Bamako | Thursday
A NEW African airline with the backing of African banks is readying for takeoff in a few weeks, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade announced on Wednesday.
The airline is being launched in the light of the troubles which have hit pan-African airline Air Afrique, Wade said on the sidelines of a development forum here.
The president said he was told the new airline, which he did not name, will be open for business in about 15 days.
It will be financed, he said, by African financial institutions, including the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), the West African Development Bank (BOAD), and the African Development Bank, he said.
“The African private sector has equally shown its desire to participate in the creation of the new company, not only by injecting capital, but also in the mobilisation of resources necessary for the company to function,” Wade said.
His announcement follows ongoing troubles being experienced by ailing carrier Air Afrique, which on Wednesday cancelled all flights for a second day due to an indefinite strike launched by pilots and cabin crew to protest against decisions taken by the new company boss.
The troubled carrier, once a symbol of African cooperation, employs 4 200 people, of whom 600 are flight crew, but has on average only six operational aircraft.
Air Afrique operates five flights a day on an average.
It recently had to agree to hand back four out of six leased planes due to arrears owed to International Finance Lease Corporation, a Paris-based company.
The unions are protesting against some decisions taken by new Air Afrique boss, Marcel Kodjo of Togo, alleging that they went contrary to an agreement forged with Air France.
In August, the company’s 11 member states agreed on a restructuring which should leave them with just 20% of Air Afrique’s shares and give Air France 35%, allowing it to become the principle shareholder.
The troubled carrier, once a symbol of African cooperation, employs 4 200 people, of whom 600 are flight crew, but has on average only six operational aircraft.
It faces a 510-million-euro ($464-million) debt burden. – AFP