Africa World Airlines Targeting To Dominate Africa

Africa World Airlines (AWA) is to increase its offering on its regional and domestic routes this year as it scales-up its operations.

The Accra-based airline, which currently operates regional flights to Lagos, Nigeria is looking to bring in more equipment and increase its offering to the populous West African country.

Captain Samuel Thompson, Chief Operations Officer (COO) of AWA told the B&FT that: “We intend to increase our frequencies to our destinations that are good. We intend to maintain a regular three or more flight to Lagos a day, increase our frequency to Kumasi and Tamale.”

AWA in December 2013 started servicing the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos and has sustained the service over the past four years to the admiration of patrons; on a route also serviced by Arik, Aero and Med-view.

“We have cemented our presence on the Nigerian market. We are going to increase our frequency to the Nigerian market and we want to set the bar so high that anybody coming in will find it difficult,” Captain Thompson noted.

To see-off competition, AWA is to take delivery of two more aircraft by the end of this month to augment its fleet for the competition ahead.

“We will develop new routes with the Embraer 145 that we have. We have three now and we are bringing in two by the end of January and then in the middle of the year, we will bring in a bigger airplane. It will definitely be a bigger aeroplane with two classes.

People try to buy all this modern airplanes but you have to look at the market and look at what you want to do. Because you might get a bigger aeroplane that takes 200 people but you are always filling that with 100 people. In that case, your numbers will not look right. We have done a good study and we think we will bring the right aeroplane for what we want to do. But once we bring a medium-sized aeroplane and we think the market is growing, then we will bring a bigger one.

Africa World Airlines was incorporated on November 15, 2010 as a joint-venture between HNA Group (China) — parent company of Hainan Airlines, the only Skytrax rated five-star airline in China, founded in 1993; SAS Finance Group (Ghana); China-Africa Development Fund (CAD-Fund, China); and the Social Security and National Insurance (SSNIT).

GHANA: Africa World Airlines

Africa World Airlines Limited is a Ghanaian airline company with its head office in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana, and its main hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.

Africa World Airlines was incorporated in 2010. It is a joint venture between Hainan Airlines, China-Africa Development Fund, SSNIT and SAS Finance Group.

Africa World Airlines took delivery on 30 August 2012 of its first Embraer 145 aircraft that will be used to operate domestic routes.

A second aircraft was delivered on 8 September 2012. These aircraft were previously operated by Tianjin Airlines which is a sister company within the HNA Group.

Africa World Airlines has plans to increase its fleet size by adding Airbus 319 series of aircraft, as of yet the number of aircraft to be added is undefined.

Destinations
Africa World Airlines operates the following scheduled services.

Ghana
Accra - Kotoka International Airport
Kumasi - Kumasi Airport
Takoradi - Takoradi Airport
Tamale - Tamale Airport

Nigeria
Lagos- Murtala Muhammed International Airport
Africa World Airlines is planning to increase its destinations, first with the addition of flights along the west coast of Africa and then to other regions of Africa.

Africa Faces Invasion From Powerful Gulf And China Airlines

Africa is tipped to be one of aviation’s hot spots over the next 10-20 years. Growth rates are already strong, as increasing numbers of countries on the continent expand economically and develop a middle class.

But commercial aviation in Africa is still constrained by a combination of poor infrastructure, restrictive visa regimes and protectionism. Which makes it difficult territory in which local airlines can grow.

Although the size of the continent means that flying is the obvious way to get around, there has traditionally been a lack of intra-African services.

For many years, this has meant that getting from, say, one capital in Central Africa to another in West Africa has meant travelling – incredibly – via Paris. France was the colonial ruler of large swathes of western Africa and many countries retain French as an official language.

There are relatively few large carriers based in Africa – South African Airways, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian are some of the majors – that have sizeable regional networks.

But, just as the growing African economy should be giving those carriers a boost, they find that outsiders are eating their lunch.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the Persian Gulf’s ‘Big Three’ – Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – that are fast becoming major players in Africa, deploying their ever-growing capacity to soak up passengers. Increasingly, those passengers are being sucked into the seemingly insatiable maws of the hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Just this year, the three Gulf carriers have launched, or will launch, services to Algiers, Bamako, Entebbe, Dar-Es-Salaam, Durban, Zanzibar, Accra and Mogadishu. They are also increasing frequencies or up-gauging aircraft on several African routes.

While this undoubtedly increases choice for African passengers, there are signs that it is starting to stress local carriers. In July, Kenya Airways cited competition from the Gulf carriers as one reason behind an annual net loss that spiralled from around $33 million in 2013-14 to $275 million for 2014-15.

And perennially loss-making South African Airways has been trying for some months to strengthen its relationship with Emirates, on the basis that ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’ It also has a codeshare with Etihad.

Gulf airlines are also stepping up their cargo services into the continent. Again, West Africa is a particular target, but in early August Qatar Airways launched a specialized freighter service into Djibouti. The tiny northeast African nation has big ambitions to become the main logistics hub for that part of the continent and is the latest destination for Qatar Airways’ fast-expanding cargo arm, which already has regular dedicated freighter flights to six other points in Africa.

And as well as the Gulf carriers, indigenous African airlines may also be facing a new threat from China. China Southern has inaugurated a Guangzhou-Nairobi service, while earlier this year Air China announced plans to start routes from Beijing to Addis Ababa and Johannesburg. And the huge HNA Group, parent to Hainan Airlines, has a controlling stake in Ghana’s Africa World Airlines. The Chinese government is believed to be keen also to have domestic airlines initiate services to Africa. China, of course, has been pouring investment into Africa for some years, mainly to buy up minerals and other raw materials to feed its booming economy, so the Asian nation’s desire to add direct air services to the source of many of its business interests is understandable.

But it creates yet another problem for those African carriers seeking to carry their nation’s name further afield.

CHINA: China's HNA Group Acquires 23.7% Stake In Brazil's Azul

Hainan Airlines
Type: Scheduled Carrier
Base: Haikou
Aircraft: 162
Destinations: 85
Routes: 299
Daily Flights: 605

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, Campinas Viracopos) and HNA Group have announced a strategic partnership wherein the Chinese conglomerate will acquire a 23.7% stake in the Brazilian carrier for USD450 million. As Azul's single largest shareholder, HNA will be able to appoint new members to the board of directors.

“HNA Group sees in Azul a solid investment with high growth potential. The USD450 million investment, considering Brazil’s current macroeconomic situation, demonstrates that we have a winning business model and that the HNA Group, as a large investor, has absolute confidence in Azul’s team," David Neeleman, CEO of Azul, said. "Moreover, this investment makes Azul the airline with the highest valuation in the Brazilian market, at more than BRL7.0 billion (USD1.87 billion).”

As part of the deal, the two firms will cooperate in the development of code sharing and new routes while expanding cooperation across their respective loyalty programs.

The partnership brings together two of the largest players in two of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world - China and Brazil. With a fleet of 145 aircraft, Azul is the largest airline in Brazil by network-size, offering more than 900 daily flights to more than 100 destinations. For its part, HNA Group owns China's fourth largest airline group in terms of fleet size with a total of 561 aircraft on the books of Hainan Airlines, Grand China Air, Tianjin Airlines, Lucky Air (China), West Air (China), and Yangtze River Express. It operates scheduled domestic and international service on more than 630 routes from locations throughout China as well as internationally. HNA Group's international portfolio includes stakes in myCargo Airlines (Turkey), Africa World Airlines (Ghana), Aigle Azur (France), and Comair (South Africa).

Bravia Capital and UBS Investment Bank served as financial advisor to HNA Group while Seabury Securities LLC, Seabury Group's investment banking unit, served as financial advisor to Azul.

Earlier this year, United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) acquired a 5% shareholding in Azul for USD100 million in a deal that also gave United Continental Holdings Inc a representative on Azul's board.

CHINA: Hainan Airlines Parent To Buy Swissport

Hainan Airlines 5-Star cabin staff

HNA Group, owner of the Chinese 5-Star Airline, Hainan Airlines, has agreed to buy airport luggage handler Swissport International Ltd from PAI Partners SAS for USD $2.81 billion.

HNA will operate Swissport as a stand-alone business within the group. Swissport has approximately 60,000 employees, operating in 48 countries, and is the world´s largest ground and cargo handling company, providing service for about 224 million passengers and handles more than 4.1 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Under HNA ownership, Swissport will continue to expand its global footprint and continue to deliver the highest quality and value added services to existing and future customers. On announcement of the sale, Swissport Chairman Dr Thomas Staehelin commented: “We are pleased to become part of HNA Group and to continue to further strengthening our service offering and global network.”

Adam Tan, President of HNA Group, said: “HNA is excited to support Swissport’s world class management team as they continue to provide the highest quality service to the airline industry and their passengers. HNA is committed to Swissport’s future success in the global aviation market”.
About the HNA Group

HNA Group was founded in 1993, and is a Chinese conglomerate encompassing core divisions of aviation, holdings, capital, tourism and logistics, and has 11 listed companies.

In 2014, HNA Group had more than 110,000 employees worldwide, it is one of the Top 4 in China’s aviation industry, ranking the 120th in China Top 500 Enterprises, and HNA Group entered Fortune Global 500 in 2015 for the first Time, ranking No. 464 with annual revenue of approximately US $25.6 billion.

As at December 2014, HNA Aviation has a fleet of 528 aircraft, serving over 640 Chinese domestic and international routes, flying to over 250 cities, and carrying 72 million passengers annually.

It operates and manages Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Deer Jet, Lucky Air, Capital Airlines, West Air, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Yangtze River Express, My CARGO, Africa World Airlines, and Aigle Azur. The aviation division has been maintaining a high level of operation standard and quality. The flagship airline, Hainan Airlines, is a SKYTRAX 5-Star Airline.