Flying in the face of adversity

By Nick Ericsson
BBC Focus On Africa magazine

The Abuja crash destroyed confidence in Nigeria's aviation industry

On 29 October, a Boeing 737 belonging to ADC Airlines in Nigeria dropped from the skies and crashed - and with it went any reputation or confidence left in the country's airline industry.

The loss of 96 lives - among them the spiritual head of Nigeria's 70 million Muslims, the sultan of Sokoto - occurred soon after the plane took off from the capital, Abuja.

But the tragedy, the third in a year, has meant industry watchers are throwing their hands up in collective exasperation at what they see as typifying the state of much of the continent's airlines.

It was only in September that another major crash killed 10 of Nigeria's top army generals - and that was only nine months after an aircraft operated by Sosoliso Airlines crashed killing more than 100 people, most of them children, and 11 months after a Bellview Airlines carrier killed 117 people soon after take-off from Lagos airport.

These crashes have been variously ascribed to malfunctioning engines, poor weather and pilot error. Beyond Nigeria, the Aviation Safety Network notes that Sudan, DR Congo, Algeria, Kenya, Sao Tome e Príncipe, Chad and Libya also feature in a list of countries which have had air fatalities in the year to November 2006.

In all, Africa has suffered about a third of the world's air disasters, despite having less than 4% of its air traffic.

Banned from Europe

According to a report in South Africa's Business Day newspaper, Africa has seen its average of fatal crashes rise from 5.1 in 1993 to 9.2 in 2005 - making the continent 10 times more dangerous than North America, Europe and Asia, and four times more dangerous than Latin America.

At the root of these fatalities is a lethal mix of inept airline management, poor training of pilots, corruption, and the absence of any binding regulation in the industry

Countries where the lives of passengers are most at risk include Sudan, Nigeria, DR Congo, Angola and Kenya.

Tellingly, in March last year the European Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) banned 83 airlines from five African countries landing in Europe because of serious concerns over their safety records.

Easa said that even though most of these airlines did not actually fly to any European destinations, the ban was a preventative measure to avoid these airlines being subcontracted by larger carriers and so "sneaking in through the back door".

At the root of these fatalities is a lethal mix of inept airline management, poor training of pilots, corruption and, perhaps most crucially, the absence of any binding regulation in the industry.

The African Airlines Association, Afraa, has also noted that African-grown staff - at least those who can boast some measure of competence and professionalism - are increasingly being lured away by more established and wealthy carriers, particularly from the Middle East.

They suggest that institutions such as the African Development Bank should provide funding to establish training for the continent's most under-resourced airlines to meet these skills shortages.

'Flying coffins'

But even the most skilled and motivated pilot may find it difficult to fly what the European Union's transport commissioner, Jacques Barrot, has labelled "flying coffins".

Often, African airlines purchase old and rickety Soviet-era aircraft, including decommissioned military planes, without any safety records and for which spare parts are almost impossible to find.

There are safe carriers too - for example South African airlines

Meanwhile priorities seem rather misplaced. Even though Nigeria set aside $150m in an emergency fund early last year to improve its airports, one government agency allegedly spent $1m on cutting the grass at the airport in Lagos.

Afraa has concluded that a grand African alliance is needed, in which members would give each other access to aviation markets and routes without the need for bilateral trade agreements.

This would be liberalisation on a massive scale in response to what Afraa sees as fierce competition from European carriers such as British Airways, which are increasing their presence in Africa.

But this fails to take into account that, with some exceptions, African airlines may have to accept that the size of their fleets and the experience of their pilots will mean that they will not be able to compete for routes to Europe and North America.

Instead, they should consolidate their own operations, even if that means scaling down and focus on domestic routes - as well as getting their passengers there safely.

What of the success stories? Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways (SAA) are consistently named as three of Africa¿s best.

Success stories

At first glance, the market in South Africa seems to be in glowing health. There is SAA, the strong and established national carrier with experienced pilots, servicing one of the main routes into Africa from Europe, North America, the Far East and the Pacific, as well as enjoying competition through the presence of smaller airlines, which bring prices down.

This is taking place under the watchful gaze of a number of regulatory bodies: the independent South African Civil Aviation Authority and even the state-owned Airports Company of South Africa and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services.

This does not mean it is perfect. The arrival in South Africa of yet another low-cost airline is causing concern ¿ least of all for the added carbon emissions promised by one more player.

Mango Air is the latest addition to a crowded airline market, but is allegedly being part subsidised by the national carrier, and by extension tax payers, in order to beat the competition and secure passengers in a crowded market.

Also, there are suggestions that retired SAA pilots will be flying the aircraft.

Such pilots, say critics, may not have the eyesight and hearing required to fly safely.

As for airline competition in the country, there are persistent complaints from passengers that lower fares equal lower standards. But South African skies are less cloudy than most on the continent.

Ethiopian Airlines too seems to tick many of the boxes: a high safety record (which includes being audited regularly by bodies in the United States as well as Ethiopia), a diversification into passenger and cargo flights, new planes, a programme to mentor new pilots and to update the skills of existing staff and expanding routes to 47 international destinations.

Ditto Kenya Airways who can boast an increase in passenger numbers, as well as cargo and mail numbers ¿ complimented by the expected upgrade of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This has, to some extent, offset the increase in fuel costs triggered by high global oil prices.

Emulating these markets should be the goal of countries in Africa with shameful safety records.

Not all has to happen at once, though. For now, some introspection is desperately needed. The rapidly escalating number of dead passengers in Nigeria needs to stop before the rebuilding of the continent¿s airline industry can begin.