Etihad Cargo Signs Pharma Interline Agreement with Astral Aviation and Kenya Airways
Etihad Cargo has signed a Service Legal Agreement (SLA) with Astral Aviation and Kenya Airways to provide reliable and cost-effective airfreight solutions across the continent.
Operating a fleet of 14 freighters out of its Nairobi and Johannesburg hub, Astral Aviation services a network of 15 African destinations, which Etihad Cargo will leverage for increased vaccine distribution across Africa. Both carriers are members of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and Pharma.Aero, whose joint Project Sunrays initiative offers cross-industry collaboration for pharma shippers managing complex vaccine distribution logistics.
The SLA, a first Pharma Interline agreement, ensures Etihad Cargo partners are fully compliant with latest GDP and IATA Pharma regulations and standards, and guarantees processes, from booking to handling of such sensitive goods, are standardised and performed to the highest quality.
Etihad Cargo defined the steps and responsibilities of the SLA to ease the transfer between the two airlines, boost transparency and make sure pharma specific documentation, labelling and messaging are used and shared under a precise order and form.
“In addition to significantly expanding Etihad Cargo’s reach across Africa, this inter-airline agreement ensures complete adherence to the specific requirements of pharmaceutical product transportation. Customers can be reassured that Etihad Cargo partners will expertly maintain cool chain integrity,” explained Martin Drew, Senior Vice President Sales and Cargo, Etihad Aviation Group.
Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation said:
“We are honoured to partner with Etihad Cargo and participate in the critical distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to and within Africa. The equitable access and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa will be enhanced with the help of partnerships and collaborations within the aviation sector, such as the one enacted between Etihad Cargo and Astral, which will offer one-stop solution for the vaccines to and within Africa,”
Peter Musola, Head of Cargo Commercial at Kenya Airways remarked:
“Kenya Airways Cargo is excited to join Etihad Cargo in the HOPE Consortium initiative through providing logistical solutions in our home continent. With only 2.5 per cent of the African continent vaccinated against COVID-19, this will go a long way toward achieving the Africa Centre for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) to vaccinate 60 per cent of the population by the end of 2022 which will result in. This is a fundamental need and pre-requisite toward aviation recovery in Africa,”
Addressing Cost of Aircraft Maintenance for Nigerian Airlines
High cost of maintenance has been a perennial challenge for Nigerian airlines because major checks are done overseas and they have to face the vagaries of unstable forex.
About five years ago it was projected that Nigerian airlines spend about $2 billion overseas on aircraft maintenance. But with increased fleet that amount has risen to a projected $3 billion in 2021. So it is a huge capital flight from Nigeria.
Instability of the naira in relation to its value against other major currencies has been a protracted problem that is getting worse as the nation’s economy plummets. So, not having major Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria has forced the airlines to be at the mercy of such facilities at other parts of the world. Conducting maintenance overseas has three major disadvantages: one it is relatively costly due to forex, two, it causes delay and three, it gives rise to logistics challenge. Above all, sourcing the foreign exchange has become extremely difficult for the airlines.
Inevitably the airlines have to pay more. Ferrying the aircraft overseas costs money, keeping the pilots in hotels and moving inspectors from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the maintenance facility also costs money. The Nigerian carrier has to also queue, as the maintenance organsiation may have other priorities and the Nigerian carrier will continue to pay for parking space while at the facility.
From 2019 to 2021 some Nigerian airlines aircraft ferried for maintenance had to be delayed because some MRO facilities were on lockdown and even when some started, they had to conduct the checks on first come, first served or other priority basis. That led to paucity of operating equipment for months in Nigeria. The under capacity gave rise to outrageous airfares, flight delays and cancellations. Industry insiders noted that if Nigeria had major MRO facilities they could have worked why majority of other countries were on lockdown because Nigeria was not adversely exposed to COVID-19 after the lockdown was lifted at the time many other countries were still on lockdown. Read more
UK Travel Restrictions Eased; 47 Countries and Territories Removed from Red List
The UK government has confirmed that starting 04:00 (BST / GMT +1) of October 11, 2021, 47 countries and territories will be removed from its red list.
The announcement, made on October 7, 2021, will make it easier and simpler for people from the UK to travel to a larger number of destinations. Passengers returning to England from these destinations will no longer be required to enter hotel quarantine. The current red list of countries and territories can be read here.
With the further easing of travel restrictions, only Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic will remain on the red list after October 11, 2021.
This means that from October 11, 2021, travelers arriving from all other countries and territories not on the red list can enter the UK provided they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to their flight departure, and yield a negative result on a day 2 PCR test.
For travelers who are not fully vaccinated yet coming from a non-red destination, they must first have been vaccinated with an approved vaccine brand, take the following COVID-19 tests: a pre-departure test, a day 2 and day 8 test, and complete 10 days of self-isolation, with the option of ‘Test to release’ on day 5.
The current accepted vaccine brands in the UK are: Oxford / AstraZeneca, PfizerBioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen.
The government also announced that starting October 4, 2021, eligible travellers vaccinated in over 37 new countries and territories including Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey, will be treated the same as returning fully vaccinated UK residents, so long as they have not visited a red list country or territory in the 10 days before arriving in England.
“Restoring people’s confidence in travel is key to rebuilding our economy and levelling up this country. With less restrictions and more people traveling, we can all continue to move safely forward together along our pathway to recovery,” said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps in the announcement.
The official announcement, along with complete restriction guidelines and details, can be read here.
Covid-19 Pandemic Boosts Interest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Experts say health crisis accelerated investment in the SAF industry and in efforts to achieve global climate commitments
Meeting the net zero carbon emissions target by 2050 is a “massive challenge” for the aviation industry but it offers a huge opportunity for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector, which is already being propelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, industry experts said.
Investments in the SAF industry and work towards achieving global climate commitments have accelerated in the past few months, as the aviation industry is working hard for a green recovery, said Nancy Young, vice president of environmental affairs at the trade body Airlines for America, in Washington.
“It is remarkable to see that we continued working on the climate crisis even in the middle of the pandemic,” said Ms Young, who was speaking at a How Airlines and Fuel Producers are trying to Fly Carbon-Free session organised by the Energy Intelligence Forum.
“We have seen a lot efforts made by our members to push the SAF industry … things are moving in terms of our expectation as we are working hard for a green recovery,” she said.
The aviation sector came to a grinding halt as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but demand is beginning to recover because of the increased pace of vaccine distribution in many countries.
On Monday, global airlines adopted a resolution to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as they come under increasing pressure from climate change activists over the effects of their operations.
The International Air Transport Association has set out a strategy to achieve this target through the use of SAF, new aircraft technology, more efficient operations and infrastructure and developing energy sources such as electric and hydrogen power. Read more
Reps Propose Compensation for Airport Neighbours over Noise, Emission
The House of Representatives has approved a bill seeking to create a special welfare package for people living around airports across Nigeria due to the environmental impact of the flights on their lives.
Among other things, the Federal Airport Authority Act Amendment Bill 2021, which the House has passed for second reading, seeks to compensate residents around airports for what they suffer from the noise pollution and emission of the aircraft.
It was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Federal Airports Authority Act, Cap. F5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to empower the authority to recognise the environmental challenges facing all the communities around nigerian airports and therefore engage and involve the communities in their development plans; and for related matters’.
Sponsor of the bill, Mr Ganiyu Johnson, in the lead debate, a copy of which our correspondent obtained on Thursday, noted that the proposal was to empower the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria to recognise the ‘environmental hazard facing the inhabitants of the Nigerian communities around the Nigerian airports due to the noise pollution, air pollution, waste and congestion occasioned by day to day air operation in the airport around their various communities’.
Johnson, who is representing Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency in Lagos State, also noted that noise and emission had always been the major environmental issue in the field of aviation, which was primarily impacting residential communities close to airports.
Quoting the World Health Organisation, the lawmaker said it can cause several health-related problems both in the short and long-term such as community annoyance, sleep deprivation, cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, heart disease and mental health issues.
“Even though aircraft are becoming less noisy due to important technological improvements, the expected long-term increase in the number of flights – even after the COVID-19 pandemic – means that more effort from all stakeholders to reduce noise and emission in the airport’s surrounding areas will be crucial,” he added.
Sources: The Punch, The National News, Aerotime News, AircargoWorld