The Giant Awakes
The year 2016 is seeing the EAC giant awakening to the call of improving the facilitation of air travelers within and outside the region. It is great news for the travelling public to learn that the EAC States are in high gear of revamping their airlines. This will not only improve on air travel to and from the region, but will also boost tourism within the EAC. In the spirit of regional co-operation the EAC Partner States are already working on the establishment of an effective tourist air circuit through the development of earmarked aerodromes and air routes for purposes of facilitating quick tourist movement to the tourist attraction sites.
The year 2016 is a bumper harvest year for the EAC aviation industry. The planting season started in mid 2015 with the delivery of new Boeing B787 Dreamliners for Kenya Airways. Later on CASSOA embarked on the vigorous exercise of assisting Tanzania with the recertification as per the harmonised EAC civil aviation regulations, of its major operators in the region who had been earlier on certified as per the old regulations. To that effect, Precision Air was successfully recertified in November 2015.
This fall (autumn) in September 2016, CASSOA embarked on the vigorous exercise of assisting Kenya to recertify Kenya Airways together with its Maintenance Facility in Embakasi, as per the EAC harmonised civil aviation regulations. This exercise has also been successfully accomplished.
Kenya Airways maintenance facility that has recently been recertified. Courtesy photo by Reuters
The beginning of the year 2016 saw the vigorous exercise of assisting Burundi to revamp its flag carrier, Air Burundi, through the operationalisation of its sole aircraft, a Chinese made MA60 turbo prop, which had been donated to the Republic by China as a gesture of mutual co-operation. However, this meant the acceptance of the Chinese CCAR-25 under which the MA60 is Type certificated, by the EAC States. This exercise was successfully completed in August 2016, now what is left for Air Burundi is the fulfillment of operational requirements before it can be granted an AOC.
Burundi’s MA60 parked at Bujumbura International Airport
The month of September 2016 has seen the delivery of three new aircraft to the EAC States, namely; one Airbus A330-200 for Rwanda and two Bombardier Dash Q400 NG for Tanzania.
Following the delivery of these three iron birds, the eyes are all set on Uganda, which is now also under pressure to re-establish its national carrier, the onetime vibrant Uganda Airlines. Uganda has already started on the exercise of re-establishing the national carrier. Uganda has also heavily invested in the East African Civil Aviation Academy in Soroti as a means of churning out qualified cadres for the aviation industry. All this is seen by CASSOA as a positive move when the EAC leadership recognises the importance of flag carriers in the economic development of the State. It is CASSOA’s high hopes that the EAC Partner States will address amicably the question of a sustainable funding mechanism for the Agency, given the potential of a fast growing industry that requires effective safety and security oversight. Truly, the giant has woken up and one really hopes that one day, in the spirit of regionalism, the major EAc airlines shall amalgamate into an efficient once upon a time mighty East African Airways.
The commissioning ceremony of Tanzania’s new Dash Q400 planes for Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) at Julius Nyerere international airport by H.E. President John Pombe Magufuli
The new Airbus A330-200 for Rwandair parked at Kigali International Airport after delivery