The CEO of Intershore Aviation (IA), Ahmed Afif, is perplexed. He claims that earlier this month he was “verbally” informed by the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) that it does not intend to process the company’s application for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), an essential step in setting up an airline. The reason given? An “issue” surrounding the venture’s name: Seychelles Airlines. Mr Afif has since written to the SCAA requesting that its decision be made in writing and, especially, the legal provision underlying it. Yet sources close to the dossier aver that the AOC cannot be processed due to the fact that a court case opposing IA to the Registrar is currently pending in the Supreme Court. What does this deadlock mean for the future of the aspiring airline?
On June 23, Mr Afif issued a statement in which he declared that Seychelles Airlines had submitted, a few days before, “its formal application and all necessary documentations to the SCAA for an AOC and now awaits the grant of the Certificate in order to move to the next step of applying for an Air Transport Licence”. The company hoped it was nearing its goal of establishing an airline that will operate five weekly nonstop direct flights to Europe (two to Rome, two to Paris and one to Cologne) and thereby occupy the vacuum created by Air Seychelles when it decided to withdraw from these destinations. A couple of weeks later however, the owner of IA, Philippe Boullé, was informed in writing that the SCAA would be unable to grant the AOC while the company was appealing against the Registrar’s request that it change the airline’s name.
A few months before, on December 10, 2013, the Registrar had sent IA a letter informing the latter that there was an issue with the name Seychelles Airlines and that it would have to be replaced. The company was given 14 days to reply, but on December 23, it lodged a case in the Supreme Court contesting the Registrar’s decision. Mr Afif concedes that the SCAA had informed IA of this problem, but doesn’t understand why it’s blocking the process: “The excuse to suspend the application is irrelevant as the company applying for the AOC is Intershore Aviation Ltd. Seychelles Airlines per se has not applied for an AOC so why suspend the application?”. His puzzlement is compounded by the fact that the Seychelles Airlines was duly registered under the Registration of Business Names Act as early as August 2013.
So what exactly is the issue? Our source close to the dossier tells us that there’s a risk that passengers might confuse Seychelles Airlines with the national flag carrier, Air Seychelles. Any difficulties experienced by the former further down the road could potentially tarnish the latter by association. For the moment all this is moot anyway as the Attorney General’s Office has apparently advised the SCAA not to process the AOC while the court case is ongoing. Mr Afif believes though that the issue surrounding the brand is “neither here nor there. Since the name Seychelles Airlines is owned by Intershore Aviation, they could have said ‘we are processing your application but once approved we can only issue the AOC provided there is no contention over the name to be used on the aircraft’”.
His exasperation is shared by Seychelles Airline’s deputy CEO, Captain Robert Marie. “I’ve been liaising with the SCAA. Seychelles Airlines has been registered with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)”, he says. In September 2013, the SCAA sent a letter to IA informing it that Seychelles Airlines had received its three-letter code (SCH) and radio call sign (Ocean Bird). “After all this how can they tell us that they have a problem with the name? The SCAA helped us register with the ICAO and now they’re blocking our application.” The former Air Seychelles training captain explains that these delays are “costing a lot of money”, as the company name is central to its brand identity, which will be represented on everything, from its logo to its website. “It would be unprofessional to change our name, it would tarnish our image”.
Mr Afif concedes however that the company is envisaging changing the brand name, “but we want an indication that this will move the dossier forward”. But the issue surrounding the appellation of Seychelles Airlines may not be the only thing holding the project back. Indeed, our source tells TODAY that IA is yet to submit a feasibility study and business plan. But Mr Afif refutes this argument out of hand: “We have not submitted our feasibility and business plan because they have never asked us for this and it is not required for an AOC. An AOC simply checks that you know how to manage an airline operation. The requirement for a business plan may be something they are thinking of when it comes to the second application we will lodge after having got our AOC, so we are not there yet. This will be for an Air Transport Licence which we will apply for from the Minister of Transport, who incidentally is the chairman of our competitor Air Seychelles”.
This apparent breakdown in communication between IA and the SCAA has pushed Mr Afif to become increasingly vocal, denouncing what he believes to be unfair treatment on social media and in strategic tourism industry meetings. Doesn’t he fear that his outspokenness will further jeopardise the chances of Seychelles Airlines? “Everybody we’ve spoken to supports this project. For us, it’s a good business venture but it will also create jobs, bring in more tourists and help with the balance of payments. These delays are reckless; the economy is grinding to a halt and operators are up in arms”, he rails. Our source qualifies allegations that the venture is being blocked as “untrue and malicious”.
Mr Afif says that the airline can be up and running within four to five months of receiving its AOC. The reason why time is of the essence is because the company needs to start its marketing and begin taking bookings for when it does launch. It also needs to finalise details for the lease of the aircraft – a Boeing 767-300 ER - that will be flying to Europe. According to our source, IA’s venture will be judged on its merits and the necessary licences granted, provided the company follows the procedures. He adds that the AOC doesn’t mean that the airline will be able to start operating “right away”. It’ll have to satisfy numerous other conditions – both technical and financial - before it can be deemed fit to operate.
Barring a minor miracle, this deadlock looks unlikely to be broken anytime soon.
Source:Today
