CONGO: ECAir CEO, Fatima Beyina-Moussa, Pushes For Open Skies, Calls For Healthy Competition, Strategic Collaboration

ECAir or Equatorial Congo Airlines is the national carrier of the Republic of Congo. It was set up in 2011 with its hub in Brazzaville. Fatima Beyina-Moussa, chief executive of ECAir, is mandated with the task of developing its hub by opening further regional destinations. Beyina-Moussa, an economist by profession, was an adviser to the country finance minister and one of the key matters she was assigned was to set up a national airline.

Subsequent to her project report, she was appointed the first CEO of the airline when it was created in 2011. She is also the current president of African Airline Association (AFRAA) and ECAir will host the 47th Annual General Assembly of AFRAA in November this year in Brazzaville. Beyina-Moussa talks to Reji John about open skies and the urgency of healthy competition and strategic collaboration.

As a host airline for the 47th AFRAA annual general assembly and ready to welcome delegates, what are your thoughts on the African aviation industry and what are your expectation from the AGA this year?

I am very optimistic about the future of the African aviation industry. In 2010, the aviation industry in Africa supported about seven million jobs (including 257,000 direct jobs) through the impact on travel and tourism which translated into $67.8 billion of the continent's GDP. Forecasts indicate that the aviation industry's impact on African economies is set to grow. Over the next 20 years, implied job creation by the industry is projected at 879,000.

From the AGA, we are looking forward to giving people a taste of central Africa, while discussing the challenges faced by our industry and particularly the open skies subject. We really expect the exchanges to be rich and fruitful during the AGA and that ideas can be turned into action plans for implementation.

AFRAA was set up in 1968 with a mission to be the leader and catalyst for the growth of a globally competitive and integrated African airline industry. As an airline chief executive what is your current assessment of this mission statement?

I have been to several AFRAA meetings over the years and I perceive that we are now moving from projects theory to projects implementation. AFRAA is a true leader and catalyst for growth of a globally competitive and integrated African airline industry. For example, we are actively working at setting up a joint African airlines fuel purchase project allowing us to reduce costs. We are also setting up an African route coordination project to optimise airline schedules in the interest of our passengers.

Apart from the big efforts the Secretary General of AFRAA and his team put at the service of African aviation on a daily basis, I have also modestly tried to lobby for our industry during this year of presidency of AFRAA. During 2015, I have travelled internationally, met and discussed with stakeholders of the aviation industry such as Tony Tyler, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). I also met and discussed African airlines challenges with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union.

In your welcome message to AFRAA delegates, you say the times are both "challenging and exciting". What, according to you, are the biggest challenges for the African aviation industry to make it a world leader?

Challenging and exciting are the two key words when we talk about the African aviation sector. IATA has predicted annual growth of 7.2 percent between 2013 and 2017. These projections show optimism over the airline's future. Certainly the size of the market and its spending capacity is a present challenge. The implementation of the open skies policy is also a challenge and at the same time an opportunity for the airlines of the continent to expand in a profitable way.

Brazzaville hosting the 47th AFRAA assembly in November 2015, will have the chance to present the progresses in the area of civil aviation and there seems little reasons to doubt that the country's aviation sector will continue to blossom. Open skies, our biggest challenge, will be the subject of the 47th AGA of Afraa, "Open skies: Growth through competition and collaboration," that I will have the honour to chair as the current Afraa president.

What is your realistic outlook for 2017 by when the African aviation industry has another chance to unlock its value with the liberalisation of skies expected through the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision towards the establishment of a single African Air Transport market?

I really think that the commitment of these 11 states will encourage their peers to do the same. The chairperson of the African Union Commission has told us that she will continue pushing for more African governments to commit to the liberalisation of the African skies. She has asked that airlines and AFRAA also play their part in lobbying countries that are not committed yet. I remain optimistic. African airlines initially underestimated the importance of the Yamoussoukro Decision, but are now becoming more committed to it. They are still facing additional challenges like high fuel and services costs, inadequate infrastructure, lack of human resources and competition from non-African airlines.

How important is partnerships and collaboration to realise the dream of making the African aviation industry globally competitive and sustainable?

During my presidency, I have lobbied with stakeholders of the aviation industry about setting up a great cooperation in order to ease travel in Africa. I have, for example, discussed with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union. I have asked her to help us with the african governments in the areas of liberalisation, high airport charges, poor infrastructure. Aviation enjoys a natural advantage as a means of connecting cities, where most of Africa suffers from poor or non-existent ground transport infrastructure.

Africa must seize the opportunity to develop its own aviation industry and boost regional integration. That is the ultimate goal of everything we are doing now, to make it as easy to travel in Africa as it is in other parts of the world. That's not the case yet, but we are getting there and I feel AFRAA is really implementing projects to bring us together. Words are good, but actions are even better and we can see some action now. ECAir is intensely pursuing partnerships with established African carriers, through the development of code share and interline agreements.

For our company, the key world to succeed in the aviation industry in Africa is "cooperation", and real efforts are dedicated to leverage those partnerships. We understand that we can only be successful by doing so, considering the small size of our fleet, the limited market and the high operating costs in the region.

As an airline operator how do you plan to grow ECAir in terms of additional capacity and new destinations?
So far, ECAir has carried over a million of passengers. Our airline launched its first international direct flights to Paris at the end of 2012. A very challenging operation, being the first time for a Congolese Airline.

In early 2014, ECAir took the challenge of becoming the only central African country to launch a direct route to Dubai (Brazzaville-Dubai), thus linking the Republic of Congo to the Middle East for the first time. Similarly, the new direct route Brazzaville-Beirut which opened this summer with two frequencies a week, follows the same approach and development path as the route to Dubai.

In addition to the existing routes [Pointe-Noire, Ollombo, Kinshasa, Cotonou, Douala, Libreville, Dakar, Bamako, Paris, Dubaï, Beyrouth, Bruxelles], ECAir is endeavoring to open Abidjan, Yaoundé, Bangui, Ndjamena and Ouesso in the coming months. These new routes are the fulfillment of our efforts to connect the African economic capitals with each other and with the rest of the world.

Those ambitions are a direct emanation of the vision of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Denis Sassou-Nguesso, materialized through significant investments in the construction and modernization of the country's airports infrastructure and a relentless support from his government.

Give us an update of your fleet size and how do you plan to increase your fleet?

Now, at the end of 2015, we are up to seven aircrafts. We now have a 767-300, two 757-200s, two 737-700s and two 737-300s. That is the size of our fleet. Today, ECAir operates 136 weekly flights. We hope to increase our fleet in the coming months.

Regional Airlines Talk On Way Forward

The four partner states in the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) – Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan - have finally come to appreciate that the proliferation of airlines in the region will sooner or later bring about a waste of scarce resources unless cooperation supersedes national narrow-minded ego trips, mostly by people with their own agenda.

It was welcome news, therefore, when after the last meeting of the NCIP countries in Kenya, information began to emerge that in particular South Sudan – though not a member of the East African Community but nevertheless a part of the NCIP group – and perhaps more reluctantly Uganda, came on board and agreed to promote both RwandAir and Kenya Airways to provide for the air travel needs of their respective citizens.

Bureaucrats in the national aviation regulatory offices have been tasked to create a single airspace area for the four countries, effectively preparing the way for RwandAir and Kenya Airways – Uganda and South Sudan do not have national airlines – to operate without any restrictions across the region.

RwandAir is presently operating flights from Entebbe to/from Juba and from Entebbe to/from Nairobi under fifth freedom rights. The Rwandan national airline in particular, after announcing their order for four more brand-new aircraft due to be delivered next year, including two Airbus A330s, will offer Ugandans the option to travel across the region and the continent via Kigali while expanding destinations to China, India, and Europe next year.

Similar to operations by Brussels Airlines and KLM, both of which fly from their hubs via Kigali to Entebbe, RwandAir could route their wide-body flights via Entebbe, too, subject to sufficient passenger numbers boarding and de-boarding, or else provide more feeder flights out of Entebbe to Kigali.

The same principle applies to Kenya Airways’ flights in equal terms for Juba and for Entebbe, to connect passengers from these two points of origin into their regional, African, and intercontinental network.

It is understood that the opening of the airspaces might well be restricted to the respective national carriers leaving other airlines, in particular those privately owned in Kenya out of the equation who will have to compete as designated airlines for point-to-point traffic.

The ministerial working group will submit their findings and recommendations to the next NCIP Head of State Summit which was postponed due to East Africa’s presidents attending the UN General Assembly in New York, making a postponement of the Nairobi NCIP Summit necessary.

Mr. Barry Kashambo, formerly the head of CASSOA and now Regional Director for ICAO based in Nairobi, was quoted to have said that such a move was bound to bring airfares down and increase the number of frequencies connecting the region.

The new deal could become effective, provided that in particular the notorious Kenyan regulators are kept on a tight leash, as early as the first quarter of 2016 and then provide passengers out of Entebbe and Juba with additional flights operated by Kenya Airways and RwandAir.

Left out of this development are Burundi, the worst-connected country in the East African Community and also almost shunned due to recent political events, and Tanzania, which opted to stay out of the fast-track cooperation entered into by Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, and Kenya.

Subsequently Tanzania’s airlines will not benefit from these additional opportunities which are now beckoning on the horizon, leaving that country to ponder what new path to embark on after a new president comes into office following the upcoming elections.

Aviation industry organizations like IATA and of course AFRAA, the African Airline Association based in Nairobi, have for long promoted the concept of closer cooperation instead of constant fragmentation to see more viable airlines emerge which have the capacity to withstand the competitive pressures of not just the European legacy airlines but in particular the emerging mega airlines from the Gulf and from Turkey.

What is need in East Africa, in fact across Africa, is a sound mix between full-service airlines and low-cost airlines. The latter has, and I give you Jambojet in Kenya and Fastjet in Tanzania as an example, brought a whole new segment of travelers to go by air instead of using buses or trains.

However, the former will equally have a place because of connectivity through their hubs rather than point-to-point traffic. If existing and well-operating airlines like Kenya Airways and RwandAir can be given full access to the market in Uganda and South Sudan, it will benefit travelers as much as the airlines.

What the countries must, however, watch out for is that limits are set on fares to avoid exploitative ticket prices, because that would kill this concept instantly.