African Continent to Open up for Trade and Tourism

Opening up the Continent For Trade and Tourism in Africa

Excerpts from the Conference

Mr. Chris Diaz, the Marketing Director of Kenya Airways, says African airlines have a critical role to play in opening up the continent for trade and tourism.

He said this would call for increased cooperation among African states and airlines to boost intra-African trade and overcome the challenges of Africa’s aviation industry.

Speaking in an interview with the GNA on the sidelines of a meeting with Chartered Institute of Marketers (CIM) Ghana, during the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Conference in Accra, Mr. Diaz said currently, about 60 million tourists come into Africa.

This number, he said, was expected to grow in the coming years, with important opportunities in the aviation industry.

He stressed the importance of encouraging travel and tourism within Africa.

“African airlines like Kenya Airways, Ethiopian, Air Maroc, South African Airlines; it is important that every one flies. The middle class is growing strongly in Africa and we are encouraged to give very competitive rates so that everyone can connect intra-Africa to see each other’s countries, to learn about and to experience the beautiful opportunities we have,” he stated.

Mr. Diaz said African airlines like Kenya Airways could do this by offering competitive flight experiences and high quality services through their hubs, while also connecting Africa into the world.

He noted that Kenya Airways was integrated in a way to draw investors into Africa, adding that it is the only African member of the SkyTeam Global Alliance, and is able to bring about 1000 destinations into Africa and had won some global awards as a result.

“Ghana is a very important market for Kenya Airways and as the West African sub-region continues to develop, a lot of its citizens travel across countries to buy goods and products in China, Dubai, Bangkok, Far East, Hong Kong and these are brought into Africa very regularly on Kenya airways aircraft,” he said, adding” we are thus able to develop trade and to promote economic development for the African economy.”

Mr. Diaz said Ghana was a very special market because a lot of investors were coming into Ghana via Kenya Airways. The airline currently flies daily into Accra with a Boeing 737-800. It was however considering increasing capacity on the route according to growth in the market.

This, he said, would be done not only by increasing frequencies of the flight but also bringing the bigger B787 Dreamliner aircraft, which would provide more seats and cargo space.

“Kenya Airways has invested heavily in new aircraft and has the youngest fleet of aircraft in Africa. We are also expanding customer service and customer care with our new airport and new lounges,” he said.

He challenged African states to work together and support each other, predicting that intra-Africa trade would be the biggest opportunity for success and growth.

He said in order to better brand and market Africa, it was important to build partnerships based on the many opportunities that were presented by its diversity and because of the cultural connection between Africa and the rest of the world.

He said: “The world would like to come to Africa for its music, fashion, fantastic icons and attractions in Africa. We have fantastic mountains, beautiful beaches, islands and wildlife, fantastic people who are very hospitable and who welcome visitors very warmly and are truly African in terms of welcoming our guests.”

He noted however that the most important was to have a very solid marketing plan, and very strong partnerships between the Tourism Boards of African countries, with UNWTO and with the African Union, to be able to have synergy and strategic strength in terms of investments, marketing Africa.

He suggested the organization of an Africa event or presentation where Africa would be showcased as one, with the different countries all representing one brand, adding “this will mean actually showing the world that we are united”.

In order to address the challenges facing African countries, especially security challenges, Mr. Diaz said “we need to really strengthen our security through inter-governmental cooperation, with authorities supporting each other with intelligence, robust security measures, and most important for airlines is to cooperate and work together as partners to address the challenges.”

Source : GNA

Aviation Word Of The Day - Carousel

A Carousel is a rotating platform from where all outgoing and passengers arriving can access their baggage.

A  carousel can be found at the arrivals hall area in the passenger terminal.Bags are conveyed by the carousel through the scanner to the baggage makeup area where the bags are loaded into containers then onward into the lower deck of the aircraft.

Baggage flow on the carousel should be timely.If it's too slow,passengers will be kept waiting for the arrival of their bags which will  cause delays.Conversely, if its too fast,the bags will pile up and passengers will have a hard time tracing their bags.

Aviation Word Of The Day - Callsign

A callsign in aviation refers to a series of words and letters used to identify an aircraft,airline or station.It is a unique  designation or code used to enhance radio communication between the pilot and Air Traffic Control for instance.

Callsigns could be Alphanumeric-  that is a combination of alphabet and numerals or either of the two.

Callsigns are distinctive based on each airline's preference and are recognized internationally.Callsigns act the same way as the registration number of an aircraft.

Examples of airline callsigns are 

British Airways - Speedbird

China Airlines - Dynasty

Aero Benin - Aeroben

Atlantic Airlines - Blackjack,etc.

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Man attempts to set fire to cabin of Shenzhen Airlines plane in southern China

A man has tried to set fire to the cabin of a plane with more than 100 people aboard as it was landing in southern China before being overpowered by fellow passengers and crew, reports say.

Two of the 95 passengers suffered injuries and were taken to hospital, the official Chinese Xinhua news agency said.

The incident occurred on Shenzhen Airlines flight ZH9648 from the eastern city of Taizhou as it was landing in Guangzhou early Sunday, it said.

The unidentified passenger was subdued by cabin crew and other passengers after attempting to "damage facilities" and detained, Xinhua said without elaborating.

But a report by the Civil Aviation Resource Net of China, a civil aviation information portal, said the man had "attempted arson" on the plane as it was descending.

Online photos showed burns to a passenger seat as well as a blackened cabin door, suggesting that some kind of fire had been lit.

The plane was also carrying nine crew members, Xinhua said.

AFP






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Aviation Word Of The Day - Hub

Airline hubs are certain airports used as gateways to multiple destinations. It is usually a particular airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. The hub becomes the airline's transfer point which in most cases, is the city where the airline is headquartered. That's how it works. All travellers going from point A to B would have to go through the airline's gateway which would now become A-B-C.In other words,from point A to C via point B(the hub). For instance,a passenger going to the United States on an Emirates flight will definately have to go through Dubai airport before finally connecting onwards to the destination airport in the United States.
 While there's no universal rule regarding the number of hubs an airline can have,some airlines have single connecting hubs,and others have multiple hubs. Examples of hubs include Frankfurt for Lufthansa Airline, Dubai for Emirates,London's Heathrow for British airways and the list is endless.
 Basically,each and every passenger would have to travel from his destination through the corresponding airline's hub before finally reaching his/her destination except the condition where the passenger's destination happens to be the hub. In this case,the passenger's journey ends at the hub. It only makes sense that someone travelling to Dubai with Emirates Airline stops there.This type of  flight is termed "direct flight" or "point to point".Examples are ACC - LOS, DXB-DEN, AMM - CAI,and so on.

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