CEIBA Intercontinental Airlines – A Star on the Rise
Equatorial Guinea is a small country located in West-Central Africa. But as the Secretary General of
AFRAA, Dr. Elijah Chingosho, discovered during a recent visit to the Country, in air transport, size of a
country doesn’t really matter as much as its geographical location. Think of Singapore! With the capital
city Malabo, located on the Bioko Island (formerly Fernando Po), a population is about 650,702 and an
area of 28,000 square kilometres, Equatorial Guinea is in fact one of the smallest countries in the world.
The country listing on the EU list of banned airlines has meant that no locally registered airline can fly
into the EU, and this has bequeath the entire intercontinental air transport market to four EU carriers;
Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and Air Europa, who are reaping where they did not sow. Fares from
Equatorial Guinea to anywhere in the world are among the highest. To maximize their returns all of the
four EU carriers until recently operated all-economy class aircraft between Europe and Malabo at fares
averaging 3,000 Euro for a return trip. With the introduction of Business Class average return fares to
Europe ranges between 5,000–8,000 Euros.
With Modern Fleet Ceiba is easing the Transportation Burden
To curtail the over exploitation of travelers, the Government of Equatorial Guinea in 2007 established a
national airline, Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines. According to the CEO of Ceiba Intercontinental, Mr.
Santiago Nsobeya Efuman Nchama, “Significant progress has been made in linking the many Islands to
the mainland and in connecting Equatorial Guinea to the West and Central African sub-regions”. He
noted that, “It is now much easier and cheaper to travel within the country and from Malabo to points
in West/Central Africa as a result of the network of Ceiba.” The airline operates some of the most
modern and youngest aircraft in the world with an average age of less than 3 years for most of the fleet.
The fleet consists of 2 ATR-42, 2 ATR-72, 2 Airbus A300-600 freighters and recently it took delivery of a
new Boeing 777-200ER. The airline also has on order 3 Boeing 737-800 aircraft due to be delivered in
2013. With the acquisition of the B777, the airline plans to soon launch operations on intercontinental
routes.
From L-R: Capt. Derrck-Frederick Luembe, Deputy CEO, Ceiba, Dr. Elijah Chingosho, SG of
AFRAA, Pablo Alves, Maintenance Manager of Ceiba and Raphael Kuuchi, AFRAA Director,
Commercial corporate and Industry Affairs at Malabo Airport.
According to the AFRAA Director for Commercial, Corporate and Industry Affairs, Raphael Kuuchi, who
accompanied Dr. Elijah Chingosho on the visit to Malabo, the purpose of the visit “Was to assess the
state of development of air transport in the country, evaluate the needs of operators and provide
support towards a safe, efficient, sustainable and profitable airline business.” This comes on the heels of
the November 2011 enrolment of Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines as a full member of AFRAA. During the
visit, the Secretary General met with the Chief Executive Officer of Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines, Mr.
Santiago Nsobeya Efuman Nchama and his management team to discuss the performance of the airline
and areas AFRAA can provide assistance. They also toured the airline facilities and later called on the
Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Leandro Miko Ange.
Like airlines elsewhere in Africa, Mr. Nsobeya identified the high cost of operations, perceived safety
and security image, the inclusion of the country on the EU list of banned airlines and inadequate
infrastructure as some of the difficulties confronting the growth and development of the young airline.
EU List of Banned Airlines Commercially Motivated
Dr. Chingosho commended efforts being made to develop Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines into a safe,
efficient and profitable airline. He pledged the support of AFRAA to the airline to facilitate the
achievement of its goals and encouraged the management team to continue efforts at aligning the
airline’s operations with all ICAO provisions to assure safety at all times. He condemned the unilateral
decision of the EU in placing many African States and airlines on the EU banned list, noting that, “… such
actions were for commercial reasons rather than to enhance safety.” He stated that the process of
banning airlines lacks transparency and “… what we see is that whenever an Africa State is put on the
ban list, carriers from the EU increase their operations into that market. He queried why if the sky over
an African country is not safe for operations by the local airlines, it should be safe for EU carriers?” Dr.
Chingosho challenged EU carriers operating to Malabo to stop flying the route if the sincerely believe
the sky is unsafe and called on the EU to be more transparent and constructive in its handling of matters
pertaining to safety in the industry.
Support from AFRAA
To assist the airline on its growth, AFRAA offered to provide training and capacity building in managerial
and technical fields. It will also include the airline in the Associations Joint Fuel Purchase Programme and
Route Network Coordination as well as offer assistance in improving communication other airlines and
industry stakeholders.
Accompanied by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ceiba Intercontinental, Capt. Derick-Frederick
Luembe on a familiarization tour of the airline, Dr. Chingosho was pleasantly impressed with the
investment in technology, systems, documentation and professionalism of the staff. He visited the
Operations, Maintenance, Quality Control, Commercial and Administration departments and held
discussions with the responsible Directors and their managers. “AFRAA is impressed with the systems
and procedures in place and the safety awareness culture in the company. We urge you to keep up the
good work and intensify efforts toward achieving IOSA registration.”
CAA to Support Airlines, Pursue Autonomy
At a meeting with the Director General of the Civil Aviation Department, Mr. Leandro Miko Ange in his
office, Dr. Chingosho underscored the need for a safe and viable local airline industry. He called for
closer cooperation between the authority and local airlines and the liberalisation of the market in
Equatorial Guinea in accordance with the provisions of the Yamoussoukro Decision to attract more
African airlines. He urged the Director General not to succumb to pressure to grant 5th freedom traffic
rights or allow dual points of entry into the country to non-African airlines because that will stifle the
growth of local airlines and negatively affect their operations. Instead, Dr. Chingosho suggested that
support and incentives should be given local airlines to partner with other African airlines to operate on
intercontinental routes.
“The Civil Aviation Department is doing a lot to improve safety in Equatorial Guinea,” according to the
Miko Ange, DG of the CAA, adding that, “Plans to delink and make autonomous the civil aviation
authority in line with ICAO stipulations are underway and may be completed before the end of the
year.” The CAA has already de-registered all non-operating airlines currently on the country’s register
and has advised ICAO for similar action. For a small country with limited number of flights through its
airspace, the infrastructure is not up to scratch and there is a need for significant investment in
equipment and communication. There is also a shortage of skilled and experience human resources to
support aviation operations. To address skills gap, the civil aviation authority is hoping to take
advantage of the AFI Cooperative Inspection Scheme set up by ICAO and AFCAC to augment the skills
requirements.
Overall, the visit to Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines and Malabo in general was very revealing of the great
strides the country is making in the area of civil aviation despite the challenges. It may be long in
coming, but certainly Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines is on course to becoming a major player in African
aviation.