of the 747, and further delivery slippages are being announced by launch customers of the Airbus super-jumbo.
Air France is the latest to revise its A380 delivery schedule. It has put off delivery of its first two A380s to coincide with the peak tourist season in summer 2008. Originally it was going to take its first A380s in November 2006. That postponement is on top of an original delay by Airbus of six months. Air France has said it is discussing compensation with the manufacturer. Virgin Atlantic and Singapore Airlines are also reviewing delivery schedules.