France has joined with the other state owners of Air Afrique in a bid to prevent the debt-ridden airline from having its fleet repossessed by creditors.
Air Afrique has come close to collapse, facing the seizure of aircraft unless it can find cash to service debts of more than Fr2 billion ($400 million). The French Government is now understood to be working on a salvage plan with the 12 West-African states which own the bulk of the airline.
The aim is to set up a new company, with start-up capital of Fr50 million, to take over the fleet. The company would be formed under the auspices of Asecna, the multi-national agency which covers air-navigation and security issues within French-speaking Africa. The World Bank, European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank would also appoint representatives. Among the issues to be resolved in the salvage plan is the fate of Air Afrique's French-born chairman, Yves Rolland-Billecart. He was hired to turn around the airline in 1990, but was sacked at the start of June as the airline came close to collapse.
Source: Flight International
