AGHANISTAN’S Safi Airways is in talks to buy a European carrier following the decision by the European Commission to ban Afghan-registered planes from EU airspace.
Several months ago the European Commission demanded that Afghanistan develop its own Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to function in accordance with the international civil aviation standards established and controlled by ICAO. As the country has not complied with this demand the EU banned all Afghan carriers from its airspace from November 23, irrespective of the safety standards of the individual airlines.
The ban means Safi is now forced to use wetleased aircraft on its flights to Frankfurt forcing the carrier to seek a European acquisition.
Werner Borchert, CEO of Safi Airways, said: “It is very unfortunate Safi Airways got to know about the possible ban way too late. The German CAA has inspected Safi’s aircraft multiple times since Safi started the Frankfurt-Kabul service in June 2009. These ramp checks have contributed to the optimisation of our safety standards and have never led to an operating ban for Safi Airways. What makes this ban especially hard for us is the fact that the EU commission has, on several occasions, confirmed that it does not see a safety risk in Safi’s operations."
To resume its Frankfurt service with its own aircraft as quickly as possible, Safi has notified the EU Commission that it is currently in discussions to acquire a European airline in order to bring its fleet under European aviation supervision. By re-registering its fleet, Safi can again operate into European airspace and will not be restricted by the blacklisting of Afghanistan based airlines.
Borchert added: “Operating Safi Airways as a European airline is not such a major step for us. We have always operated our services in accordance with EU standards and the Safi Group already has European subsidiaries. Our aircraft are maintained by Lufthansa Technik in Frankfurt and we employ mainly European pilots, managers and technical specialists. We wish to stress that we plan the official IOSA audit - a worldwide applied and recognised aviation standard ensuring quality and safety standards are consistently applied - by a renowned German agency in January 2011.
“Safi strongly believes in its concept to only operate in accordance with western safety standards and fully supports the EU regulators' actions to continuously improve the safety of civil aviation. We therefore do not criticise the basis for the EU Commission decision. We nonetheless do not understand that despite the known and proven high safety standards of Safi’s operations, regulators could not agree on a transition agreement for our airline.”
The route between Frankfurt and Kabul is mainly used by diplomats, business travellers, employees of international aid agencies and expatriate Afghans. Flights carry 170 passengers, of which two thirds are EU or US citizens.
Claus Fischer, CCO Safi Airways said: “Safi Airways is a key connection between home and Afghanistan for our international customers. The motto ‘Bringing families together’ is not only applicable for the expatriate Afghans and their families, but also for the large number of Europeans and Americans living and working in Afghanistan. We regret that Safi airways’ predicament has such an effect on our customers and the many Europeans living in Afghanistan.”
The ban comes at the worst possible time for Safi Airways and its passengers. Since September the company has been making an operational profit with an 82 per cent load factor on the Frankfurt-Kabul route during the typically low season month of October.
The temporary solution comes at a high cost, an estimated additional investment of more that $500,000 per month, says Fischer adding: “We hope the Afghan government realises it burdens its private aviation enterprises unreasonably by its slow implementation of the required standards.”