By Juma John Stephen
JUBA, 19 October 2009 (Gurtong) – The General Manager of Feeder Airline Captain David Martin Hassan told Gurtong reporter in Juba International Airport that his company lacks enough captains to fully utilise the aircrafts.
Hassan said the company that started off as a pilot project now has only three aircrafts that are operated by three captains.
General Manager of Feeder Airline Captain David Martin Hassan.[©Gurtong]
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“The company is experiencing a very serious shortage of qualified manpower, especially pilots and engineers. We need a minimum of 7 captains for the maximum utilisation of the available aircrafts. It is very difficult to get them from the neighboring countries because they are facing the same problem”, said Hassan.
He added that in the first six months after its establishment, the company was still operating at a loss due to high maintenance costs for its fleet.
“Our income in 2008 was 8 million Sudanese Pounds, mostly from air fare, and out of this, 13 percent went to maintenance and insurance”, he said.
He said that the political sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1996 by the international community has had a negative impact on the airline industry.
“The country was banned politically so we are not allowed to cooperate with major companies like Boeing, Airbus and many others. Moreover, even insurance companies charge highly here compared to other countries”, he explained.
Hassan, however, acknowledged that the company is running smoothly though with little income and denied reports that the company is in a financial crisis.
“Our company will expand its services should more funds become available. To make money we should extend regionally. We must compete with these countries and for us to do that we must offer quality services because all these countries have airlines with standard performances”, he emphasised.
Feeder Airline started operations in June 2007 when its first flight was launched from Khartoum to Juba in South Sudan.
The company operates domestic flights connecting all the main four towns of South Sudan namely; Juba, Wau, Malakal and Rumbek and also flies to Khartoum.
“There are lots of difficulties in airports like Wau, Rumbek and Malakal that are still in very poor conditions and this needs to be addressed if many airline services are to be extended there”, said Hassan.
He appealed to the Government of Southern Sudan and the Government of National Unity to support the private sector in a bid to develop the country.