CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
Ivory Coast-based francophone carrier collapses under g445m debt burden as Air France re-launch rescue plan falters
Air Afrique has finally gone under with debts of more than €510 million ($445 million), the Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based carrier being declared bankrupt on 7 February. A rescue plan proposed last year, which would have seen the carrier re-launched with up to €19.06 million in new finance from Air France, has also stalled.
The head of Air Afrique's board, Chad's transport minister Saleh Ahmet Mahamet, says bankruptcy has been agreed by all Air Afrique's 11 members - Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo - and by Air France and the French development agency, which hold more than 20% of the capital.
The airline was launched in 1961 to link the capitals of member states to each other and to former colonial ruler France. Air Afrique ceased flying in January when it returned its last aircraft to the leasing company, but the airline will continue to sell seats on partner airlines until a judge rules on the bankruptcy declaration, and its assets are liquidated.
A plan agreed in August to raise Air France's stake from 11.84% to 35% in a new carrier - Nouvelle Air Afrique - with member states holding just 22% (down from 68%) - has been held up by differences over staffing levels and route rights.
Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Air France chief executive, has said half the airline's 4,200 staff could be re-employed in Nouvelle Air Afrique, which would be formed with Air France funding of up to c19 million - around half the sum needed to buy the bankrupt airline's assets.
One of the key issues is Air Afrique's exclusive route rights. Air France wants to retain them, but member states say they want to opt for more open skies particularly now that formerly domestic airlines, such as Air Senegal International, are filling the gap left by Air Afrique.
Source: Flight International
