Flightcom Magazine April 2024

FlightCm

Afr ican Commercial Aviation

ACSA's Mpumi Mpofu –tells all.

Flying in Somalia

The sacrifices of Flying

Cover: ACSA

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

I OFTEN GET ASKED

WHY Ethiopian Airlines is so successful compared to all other African stateowned airlines.

The reasons fall into two broad categories: First, a strong policy of non-interference by the Ethiopian government. Second, the government vigorously protects its airline from competition.

The Ethiopian story is so good that it is exporting it to other African countries that also want a flag carrier. There are now three Ethiopian run airlines: in Malawi, Togo and Zambia, and all are either profitable, or at breakeven, and growing. Togo’s ASKY added two 737 Maxes to its 737 fleet and has grown its route network. Malawi Airlines has added a 737-800 and Zambia Airways has acquired a Boeing 737-800.

and failures of policy, management and finance. Air Senegal’s much vaunted alliance with Air Cote D’Ivoire has been a misbegotten marriage of two delinquents that is painful to watch.

The Nigerian government continues to demonstrate zero ability in airline management, although they have the money to disguise their failures. Nigeria Air, the Nigerian flag carrier, painted an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max in Nigeria Air colours. This led ‘experts’ to claim that Ethiopian was dumping its ‘dangerous Boeing Maxes’ on Nigeria.

The lesson remains clear

The Ethiopian management of these previously basketcase airlines is making all the difference. As the African aviation industry recovers from Covid, the well-run airlines are doing even better, but the badly run ones are sinking even faster.

South African airlines are an excellent example of this. The industry is significantly lagging the rest of the world in its recovery from the pandemic, particularly as the bankruptcies of SA Express, Mango and Comair have reduced seat supply by over 30%. South Africa’s privately owned airlines are in a race to step into the void left by the closure of these airlines. FlySafair, Airlink and CemAir are adding to their fleets and routes almost daily, and FlySafair has expanded crossborder for the first time.

In west Africa, the record of governments running airlines remains abysmal, due to unrealistic goals

Nigeria’s Air Peace continues to fail on every international route they try. The shambles continues.

In east Africa, the Kenya Airways public-private partnership has managed to make an operating profit but is still drowning in debt. Uganda Airlines continues to blunder on without capable management. Air Tanzania keeps randomly buying new planes, presumably for backhanders, as though having nice new planes makes an airline. The government’s throwing money at its state-owned airline has all but killed the privately owned, Fastjet.

The lesson remains clear. Unless the government behind a state-owned airline provides strong protection against private sector competition and has a strict handsoff policy, the usual African malaise of corruption and appointing incompetent cronies into management will doom every attempt to start a flag carrier.

And thus do the poor, who need financial support, subsidise rich airline users. 

BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

PART 1

TELEPORTATION

One of the best clients for whom I ever flew was BP, the British oil giant. I was with them in Algeria for about seven years, from the very start of their large gas projects, right in the heart of the Sahara Desert, near the small towns of In Amenas and In Salah.

OIL PROSPECTING TENDS to bring out the more original characters, which makes life interesting. But the actual corporate attitude of BP was also very easy to live with. And this was in part responsible for allowing some fine leaders to rise to the top of the pile, people it was a pleasure to work with and for.

If only one could say the same about the aviation industry, the vast majority of which, sadly, is now run by egotistical incompetents, who are nannied by bureaucrats whose only skills appear to be in the generation of mountains of paperwork at hallucinatory prices.

As far as flying was concerned, we were out of the sight and the mind of the authorities. We were so far away from anywhere that we could not even talk to the powers that be on HF radio most of the time.

Of the ten destinations in the BP concession, only two had airstrips. At all the other places the pilots just looked for a suitable piece of desert, as close as possible to where the passengers wanted to go, and landed. After all, we were flying Twin Otters and the Twin otter just aches for that sort of challenge.

aviation is now run by egotistical incompetents

The BP projects started in the era before Health, Safety and the Environment (HSE), the industrial world’s new religion which has condemned the great sins of originality, instinct and enjoyment, saving countless lives and injuries in the process.

I am ashamed to admit that, when the new culture was introduced, I was one of the cardinal sinners.

Fun like that is banned nowadays.

The pilots on the BP project were interesting as well. In fact we carried out our duties with such obvious enjoyment and enthusiasm that our bosses decided that our tours of duty should be increased from ‘Month-on-month-off’ to ‘Two-months-on-onemonth-off’. This hardly affected morale at all, so our bosses, in a fit of pique, went one step further. Because we were doing two and one, we theoretically had the opportunity to earn more field allowances than

our unfortunate colleagues, who were on month-onmonth-off duty rotations. So?...obvious solution?... That’s it!...Cut the Field Allowances of the BP pilots, who work for eight months of the year and redistribute the money among the poor guys who only work for six.

Of course, it was never really the intention of the bosses to redistribute the cut allowances among the other pilots. The savings, on duty pay and travel expenses went, in fact, into substantial salary hikes for the office wallahs back in the ivory tower. The only salary adjustment I received in the last seven years I spent with the company was a fourteen percent pay cut...take it – or leave.

This little subterfuge backfired nicely though, and led me to believe, however fleetingly, that Right is occasionally Might. BP’s clients didn’t like their pilots being penalised for working on the BP contract and they said so... loudly...to our management. The reply from our bosses was terse to the point of arrogance and I was asked to read it by our enraged client:

if nincompoops of this calibre can rise to the top and become millionaires, then there’s hope for all of us! Most of the pilots continued on the contract with the next company to take up the BP baton, and one of those pilots was Andrew, who was to become a great friend.

Andrew was a large and colourful character who bore himself with that quietly good-humoured urbanity which comes with large size and a broadly experienced and well educated intellect. He had a small dot of beard on the point of his chin, just to prove that he could. Another highly commendable characteristic of this gentle giant was his inability to suffer foolish management gladly.

Andrew was a Captain on a Beech 1900D, an ungainly looking 19-passenger aircraft which had surprisingly sprightly field performance and operating economics which could even bring a smile to the face of an accountant.

a stunning blonde girl, called Chris

”Sir,” it started. “In reply to your letter, we would like to point out that we do not tell you how to run your company and therefore we do not expect you to tell us how to run ours.”

It was signed by our Managing Director.

BP terminated our contract with due notice and our company was asked not to submit further tenders for BP contracts in the future. Thus, with one blinding piece of self-gratification, our lords and masters lost a contract for three aircraft, which continues to this day.

Little wonder that the company no longer exists. The surprising thing is that it managed to survive for over thirty years with such people running it. The plus side of all this, if there possibly could be one, is that

The 1900 used to come down twice a week, to our desert camp at Teguentour, 74 miles north of In Salah, to carry out crew changes. Andrew was often the captain. From time to time, his first officer was a stunning blonde girl, called Chris, who was later to become a Boeing 747 pilot with South African Airways. Andrew confidentially assured us that Chris had a tattoo, and its location was a constant source of debate amongst the virtually exclusively male denizens of Teguentour.

Soon after six every evening, when the day’s work had wound down, beers were served in the little open-air bar, outside the main office block.

Teguentour became famous for its relaxed and convivial evenings. The dialogue was spiced with broad-reaching and often humorous exchanges, both political, spiritual and cultural, with Chris’s tattoo to fall back on if the conversation flagged.

HUGH

When Andrew was due down for a night stop, the evening’s entertainment was livened up by the choice of a ‘Subject for Discussion’, which often provoked a lively debate, after the vocal chords had been loosened by the amber nectar.

Global Warming, for example, was on the programme one evening, Those in Favour, Those Against. Andrew and I were In Favour and everybody else was, probably quite rightly, Against.

Andrew was invited to present our case and he launched into a professorial speech concerning the beneficial effects of the much maligned and misunderstood weather phenomenon. “Teguentour,” he said, with the authority of the internet and local knowledge to support his argument, “Has received more rain in the previous twelve months than has fallen here in the last thirty years.”

We had to agree with that, because Nigel, the Medic, had told us and he was the weather geek on the camp. “Eighty percent of the world’s population lives within thirty metres of sea level.” We all bowed to his statistic.

“Look at the amenities, for a start.” Andrew’s hands joined the argument, gesticulating their support for his points,

“Shopping facilities in In Salah, only seventy-four miles to the South, if you can find any there. Gas on tap, only three kilometres away, directly below our feet. Convenient weekly rail connections to Algiers, from Biskra, only four hundred and twelve nautical miles to the north east. Eight months of glorious sunshine, highlighted by only four months of impenetrable sandstorms.”

“A location close enough to the old French nuclear testing grounds to discourage the casual tourist and, if I may say so, surrounded by the most intelligent and charming collection of people you could ever wish to meet!”

colourful character

“If Global warming melts the ice caps, as predicted, the sea levels are set to rise by anything up to twenty metres, possibly more, and there is going to be an awful lot of people looking for somewhere to live.” He paused, masterfully, for acknowledgement, which was duly given, because we wanted to find out where he was going with this little nugget.

“Teguentour is at an altitude of 2076 feet above sea level, so I would suggest to you, Gentlemen and Chris, that we should all try and buy plots around Teguentour before the prices go through the roof!”

A warm glow descended upon the assembled company and smiles softened the features of even the most hardened Anti-Global-Warming campaigners. “And, in conclusion, Lady and Gentlemen, let us not forget that this is all made possible by a life-giving increase in rainfall brought to us by the miracle of Global Warming.” Andrew sat down to thunderous applause and I was saved from losing the day with my speech.

Andrew’s speeches caused the little bar to be noticeably fuller on crew-change nights. Even the more reclusive members of the workforce could be tempted out of their cells to take part in the debate and to allow their imaginations to wander while gazing at the golden allure of Chris.

That tattoo must be really low if it is covered by a pair of jeans that small! Or maybe it nestles between those beautiful firm young...” a large and



Andrew triumphantly revealed an entrepreneurial side to his character which had previously been hidden from public scrutiny.

IRIS GOES TO SOMALIA

Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum in East Africa.

Having spent the last couple of years flying to a rota, I was thoroughly enjoying the freedom and randomness of flying charters at Sunbird Aviation.

GRANTED, THE AEROPLANES

weren’t as modern, in fact the old Piper Aztec 5Y-ARN was the most cantankerous of any aircraft I’d ever flown; however I embraced the differences, knowing that mixing things up would help shape me into a better pilot.

Thanks to the invaluable tips and advice from fellow colleagues, I had recently flown my first solo cross country from Wilson Airport in Nairobi, to Uganda in ARN.

Over the past month I’d worked out more or less how long to crank and how long to wait, and ARN and I had established a mutual understanding.

Captain Brian Nicholson was my supervisor and mentor, it was Brian who would divvy up the charters each week between the pilots.

the battery couldn’t summon

enough power

Due to the fact that ARN had a single 12-volt battery, starting him was always a challenge as often all the energy would be spent in starting the left engine.

I’d have to wait patiently for the battery to recharge before I was able to start the right engine, a process that would always have me on tenterhooks as I feared burning out the starter-motor.

‘Iris, how would you and ARN like to fly Patrick Walker to Somalia tomorrow?’

Patrick was the husband of my sister-in-law’s best friend and over the years I had met them at various family gatherings and had developed a great fondness for them both.

‘That sounds like fun, pencil me in.’

I pulled out my map of Somalia, smoothing out the crease lines with the palms of my hands. The country

was situated on the Horn of Africa and had the longest coastline on Africa’s mainland. It was bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest and Kenya to the southwest.

My well-thumbed whizz-wheel estimated the flying time over the distance of 348 NM at 175 mph to be 2.5 hours, provided of course that there was no significant head wind. The heading was almost due east from Nairobi.

I filed my flight plan from Wilson to Kismayo for takeoff at 06h00 local time.

The first blush of light had just kissed the eastern horizon when Patrick arrived at the airport. The dark blue suit and starched white shirt he had chosen to wear fitted his lean frame perfectly, and he carried himself with the confidence of someone who was accustomed to getting what he wants.

The flight was uncomplicated, and we landed at Kismayo Airport at 08h30.

I gathered all the necessary paperwork to clear ARN at customs and met Patrick at the taxi.

Having never been to Somalia before, I was captivated by the lime-washed flat-roofed buildings that sprawled along the broad, palm-tree lined avenues. The gothic

Kismayo Airport, Somalia

My old friend, Piper Aztec ‘ARN’.

arched windows inlaid with fine lattice work, and carved intricate wooden doors, were all evidence of the mixture of Venetian and Islamic influences.

The taxi pulled up outside a hotel where I was to wait while Patrick had his first meeting. I enjoyed a breakfast of fresh papaya, granadilla and grapefruit, the juicy yellow flesh just sweet enough to temper the bitterness.

The taxi took us back to Kismayo airport once Patrick had concluded his meeting. Next we flew for thirty minutes inland to an unmanned airfield in Marere. The area was renowned for its export-quality citrus plantations which were funded by the World Bank.

trees and pored over my maps. The air was heady with the scent of citrus blossoms, and I found myself dozing off to the soothing buzzing of bees.

We were scheduled to leave Marere for a flight to Mogadishu at 15h00, however ARN had a different idea. The engine on the left started without a problem. I cranked the starter on the right, the prop turned and the engine coughed but the battery couldn’t summon up enough power to start.

the prop turned and the engine coughed

I spotted the long muram strip which stood out like a black scar amongst the endless rows of dark green.

Once Patrick had been collected for his next meeting, I made myself comfortable in the shade of the orange

Luckily the runway was next to a working farm, so I went in search of assistance which I found in the form of a blue tractor. We hooked the jumper leads from the tractor to the small 12V battery. I held my breath. After a couple of false starts, the right engine finally caught.

Once airborne, there was no VHF radio contact, thus following the route on my prepared map was critical. The flight took an hour and fourteen minutes.

View of the old town from the veranda of the Al-Uruba Hotel.

Once on the ground, I refuelled ARN and put him to bed, ensuring that he was firmly tied down. Patrick had organised a Land Rover at the airport. He turned to me with a cheeky grin, ‘My turn to chauffeur you Iris.’

He pointed the car towards the coast and within twenty minutes turned the Land Rover down a palm-tree lined road to the entrance of a massive triple-story white hotel with crenelations, reminiscent of a caravanserai straight out of Arabian Nights.

A bellhop wearing a white kanzu and neatly cropped crimson jacket trimmed with gold braiding, sporting a matching kofia on his head, materialized out of thin air.

‘Welcome to the Al-Uruba Hotel, allow me Memsahib.’ He bowed slightly and flashed me a broad smile.

His bone-white teeth looked as though they were hewn from the same material as the luminous white walls. He placed my dusty duffel bag on the luggage trolley with the same care as if it were a Fabergè egg.

‘Iris, go grab a beer, I’ll see you this evening at dinner. Ali will take care of you.’

‘It will be my honour Ali’, I addressed him in Swahili.

Ali squirmed with delight at hearing his native tongue, his eyes disappeared into the leathery folds of his skin as his wizened face split into a grin.

If I thought the outside of the hotel was impressive, the inside was like stepping into a fine hotel in Venice.

Shards of coloured light from the crystal chandeliers shimmered and danced over the white marble walls and floor. Replicas of the great Italian renaissance masters hung on the walls, and ornaments ranging from delicately carved clocks to marble busts of Venus, were strategically arranged to delight the eye at every turn.

map reading was critical

The first thing that greeted me as I walked into the lobby was the musky-sweet scent of fresh flowers.

Ali led me to the dining area, which opened onto a wide veranda overlooking the lighthouse and old town with the vast turquoise ocean beyond. I was ushered to a table and within seconds a waiter, with a white cloth draped over his arm, poured a beer into a frosted glass.

The delicate tinkle of piano keys drifted on the soft breeze that ruffled the fronds of the palm trees. I watched a skipper clad only in a loincloth skilfully negotiate his dhow around the jutting rocks, his sinewy walnut-brown body glistening with the effort.

The Al-Uruba hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia - then and now.

PILOTS

Once I had finished my beer, Ali miraculously reappeared at my side.

‘Let me show you to your room Memsahib.’

I followed him to a room upstairs and he flung open the brass-studded double doors with a flourish.

The floor was a geometric blaze of black and white tiles. In the centre of the large suite stood a king-sized four-poster bed draped with a mosquito net and at the far end stood an old fashioned ball and claw bath next to an arched window with unobstructed views of the ocean.

My limbs ached and I felt hot and sticky, so I succumbed to the temptation and opened the brass taps. I soaked my weary body for an hour before I pulled the plug, watching as the water swirled down the drain.

I stepped out of the bath and into water up to my ankles. Bewildered, I looked around to see where the water was coming from, realizing that it was rising out of the floor between the tiles. I pulled on some clothes and rushed down to the lobby.

a couple of seconds to adjust. When they did, I could not fully comprehend what I was seeing.

I closed my eyes, rubbing my fists into the sockets. It had been a long day and I was a few beers in. I cautiously opened them again. The sharp smell of urine stung my nostrils, making my eyes water.

Over the single basin. a fluorescent light bulb dangled from a black chord. The walls and floor was bare concrete.

Half a dozen ‘ladies’ wearing skimpy outfits were milling around, one of them was relieving herself on a toilet that had no cubicle door. When she flushed, water seeped up out of the floor, once more rising up my feet.

God bless Africa.

When I explained the situation, the person on duty simply shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Old pipes, we mop, don’t worry.’

I went to find Patrick in the dining room. He was seated at an immaculately set table adorned with crystal-cut glasses and silver candelabras. Ali appeared and pulled out a chair for me. He reached into a silver bucket filled with ice and beer and poured me an amber beverage.

Dinner was an array of freshly caught sea-food that continued arriving on platters until neither of us could face another crayfish.

‘Excuse me a moment Patrick, nature calls.’

I walked to the arch above which hung a sign that read ‘W.C’ and opened the door showing a picture of a female. The interior was dimly lit and it took my eyes

A lady painting her lips in front of a cracked mirror caught me looking at her and winked, her scarlet lips garish in the naked light.

My call of nature forgotten, I bolted back through the door, desperate to escape this scene.

Back on the other side, neatly dressed waiters continued carrying domed cloches, seemingly oblivious to this alternate reality mere meters away.

As I walked back to our table, Patrick pointed to my boot to which clung a wad of wet toilet paper.

I told him about my Alice in Wonderland experience and he laughed. ‘That’s Africa for you Cuddles. A paradox around every corner.’

What these trips taught me is to just ‘go with what’s next.’ It was pointless trying to fit Africa into a first world paradigm. She was wild, predictable in her unpredictability.

It was these contradictions that have shaped this continent into what it is today.

God bless Africa. 

Some

•

•

•

•

”

CAMEROON –BLAMES BOEING

BOEING JUST CANNOT STAY out of trouble.

It has become the whipping boy for endless absurd claims. Thus, nearly forty years ago, on 30 August 1984, Cameroon Airlines Flight 786, operated by a Boeing 737-2H7C, registration TJ-CBD, was on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Douala International Airport, Cameroon (FKKD), to Garoua via Yaoundé.

As the aircraft was taxiing out for takeoff, with 109 passengers and a crew of 7 on board, its number two engine suffered an uncontained compressor failure, which started a fire. All the passengers and crew were able to evacuate the aircraft, but two passengers died due to fire outside the cabin.

The aircraft burned to the ground and was declared a total loss. The cause of the engine failure has never been determined.

In March 2024, a Cameroon court ruled in favour of Cameroon Airlines, placing the responsibility of the loss of the aircraft on Boeing and Pratt & Whitney, and ordering them to pay US$ 254 million to the defunct carrier.

There was no mention as to whether Boeing will bother to appeal – or if there is a statute of limitations that will have long expired.

A Cameroon Airlines Boeing 737-219-Adv.

HYDROGEN POWERED PLANE TESTED

WORLD’S LARGEST liquid hydrogen-powered aircraft, using a 1 MW fuel cell engine, has been tested.

The ground test lasted 1h45 and simulated flight of a regional airline, paving the way for carbon-free flights in the future.

In 2023, Universal Hydrogen achieved a world first by powering a 40-seater flight fuelled by hydrogen. Lightning McClean, its converted Dash-8 aircraft, flew for 15 minutes. It reached an altitude of 3,500 feet, and the company is confident that it can fly up to 460 miles (740 km) using this technology.

A Dash-8 can seat 56 passengers when powered using fossil fuel but has to let go of 16 paying passengers to go greener, something that airlines will have difficulty with.

Universal Hydrogen has been working on a liquid hydrogen system to fuel a higher energy powertrain that aircraft like Dash-8 or ATR-72 can use for their regional flights.

The system is about the size of an air freight container. It features a leak detection system and vents for safety reasons. A quick-connect system allows the module to be installed on the aircraft and released when empty.

The 1 MW hydrogen engine installed on a Dash 8.

ASCA’S MPUMI MPOFU: READY FOR TAKE-OFF

Ms Mpumi Mpofu has occupied the hot seat as Chief Executive of ACSA, the Airports Company of South Africa for a tumultuous past four years.

ACSA's CEO, Ms Mpumi Mpofu. - Image ACSA.

Mpofu has a post graduate degree in town planning from Coventry University and brings extensive experience to her role as head of ACSA, from over 25 years senior management in transport, local government and infrastructure development.

Mpofu’s first key exposure to airport management was in 2010, the year South Africa hosted the FIFA Soccer World Cup, for which Mpofu headed up ACSA’s development and redevelopment programme.

She has also been instrumental in the development of South Africa’s Airlift Strategy which aims to apply a holistic approach to global aviation in support of improved South African air connectivity.

has managed to maintain a benign status with the users for both ACSA and ATNS.

For 2023 a 3.1% tariff increase was approved by the regulator. Mpofu says that ACSA has been looking to maintain a 50:50 split between aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue, but says the constraints on the two revenue streams are largely interdependent, because non-aeronautical revenue is driven by aeronautical activity.

strong criticism from bodies such as IATA

As a monopoly, ACSA aeronautical pricing is determined from a series of ‘permissions’ negotiated with government and the airline users. Despite strong criticism from bodies such as IATA, the government

Mpofu accepted the challenge of being CEO of ACSA at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. A key objective has been to rebuild ACSA’s balance sheet and income statement. Under her leadership, ACSA reported an improvement in earnings to R2-billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2023, from R342-million in the 2022 financial year. Revenue of R6-billion for 2023 was up by 55% compared with R3.9-billion posted for the prior financial year. As a key performance indicator of her management, ACSA

The new ACSA head office at OR Tambo - is short of tenants as the SACAA pulled out during Covid-19.

has tightly controlled operating expenditure, which only increased by 10% to R3.5-billion.

However, the company is not out the woods yet, as it reported a loss for both 2022 and 2023. Mpofu says, “Our profitability has been impacted by high credit losses on trade receivables and fair value losses on investment properties, resulting in a 2023 after-tax loss of R142-million, which is a significant improvement on the R1-billion loss of the previous year. The results reflect the group’s steady trajectory towards recovery and a move closer to profitability, following the turbulent trading conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Mpofu is confident ACSA will return to profits for 2024, thanks to the company’s Recover and Sustain Strategy, as well as the implementation of a revised financial plan. She says that, to ensure this profitability, ACSA is focusing on operational efficiency, my making full use of its R30-billion asset base, plus its diversified revenue streams, and by growing the business through new commercial initiatives. She says that all ACSA facilities that were mothballed during Covid-19 have now been brought back to full operations.

With ACSA now back on a stable financial footing, and hopefully profitable for 2024, it is moving back into a growth phase. IATA predicts that passenger traffic in Southern Africa will only fully recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2025 or 2026. However, ACSA’s hub airports remain among the busiest on the continent.

To cater for the expected take-off in growth, R21 billion has been allocated to capex for airport infrastructure development at Cape Town International Airport (CPT) and OR Tambo International Airport (ORT) over the next five years. This is ACSA’s largest capital investment since the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

the company is not out the woods yet

ORT is the gateway to Southern Africa and will receive upgrades to its passenger and cargo facilities. Noteworthy is the long-awaited Mid-field Cargo Terminal, to be built between runways 03 Left and 03 Right. This will be followed by a Mid-field Passenger Terminal which may offer the low cost carriers cheaper power-in, power-out, ground movements.

As the passenger numbers have rebounded, nonaeronautical revenue has shown a strong recovery, increasing by 46% year-on-year to R3.1-billion for 2023. The bulk of this income, R982-million, was derived from property rentals and the balance, R848million, from retail activities.

Mpofu adds that, going forward, ACSA will efficiently manage its investment property portfolio, but to divorce non-aeronautical revenue completely from aeronautical revenue is impossible, because this portfolio contains retail properties which are highly dependent on the footprint of passengers at the airports.

Mpofu says that OR Tambo will also receive six new gates, while the retail, seating, and lounge areas will also receive uplifts. Additionally, ACSA will add a new mezzanine level to improve passenger circulation and seating capacity.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA) 2024 conference, Mpofu said that Cape Town Airport will benefit from large investment in its terminals and runway. She said that ACSA is prioritising the R7 billion runway realignment project, “which will enable a 60% increase in flights, both in and out the airport.”

Mpofu says that in December 2023, Cape Town Airport broke its pre-Covid record for international traffic with over 317,000 passengers. Cape Town’s domestic arrivals terminal will be expanded to increase

the meet and greet area, baggage claim area, domestic departures lounge, retail spaces, and ablution facilities. The airport will also receive an additional baggage carousel, three new contact gates, and fixed boarding bridges.

ACSA’s smaller airports are also in line to benefit from the large capex programme. South Africa’s third-busiest airport, Durban’s King Shaka, will see the construction of a new hotel and, despite being the newest of the airports, further terminal expansion is expected within five years.

East London’s King Phalo Airport will get an expansion of its departure lounge and the upgrading of retail options plus the addition of offices and lounge space on the first floor, plus relocation of the security checkpoint and enhancement of the ablution facilities.

Port Elizabeth (now named Gqeberha) with its Chief Dawid Stuurman Airport and nearby George Airport are also slated to undergo terminal expansion over the next two years.

in-depth investigation to interrogate the entire baggage handling system. We have eliminated blind spots in the camera system, so the problem then relates primarily to human factors such as a high turnover of staff,” she says. “I’m pleased to be able to report that we have seen the numbers decrease significantly. In 2019 the baggage theft numbers were much higher than they are now.”

ACSA has had a difficult past year with ground handling companies, which have experienced several mergers and joint ventures which made it difficult to maintain standards with the key service providers that they out-source to. Mpofu says, “The reality is that we operate in an ecosystem that has many role players. Our responsibility is just the coordination of these various players. Sometimes they do not conform as much as we would like to them to.”

improve passenger circulation and seating capacity

Meanwhile, ACSA has consistently won awards for being one of the best airport management companies in Africa, which is a position Mpofu says she wants to maintain. “In 30 years ACSA has transformed small airport terminal buildings to world class airport facilities through solid financial footing and a balance sheet that allowed for investors to trust us with their monies. We are among the best-run airports companies on the African continent and State-owned entities in South Africa and we have worked out a path to ensure a predictable growth and profitability trajectory,” Mpofu concludes.

Key concerns remain the reduction of theft from baggage handling and the safety and security environment around the airports. “We conducted an

A further key challenge she is focusing on is relationships with the communities that surround the airports. “As an airport, we have a primary responsibility to cater to those communities. We even prioritise them in terms of job creation by making sure that they get any jobs offers before any outsiders to the community. In Cape Town we have a lot of informal settlements surrounding the airport. We have a programme where we do a whole lot of work within those communities, such as providing support for schools and crèches, and we do community service projects such as gardens for job creation. This is in order to mitigate against a potentially hostile situation against the airport.”

TO PARIS FOR LUNCH

One morning I arrived back at Lanseria from a two day charter to a dreary Northern Cape iron mine. Entering the terminal, I removed my wings and epaulets, thrust them into my flight bag, and headed for the restaurant.

THERE, IN FULL VERBAL FLOW

, was the American, Ben Drew, AKA Captain Fantastic, expounding on the tribulations of operating an aging DC-3 Dakota fleet for minimal profit.

He waved me to a seat and continued his oration to a couple of his off-duty pilots.

I ordered a Coke, then observed the silver haired American and marvelled at his luck.

When flying a P51 Mustang during World War 2, he had descended below cloud, somewhere in Europe, on his way back to his UK base, when he came upon an enemy airfield just as two jet powered Messerschmitt Me 262s (nicknamed Schwalb: ‘Swallow’ in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel: ‘Storm Bird’ fighter bombers) were lifting off the runway, and climbing away ahead of him.

This earned him a DFC, mention in dispatches and probably a lifetime supply of free hotdogs and hamburgers.

At the drop of a hat, thirty plus years later he would hand you a large signed black and white photograph of himself in USAF uniform. And, if you were a special friend, he’d go out to his car and fetch you a Revell plastic model kit of the ‘Drew P51 Mustang.’

I heard the term Rooinek

I sipped my Coke as he turned to me and said, ‘Hey Jeff, did you hear that they want to move three Daks down here from Europe. But they can’t actually buy them and deliver them themselves because of Apartheid sanctions.’

‘Who?’ I asked.

He armed his wing cannons, or whatever fighter pilots did back then, and as the Messerschmitts were at their most vulnerable, clawing for altitude and slowly gaining speed, he came up behind them and shot them down, one after the other.

‘The SAAF’ he said. ‘They are some of the youngest DC-3s in the world. They want to convert them to turbine engines and then use them to replace the Shackletons for maritime surveillance.’

‘Interesting’, I said. ‘Are you arranging to fetch them?’

‘No. I can’t do that in my position. As a foreigner

living here, I don’t want to do anything controversial to upset my pension, or South African residence permit, if things don’t work out.’

‘Who is the contact person in Europe, selling the aircraft?’ ‘

I’m not sure yet, but an Armscor team have already inspected the aircraft and said they are OK, and they want them delivered ASAP.’

I thanked him for the info and the conversation drifted to weekend braai options.

The following Monday I phoned Armscor, introduced myself as a patriotic South African pilot and not knowing anyone there, I asked to speak to the person in charge of aircraft procurement.

After much phone line switching, I was asked my business in Afrikaans, which, having mostly been schooled in Kenya and Rhodesia, was incomprehensible to me.

Eventually, a gruff fellow told me that I could meet him at Armscor in Pretoria at eleven o clock the following morning.

I attended the meeting in a large office with several people present. He asked for my credentials, then told

me no such requirement existed, and where had I heard this rumour. Sensing their hostility I said, ‘I heard about it in the Lanseria Airport bar. Everyone there was talking about it.’

This sent them into a flurry of Afrikaans, and I was told once more that the requirement did not exist. A chap in a white naval uniform took my arm and quite firmly shepherded me to the street door.

Annoyed, I turned to the fellow and said, ‘Tell me Admiral, is the tide out? You’re a long way from the sea.’ He muttered an expletive and I heard the term Rooinek, as I was thrust onto the street.

A couple of days later some of my aircraft sales contacts came up with the name of the European seller, Robert Koraskinsky. It was someone I’d heard of previously. I phoned him, introduced myself, told him I was for real and asked him to telex the aircraft specs and prices, using the Lanseria Airport telex machine, and to attach any spare parts lists that may be included. The aircraft were at Munich Airport.

A few days later I phoned him back and told him that I had found a financial backer and a willing insurer.

Then I told him about my Pretoria Armscor debacle, He laughed and said, ‘I can’t deal with them. I don’t know what their problem is, but I do my South African

Ben Drew shooting down 1 of 2 Me 262s.

deals through their branch on the top floor at the SA Embassy in Paris. You know your air force has Mirage fighters, and Alouette helicopter equipment. So the French channel is efficient. The guys there are also friendly and helpful. So you need to get the contract from them.’

‘How do I do that? They don’t know me.’

He suggested that I fly Lufthansa to Frankfurt, meet him there, and we carry on to Paris with Air France. He would brief me on the way, and a diplomatic car would collect us at the airport and take us to the embassy.

Then he added that he had a preferential frequent flyer arrangement with Lufthansa, so would be able to extend the discount to me, his business associate.

A week later I boarded a Lufthansa B747 at Jan Smuts and flew to Frankfurt. Once through Immigration I had some time to kill while awaiting the flight from Munich carrying Robert.

Walking around the terminal I came upon a sex shop, unknown in South Africa at that time. I went inside, and a female voice said; ‘Tim, I told you I saw Jeff on our flight.’

When she asked what I was doing in Frankfurt I muttered darkly that I was on a need to know, clandestine mission.

Knowing that my return ticket would bring me back later in the day, I made a mental note as to where some of the more desirable, unavailable items in SA were kept.

he came up behind and shot them down

Then we had coffee, and my man from Munich arrived. Shortly after that we boarded an Air France-KLM DC-9 for Paris.

On the way Robert told me what the deal was, then also mentioned to me that he used to be an aircraft engineer at Rand Airport, Germiston, and had tried to join SAA, but they wouldn’t have him because he could not speak Afrikaans. Now, based in Munich, he mostly dealt in airliner spares to European carriers.

He told me with glee that the previous week he had

been in Madrid, where Iberia Airlines desperately needed a rudder for a DC-8 63 that had been damaged when pushed into a hangar. Iberia knew that Air Spain, which was close to liquidation, and based at the other side of the airport had a spare serviceable rudder for sale, but that it carried the wrong part number. So he had brought along a pocketful of static discharge wicks, borrowed a spanner, and attached the wicks to the Air Spain rudder. He then transported it across the airport to Iberian and sold it to them for a considerable profit. The discharge wicks had made it the correct part, and the aircraft was back in service the next afternoon.

I got the message. I was dealing with a very sharp character indeed. We discussed his three DC-3s, which were actually ex-military C-47s that had been extracted from Czechoslovakia, and had now been standing in the Munich weather for a couple of years.

In Paris a large black consular car, with a small furled South African Flag, transported us to the embassy.

The South African Embassy in Paris - where the Dak deal was done.

It was a fine March spring day, and once seated in an upstairs office, I used maps and calculations to show which routes I would use to deliver the aircraft, which registrations the aircraft would carry, and details of the requisite paperwork for certificates of registration, airworthiness, and radio licences etc.

I had done my homework well, and the embassy folk were impressed. The head honcho said, ‘I can see you know what you’re doing, so the secretary will type out your contract. And, while she’s doing that, let’s go for lunch.’

We dined on a sunny Parisian pavement, starting with Coquilles St Jacques, followed by other delicious, unpronounceable French fare.

I told him that I understood this.

After coffee we were dropped back at Charles de Gaulle, and we both flew Air France-KLM back to Frankfurt, where Robert connected to Munich. He said; ‘That went very well. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks when you buy the first aircraft, then regularly after that as you collect and pay for each of the others as you take them away.’

the youngest DC-3s in the world

Two hours later, we went back upstairs and I signed my contract and copy, and placed mine in my briefcase.

The head honcho then told me that once the operation was underway, it was unlikely that the SA government would be able to render any assistance because of the political conditions.

Then he said, ‘Do you know what all the laughter and jocular Afrikaans talk was about when that guy was on the scrambled phone line to Armscor in Pretoria?’

‘No.”

‘They told the Pretoria guys that they had given you the contract to buy and deliver the Daks, and that they must assist you in every way possible, as they were now dealing with professionals.’

I laughed, but hoped the obvious enmity between the different departments wouldn’t hinder my future operation.

The SAAF needed young DC-3 airframes to convert to martime reconnaisance 'Dakeltons'.

I went into the Frankfurt sex shop and bought three pairs of Ben Wa balls for adventurous lady friends, stuffed them into my bag, cleared immigration and boarded the Lufthansa B747 for Joburg. Perhaps it was the same aircraft that had brought me there that morning.

On arrival at Jan Smuts, customs opened my bag and an official extracted the Ben Wa balls. He unboxed one set, and wondered at the weight of the plastic, and why the balls were of different sizes and connected by a short thread of some unknown material.

‘Why are they so heavy, and also different sizes?’ he asked me.

I said, ‘I think girls put them in their hair when they want to make a pony-tail.’

‘Girls are funny, hey?’ he replied.

I agreed. Then he put them back in the box which I replaced in my case.

I gave the Ben Was to three feisty ladies I knew. They later expressed satisfaction at my gift selection.

However, one morning when Lanseria was thronged with charter passengers and pilots waiting for slot times to board their aircraft, one of the Ben Wa recipient charter queens rushed along the open upstairs passage. Just then an item reminiscent of a tiny Bolas flew across the concourse, and bounced into the reception area. No one knew what it was. It was picked up and placed into a plastic filing tray.

The embarrassed owner came sheepishly down the stairs and blushing, pocketed the item and whispered to me, ‘I don’t know what happened. It’s never happened before. I keep them in the office fridge.’

I thought about the physics involved, and said, ‘Well, it’s too cold for them there. You damn near concussed Sol Kerzner.’

I am occasionally still amused to tell people that I once flew from Johannesburg to Paris and back, for lunch.

For those who wondered - Ben Wa Balls.

KENYA - SAA PARTNERSHIP DELAY

KENYA AIRWAYS AND South African Airways announced the establishment of a highly anticipated Pan-African Airline Group three years ago.

A strategic partnership was initially signed in South Africa in November 2021, witnessed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta.

The collaboration aims to consolidate assets, enhancing connectivity for both passenger traffic and cargo, and providing passengers with more affordable fares and diverse flying route options.

The vague claims that SAA and Kenyan Airways (KQ) were going to establish of a Pan-African Airline, have been delayed as the two carriers need money.

Last year, Kenya Airways disclosed the initiation of the second phase of the partnership framework between the two airlines, a crucial step that would pave the way for the formation of the new aviation group.

Despite the persistence of the plans, the timeline has been adjusted due to the ongoing recapitalisation efforts by both carriers.

KQ is working to restructure its balance sheet, leveraging recent improved performance, which included reporting a $6.79 million operating profit in the first half of 2023—its first in six years, marking a 120 percent improvement compared to the same period in 2022.

The Kenyan and South African presidents announce the partnership.

PART 2

SACRIFICE

John continues his anecdotes about the sacrifices he has had to make in the course of his helicopter bush flying career.

MY BASE WAS THE administrative centre of a medium sized reserve. It was more or less in the middle of the southern half of the park, and its only asset was the small waterhole in front of the main building which attracted an endless array of game, day and night.

It had been an old mission station, build in 1927. It could have been a beautiful old building with high ornate ceilings, wooden floors and wooden sash windows. It’s a double story with offices as well as a kitchen downstairs and four bedrooms upstairs. Huge colonial verandas all around the front. The building was rotting, smeared in baboon shit and mostly without water and power.

At sunrise I’m at the helicopter, removing covers and tie downs, my mind filled with my mental pre-flight. There’s a lot to be done in the few hours of cool air before the oppressive heat takes over. Everyone is in place, expectant.

My last item of pre-flight ritual is to adjust my back cushion, adjust my safety harness, release control frictions and settle into my flying position. That moment is now, to push life into my aluminium bird. As I flick the master battery switch forward there is nothing, just a huge anti-climatic silence of nothingness. A dead voltage relay. There is nothing more to do, close up, head for the abode and play with my toes until the sparky arrives.

This reserve has spiralled out of control

The province was in the throes of a terrible drought. The reserve had run out of water and every day from sunrise to sunset a water truck had to drive around providing water to the lodges and waterholes for game. The wind did not stop howling, so much so that you felt it pounding the building. Whistling, rattling sounds emanated from every window and door. Every day the sun beat down onto the parched land heating to it to 40 degrees C. There was not a blade of grass anywhere and no tree carried even the smallest leaf. The animals were starving to death and many would never make it to summer.

This reserve, as have so many, has spiralled out of control. It was first proclaimed in 1990 as land that was too barren, dry and infertile for any other use than game. It started out as a model conservation story with an operation lasting three years, reintroducing wildlife back into the area.

It was dynamic, black rhino, elephant, lions, buffalo all reintroduced after an absence of over 200 years. Soon after the reintroduction, a few concessions were sold for private tourist game lodges to be built, opening the area up for commercial tourism. The lodges want their tourists to see lions and elephant. Since management

A versatile office that has many uses and no two days are the same.

has collapsed, both species dominate the park, lions have eaten all the plains game and elephants have reduced the forests of trees to a Hiroshima look alike. Now the tail wags the dog.

It’s after 1.00 am; the light from the full moon is casting shadows onto the lawn making it easy to see the trees and rocks a hundred meters away. I flew into the park just after mid-day, hoping to unpack and settle in, ready for the following day’s flying.

Occasionally a confused red eyed dove calls, no doubt also woken by the bright moonlight.

doubt I have ever seen any form of maintenance during its 50 year life.

We are in a house at the end of a pot holed, former tar track. The last house, right up against the remains of a game fence in a long row dotted along a small river. There is a small bushy hill behind the house which delays the sun’s rays in the early morning, making it confusing because it gives the illusion of an overcast day, tempting me to sleep in.

it’s impossible to find sleep

There’s no wind. It’s airless and apart from the occasional yapping dog somewhere in the staff village, there’s not a sound.

I am wide awake, tossing and turning and feeling agitated since I woke up from a weird dream. Now it’s impossible to find sleep.

I am staying in the old staff section at a well-known reserve, close to the tourist gate and administrative centre for the reserve. The architecture is all of those typical government designs build in the 70s and I

The house used to belong to an Operations Manager, a really kind, good natured, dark haired, rotund and gentle person. Always sucking onto his pipe, an old school man, from the time when things worked.

He lived alone in the house for the last two years leading up to his retirement since his sickly wife moved out to live in a ‘healthier’ climate at the sea. She was a chain smoker, dangerously overweight and slowly dying from clogged lungs. I remember them as a sad couple. Their son committed suicide at 17, put his father’s pistol to his head. This event ruined their lives.

HELICOPTERS

I often wondered if the couple ever talked to each other?

His wife passed away yesterday, I think it was a blessing. I feel for them.

I say he lived alone, but he didn’t really, because he shared the house with a pack of yappy poodles, each with rotting teeth and breaths that reminded you of something dead. He also had a pig.

The pig’s home was adjacent to the kitchen, a scullery type room with an open door to the outside. This pig was as big as a small hippo and seemed to be the sole talking point. “You have to come and say hello to Pig and bring her some peppermints,” he would say to anyone visiting.

I was invited over for a braai as a sort of farewell gesture. This coincided with the annual helicopter game census. Sadly the last one he would participate in.

It was nerve wracking to walk into the garden in darkness for fear of colliding into the pig. The pig was black and silently waited in the shadows. Her favourite thing was to chew your toes.

Maybe in my next life?

The house was filled to capacity with a lifetime of gathered stuff, mostly historic. He spent months carting all this stuff to various charities and slowly waded through it all until he managed to find the useful stuff which followed him to his coastal retreat.

Prior to departing, it was pretty shocking to all of us that he decided to have his cherished pig “put down” just before he left home forever, since it would have been impossible to translocate her to the little cottage by the sea. Pig, along with an assortment of other once significant pets, now rests at the bottom of this moonlit garden, remembered by a small slab of grey slate, each with an inscription, a name and a date, there for anyone who cares to stop and look.

Dawn arrived with the cackling, whistling and screeching of a multitude of birds. Fresh cool morning air into which I would soon be set free. That calm, thick and stable air that allows an aircraft to fly effortlessly.

The team would be ready to go by 06:00 and timing was paramount to avoid a snow ball effect on four other teams needing deployment. Full of expectation and with my mind already far ahead of the present, I gasped as I noticed blackened tele-temps and a bluish hot metal sheen on a drive shaft coupling. That

Flying is about freedom, teamwork, sharing and doing fun stuff.

nauseating feeling that stops the world spinning as you ponder the implications. Again, close up the hatches and put the covers on, return to the abode and play with your toes until further notice.

When I arrived at the house almost three weeks ago, it seemed a little odd to be coming in to my old friend’s territory and his absence hung heavy in the air.

Like all buildings throughout the government-run provincial parks, the place had become disgusting. The first thing that greeted was that putrid stench of death. In the time of glory there had also lived a beautiful Amazon green parrot. Like Pig, the parrot had the freedom of the house. Hygiene had become non-existent since everyone had moved out and between the piles of uneaten Epol left over from the pig, there was a mass of uneaten bird seed strewn about, all of which had never been cleaned up after vacating. This was rat heaven.

control in the days of 43 degree C temperatures and eventually it was too much. It took the technical staff two days to strip the kitchen – and finally remove the rotting rat.

The layers of pig dirt on the walls of the scullery are there forever as another reminder of the time when there had been life. The ceiling in the kitchen is collapsing and has become home to a multitude of bats. Their bat urine smell and little black rice like droppings greet me every morning. The drains are half blocked and I sometimes wonder which smell is worse.

slowly dying from clogged lungs

As is the way, the house had become home. For now it provided me with a feeling of security at the end of each day. I could come back to the few familiar things that I always carry on bush trips: my big blue Woollies mug for tea, some DVDs and my own duvet, neatly in the corner in my room.

It took me a full day, armed with a variety of chemicals, scrubbing, washing and cleaning everything before the place was remotely habitable. But the rotting rat was nowhere to be seen. For days I could not even make tea in the kitchen because I would choke and gag the moment, I set foot in the house. The stench got out of

The house is actually paradise compared to what awaits me. 

BACKPAGE DIR ECT ORY

208 Aviation

Ben Esterhuizen +27 83 744 3412 ben@208aviation.co.za www.208aviation.com

A1A Flight Examiner (Loutzavia) Jannie Loutzis 012 567 6775 / 082 416 4069 jannie@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

AES (Cape Town) Erwin Erasmus 082 494 3722 erwin@aeroelectrical.co.za www.aeroelectrical.co.za

AES (Johannesburg) Danie van Wyk 011 701 3200 office@aeroelectrical.co.za www.aeroelectrical.co.za

Aerocolour cc Alfred Maraun 082 775 9720 aeroeng@iafrica.com

Aero Engineering & PowerPlant Andre Labuschagne 012 543 0948 aerocolour@telkomsa.net

Aerokits Jean Crous 072 6716 240 aerokits99@gmail.com

Aeronav Academy Donald O’Connor 011 701 3862 info@aeronav.co.za www.aeronav.co.za

Aeronautical Aviation Clinton Carroll 011 659 1033 / 083 459 6279 clinton@aeronautical.co.za www.aeronautical.co.za

Aerospace Electroplating Oliver Trollope 011 827 7535 petasus@mweb.co.za

Aerotel Martin den Dunnen 087 6556 737 reservations@aerotel.co.za www.aerotel.co.za

Aerotric Richard Small 083 488 4535 aerotric@aol.com

Aviation Rebuilders cc Lyn Jones 011 827 2491 / 082 872 4117 lyn@aviationrebuilders.com www.aviationrebuilders.com

AVIC International Flight Academy (AIFA) Theo Erasmus 082 776 8883 rassie@aifa.co.za

Air 2000 (Pty) Ltd

Anne Gaines-Burrill 011 659 2449 - AH 082 770 2480 Fax 086 460 5501 air2000@global.co.za www.hunterssupport.com

Aircraft Finance Corporation & Leasing Jaco Pietersen +27 [0]82 672 2262 jaco@airfincorp.co.za Jason Seymour +27 [0]82 326 0147 jason@airfincorp.co.za www.airfincorp.co.za

Aircraft General Spares Eric or Hayley 084 587 6414 or 067 154 2147 eric@acgs.co.za or hayley@acgs.co.za www.acgs.co.za

Aircraft Maintenance International Pine Pienaar 083 305 0605 gm@aminternational.co.za

Aircraft Maintenance International Wonderboom Thomas Nel 082 444 7996 admin@aminternational.co.za

Air Line Pilots’ Association Sonia Ferreira 011 394 5310 alpagm@iafrica.com www.alpa.co.za

Airshift Aircraft Sales Eugene du Plessis 082 800 3094 eugene@airshift.co.za www.airshift.co.za

Alclad Sheetmetal Services Ed Knibbs 083 251 4601 ed@alclad.co.za www.alclad.co.za

Algoa Flying Club Sharon Mugridge 041 581 3274 info@algoafc.co.za www.algoafc.co.za

Alpi Aviation SA Dale De Klerk 082 556 3592 dale@alpiaviation.co.za www.alpiaviation.co.za

Apco (Ptyd) Ltd

Tony/Henk + 27 12 543 0775 apcosupport@mweb.co.za www.apcosa.co.za

Ardent Aviation Consultants Yolanda Vermeulen 082 784 0510 yolanda@ardentaviation.co.za www.ardentaviation.co.za

Ascend Aviation Marlo Kruyswijk 079 511 0080 marlo@ascendaviation.co.za www.ascendaviation.co.za

Atlas Aviation Lubricants

Steve Cloete 011 917 4220 Fax: 011 917 2100 sales.aviation@atlasoil.co.za www.atlasaviation.co.za

AVDEX (Pty) Ltd

Tania Botes 011 954 15364 info@avdex.co.za www.avdex.co.za

Aviatech Flight Academy Nico Smith 082 303 1124 viatechfakr@gmail.com www.aviatech.co.za

Aviation Direct

Andrea Antel 011 465 2669 info@aviationdirect.co.za www.aviationdirect.co.za

Avtech Riekert Stroh 082 749 9256 avtech1208@gmail.com

BAC Aviation AMO 115 Micky Joss 035 797 3610 monicad@bacmaintenance.co.za

Blackhawk Africa Cisca de Lange 083 514 8532 cisca@blackhawk.aero www.blackhawk.aero

Blue Chip Flight School Henk Kraaij 012 543 3050 bluechip@bluechip-avia.co.za www.bluechipflightschool.co.za

Border Aviation Club & Flight School Liz Gous 043 736 6181 admin@borderaviation.co.za www.borderaviation.co.za

Bona Bona Game Lodge MJ Ernst 082 075 3541 mj@bonabona.co.za www.bonabona.co.za

Breytech Aviation cc 012 567 3139 Willie Breytenbach admin@breytech.co.za

Celeste Sani Pak & Inflight Products Steve Harris 011 452 2456 admin@chemline.co.za www.chemline.co.za

Cape Town Flying Club Beverley Combrink 021 934 0257 / 082 821 9013 info@capetownflyingclub.co.za www.@capetownflyingclub.co.za

Century Avionics cc Carin van Zyl 011 701 3244 sales@centuryavionics.co.za www.centuryavionics.co.za

Chemetall

Wayne Claassens 011 914 2500 wayne.claassens@basf.com www.chemetall.com

Chem-Line Aviation & Celeste Products Steve Harris 011 452 2456 sales@chemline.co.za www.chemline.co.za

Clifton Electronics cc CJ Clifton / Irene Clifton 079 568 7205 / 082 926 8482 clive.iclifton@gmail.com

Comair Flight Services (Pty) Ltd Reception +27 11 540 7640/FAX: +27 11 252 9334 info@flycfs.co.za www.flycfs.co.za

Corporate-Aviators/Affordable Jet Sales

Mike Helm 082 442 6239 corporate-aviators@iafrica.com www.corporate-aviators.com

CSA Aviation – Cirrus South Africa Alex Smith 011 701 3835 alexs@cirrussa.co.za www.cirrussa.co.za

C. W. Price & Co Kelvin L. Price 011 805 4720 cwp@cwprice.co.za www.cwprice.co.za

Dart Aeronautical Pieter Viljoen 011 827 8204 pieterviljoen@dartaero.co.za www.dartaero.co.za

Dart Aircraft Electrical Mathew Joubert 011 827 0371 Dartaircraftelectrical@gmail.com www.dartaero.co.za

Diepkloof Aircraft Maintenance cc Nick Kleinhans 083 454 6366 diepkloofamo@gmail.com

DJA Aviation Insurance 011 463 5550 0800Flying mail@dja-aviation.co.za www.dja-aviation.co.za

Dynamic Propellers Andries Visser 011 824 5057 082 445 4496 andries@dynamicpropeller.co.za www.dynamicpropellers.co.za

Eagle Flight Academy Mr D. J. Lubbe 082 557 6429 training@eagleflight.co.za www.eagleflight.co.za

Execujet Africa 011 516 2300 enquiries@execujet.co.za www.execujet.com

Federal Air Rachel Muir 011 395 9000 shuttle@fedair.com www.fedair.com

Ferry Flights int.inc. Michael (Mick) Schittenhelm 082 442 6239 ferryflights@ferry-flights.com www.ferry-flights.com

F Gomes Upholsters

Carla de Lima 083 602 5658 delimaCarla92@gmail.com

Fireblade Aviation 010 595 3920 info@firebladeaviation.com www.firebladeaviation.com

Flight Training College Cornell Morton 044 876 9055 ftc@flighttrainning.co.za www.flighttraining.co.za

Flight Training Services Amanda Pearce 011 805 9015/6 amanda@fts.co.za www.fts.co.za

Fly Jetstream Aviation Henk Kraaij 083 279 7853 charter@flyjetstream.co.za www.flyjetstream.co.za

Flying Unlimited Flight School (Pty) Ltd Riaan Struwig 082 653 7504 / 086 770 8376 riaan@ppg.co.za www.ppg.co.za

Flyonics (Pty) Ltd Michael Karaolis 010 109 9405 michael@flyonics.co.za www.flyonics.co.za

Gemair Andries Venter 011 701 2653 / 082 905 5760 andries@gemair.co.za

GIB Aviation Insurance Brokers Richard Turner 011 483 1212 aviation@gib.co.za www.gib.co.za

Guardian Air 011 701 3011 082 521 2394 ops@guardianair.co.za www.guardianair.co.za

Heli-Afrique cc Tino Conceicao 083 458 2172 tino.conceicao@heli-afrique.co.za

Henley Air Andre Coetzee 011 827 5503 andre@henleyair.co.za www.henleyair.co.za

Hover Dynamics Phillip Cope 074 231 2964 info@hover.co.za www.hover.co.za

Indigo Helicopters Gerhard Kleynhans 082 927 4031 / 086 528 4234 veroeschka@indigohelicopters.co.za www.indigohelicopters.co.za

IndigoSat South Africa - Aircraft Tracking Gareth Willers 08600 22 121 sales@indigosat.co.za www.indigosat.co.za

International Flight Clearances Steve Wright 076 983 1089 (24 Hrs) flightops@flyifc.co.za www.flyifc.co.za

Investment Aircraft

Quinton Warne 082 806 5193 aviation@lantic.net www.investmentaircraft.com

Jabiru Aircraft

Len Alford 044 876 9991 / 044 876 9993 info@jabiru.co.za www.jabiru.co.za

Jim Davis Books

Jim Davis 072 188 6484 jim@border.co.za www.jimdavis.co.za

Joc Air T/A The Propeller Shop Aiden O’Mahony 011 701 3114 jocprop@iafrica.com

Johannesburg Flying Academy

Alan Stewart 083 702 3680 info@jhbflying.co.za www.jhbflying.co.za

Kishugu Aviation +27 13 741 6400 comms@kishugu.com www.kishugu.com/kishugu-aviation

Khubenker Energy (Pty) Ltd T/A Benveroy Vernon Bartlett 086 484 4296 vernon@khubenker.co.za www.khubenker.co.za

Kit Planes for Africa

Stefan Coetzee 013 793 7013 info@saplanes.co.za www.saplanes.co.za

Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd Melanie Jordaan 031 564 6215 mel@kznaviation.co.za www.kznaviation.co.za

Lanseria Aircraft Interiors

Francois Denton 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za

Lanseria Flight Centre

Ian Dyson

Tel: +27 11 312 5166, F: +27 11 312 5166 ian@flylfc.com www.flylfc.com

Lanseria International Airport

Mike Christoph 011 367 0300 mikec@lanseria.co.za www.lanseria.co.za

Leading Edge Aviation cc Peter Jackson Tel 013 741 3654 Fax 013 741 1303 office@leaviation.co.za www.leadingedgeaviation.co.za

Legend Sky 083 860 5225 / 086 600 7285 info@legendssky.co.za www.legendsky.co.za

Litson & Associates (Pty) Ltd OGP/BARS Auditing & Advisory Services & Aviation Safety Training

Email: Phone:enquiries@litson.co.za 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Litson & Associates Risk Management Services (Pty) Ltd

eSMS-S™/ eTENDER/ e-REPORT / Aviation Software Systems

Email: Phone:enquiries@litson.co.za 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Loutzavia Aircraft Sales

Henry Miles 082 966 0911 henry@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia Flight Training Gerhardt Botha 012 567 6775 ops@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia-Pilots and Planes Maria Loutzis 012 567 6775 maria@loutzavia.co.za www.pilotsnplanes.co.za

Loutzavia Rand Frans Pretorius 011 824 3804 rand@loutzavia.co.za www@loutzavia.co.za

Lowveld Aero Club Pugs Steyn 013 741 3636 Flynow@lac.co.za

Maverick Air Charters Lourens Human 082 570 2743 ops@maverickair.co.za www.maverickair.co.za

MCC Aviation Pty Ltd

Claude Oberholzer 011 701 2332 info@flymcc.co.za www.flymcc.co.za

Mistral Aviation Services Peter de Beer 083 208 7249 peter@mistral.co.za

MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd

Marc Pienaar 011 609 0123 / 082 940 5437 customerrelations@mhaviation.co.za www.mhaviation.co.za

M and N Acoustic Services cc Martin de Beer 012 689 2007/8 calservice@mweb.co.za

Metropolitan Aviation (Pty) Ltd Gert Mouton 082 458 3736 herenbus@gmail.com

Money Aviation

Angus Money 083 263 2934 angus@moneyaviation.co.za www.moneyaviation.co.za

North East Avionics

Keith Robertson +27 13 741 2986 keith@northeastavionics.co.za deborah@northeastavionics.co.za www.northeastavionics.co.za

Orsmond Aviation 058 303 5261 info@orsmondaviation.co.za www.orsmondaviation.co.za

Owenair (Pty) Ltd

Clive Skinner 082 923 9580 clive.skinner@owenair.co.za www.owenwair.co.za

Par-Avion Exclusive Catering

Jakkie Vorster 011 701 2600 accounts@par-avion.co.za www.par-avion.co.za

PFERD-South Africa (Pty) Ltd Hannes Nortman 011 230 4000 hannes.nortman@pferd.co.za www.pferd.com

Plane Maintenance Facility Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.co.za

Powered Flight Charters

Johanita Jacobs Tel 012 007 0244/Fax 0866 66 2077 info@poweredflight.co.za www.poweredflight.co.za

Powered Flight Training Centre

Johanita Jacobs Tel 012 007 0244/Fax 0866 66 2077 info@poweredflight.co.za www.poweredflight.co.za

Precision Aviation Services Marnix Hulleman 012 543 0371 marnix@pasaviation.co.za www.pasaviation.co.za

Propeller Centre Theuns du Toit +27 12 567 1689 / +27 71 362 5152 theuns@propcentre.co.za www.propcentre.com

Rainbow SkyReach (Pty) Ltd

Mike Gill 011 817 2298 Mike@fly-skyreach.com www.fly-skyreach.com

Rand Airport

Kevin van Zyl Kevin@horizonrisk.co.za +27 76 801 5639 www.randairport.co.za

Dr Rudi Britz Aviation Medical Clinic

Megan 066 177 7194 rudiavmed@gmail.com Wonderboom Airport

SAA Technical (SOC) Ltd

SAAT Marketing 011 978 9993 satmarketing@flysaa.com www.flysaa.com/technical

SABRE Aircraft

Richard Stubbs 083 655 0355 richardstubbs@mweb.co.za www.aircraftafrica.co.za

Savannah Helicopters De 082Jager 444 1138 / 044 873 3288 dejager@savannahhelicopters.co.za www.savannahhelicopters.co.za

Scenic Air Christa van Wyk +264 612 492 68 windhoek@scenic-air.com www.scenic-air.com

Sheltam Aviation Durban Susan Ryan 083 505 4882 susanryan@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Sheltam Aviation PE Brendan Booker 082 497 6565 brendanb@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Signature Flight Support Cape Town Alan Olivier 021 934 0350 cpt@signatureflight.co.za www.signatureaviation.com/locations/CPT

Signco (Pty Ltd)

Archie Kemp Tel 011 452 6857 Fax 086 504 5239 info@signco.zo.za www.signco.co.za

Skytrim Rico Kruger +27 11 827 6638 rico@skytrim.co.za www.skytrim.co.za

SleepOver

Michael Richardson 010 110 9900 michael.richardson@sleepover-za.com www.sleepover-za.com

Sling Aircraft Kim Bell-Cross 011 948 9898 sales@airplanefactory.co.za www.airplanefactory.co.za

Solenta Aviation (Pty Ltd) Paul Hurst 011 707 4000 info@solenta.com www.solenta.com

Southern Energy Company (Pty) Ltd Elke Bertram +264 8114 29958 johnnym@sec.com.na www.sec.com.na

Southern Rotorcraft cc Mr Reg Denysschen Tel no: 0219350980 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.com

Starlite Aero Sales Klara Fouché +27 83 324 8530 / +27 31 571 6600 klaraf@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Starlite Aviation Operations Trisha Andhee +27 82 660 3018/ +27 31 571 6600 trishaa@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Starlite Aviation Training Academy Durban: +27 31 571 6600 Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006 train@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za

Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van 0118050605/2247Rensburg info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za

Swift Flite Linda Naidoo Tel 011 701 3298 Fax 011 701 3297 info@swiftflite.com / linda@swiftflite.com www.swiftflite.co.za

The Aviation Shop

Karel Zaayman 010 020 1618 info@aviationshop.co.za www.aviationshop.co.za

The Copter Shop Bill Olmsted 082 454 8555 execheli@iafrica.com www.execheli.wixsite.com/the-copter-shop-sa

The Pilot Shop Helen Bosland 082 556 3729 helen@pilotshop.co.za www.pilotshop.co.za

Titan Helicopter Group 044 878 0453 info@titanhelicopters.com www.titanhelicopters.com

Top Flight Academy Nico Smith 082 303 1124 topflightklerksdorp@gmail.com

Turbo Prop Service Centre 011 701 3210 info@tpscsa.co.za www.tpscsa.co.za

Ultimax Aviation (Pty) Ltd Aristide Loumouamou +27 72 878 8786 aristide@ultimax-aviation.com www.ultimax-aviation.com

United Charter cc Jonathan Wolpe 083 270 8886 jonathan.wolpe@unitedcharter.co.za www.unitedcharter.co.za

United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com

Velocity Aviation Collin Pearson 011 659 2306 / 011 659 2334 collin@velocityaviation.co.za www.velocityaviation.co.za

Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za

Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com

Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za

Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com

Wings n Things Colin Blanchard 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za

Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.co.za

Wonderboom Airport Peet van Rensburg 012 567 1188/9 peet@wonderboomairport.co.za www.wonderboomairport.co.za

Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate Martin Den Dunnen 082 449 8895 martin@zandspruit.co.za www.zandspruit.co.za

Zebula Golf Estate & SPA Reservations 014 734 7700 reception@zebula.co.za www.zebula.co.za