The Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) has in a press release on Wednesday October 21, 2020, disproved assertions made in a letter addressed to the authority by Air Cote d’Ivoire indicating that they would temporarily suspend flight to the country because their indicators have shown a massive loss on the Freetown route since they resume commercial flights in the country.
SLCAA in their press release said that based on the comparative analysis of cost on COVID-19 Test within the Sub-Region only Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire have a relatively lower cost than Sierra Leone because both countries does secondary screening (RDT) for arriving passengers, compared to Sierra Leone which does mandatory PCR Test for all arriving passengers.
SLCAA asserted that this disproves the argument made by Air Côte d’Ivoire as inaccurate.
Air Côte d’Ivoire had asserted that the cost of COVID-19 test for passengers to and from Freetown is USD130 and the cost for crossing over to and from Lungi International Airport by speed boat is USD80 indicating that these costs have greatly reduced the number of passengers to and from Freetown.
SLCAA noted that the purported loss of USD 260,000 claimed by Air Côte d’Ivoire in their letter is unsubstantiated and unfounded, considering the nature of its operation, aircraft type, size of personnel, number of frequencies and aircraft turnaround time among others.
SLCAA also noted that because Air Cote d’Ivoire commenced flights to Sierra Leone in 2019, the government gave the Airline the following concessions: landing or approach cost has 25% discount for 4-6 frequency per week; free office space facility at the airport for one year; free usage of trolleys for passengers (which was US$ 5 by then); free parking of aircraft for up to 24 hours when there is a technical problem; 15% GST waiver on handling charges and other aviation related costs for all airlines operating in Sierra Leone by the government.
“However, as a responsible and business-friendly government, prior to the commencement of operations again in Sierra Leone in 2019, the government through the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding granting Air Côte d’Ivoire concessions on some operational costs as a way of demonstrating government’s commitment towards increasing Air Transport connectivity within the Sub-Region,” SLCAA said in their statement.
SLCAA noted that the claim made by Air Côte d’Ivoire that the COVID-19 restrictive measures have served as high obstacle towards the movement of people and have culminated to greater revenue loss is also baseless and unfounded because the average passenger movement in and out of Sierra Leone on a monthly basis was around 8,000 in 2019, citing that since the resumption of commercial air transport in the country within the last three months (22nd July to 21st October 2020), the average monthly passenger figure shows approximately 3,700 movement in and out of Sierra Leone.
“This has been referred to as one of the fastest recovery on the continent by our international partners considering the fact that 50% of the market has been recovered in less than six months, albeit, with less number of Airlines that operated in the country before the pandemic,” SLCAA said.
SLCCA in their statement went on to assure the general public of its continued effort to ensure greater connectivity and further noted that the route (Freetown to Abidjan) is still being serviced by Africa World Airlines (AWA) via Accra and ASKY Airline via Lomé.
By George M.O. Williams
23/10/2020. ISSUE NO: 7937