East African Safari Air
Encyclopedia
East African Safari Air is an airline
based in Kenya
. Its international operations were suspended in September 2004, but the airline still has scheduled regional and domestic services through its subsidiary East African Safari Air Express.
At the time of incorporation of Car Hire Services (Aviation) limited the shareholders were Mr. Kegode, M/s William Henry Boyd Parkinson, Pritam Singh Panesar and Samuel Gakuru. On 27 November 1990, Mr. Mohammed Aslam Khan was appointed Managing Director of CHS Aviation, and in December 1990 East African Safari Air (then CHS Aviation) was granted a license from the Civil Aviation Board to operate Scheduled and Coach services to the Maasai Mara. Additionally, CHS Aviation operated 2 Cessna 310
s and 1 Cessna 402
B. In 1990 East African Safari Air (then CHS Aviation) borrowed US$247,000 from Barclays Bank Kenya and purchased a de Havilland Twin Otter
from Sataircraft in Denmark registration 5Y-KEG (after the first three letters of the founder's last name KEGODE) and leased it to Air Kenya Aviation Ltd. This aircraft was later sold to Air Kenya Aviation in 1998.
In 1992 CHS Aviation became the first privately owned Kenyan carrier, if not in the East African region, to be licensed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Board to operate charter flights to and from South Africa to Mombasa using a Boeing 707 aircraft.
12 November 1992 CHS Aviation was licensed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Board and the Italian Civil Aviation Authorities to operate charter flights to and from Italy and Mombasa. CHS aviation flew from Milan to Mombasa wet leasing two Boeing 767 300ER from Air Europe Spa. As East African Safari Air the company ferried 1,320,000 tourist passengers to and from Italy to Kenya between 1992 to 2002.
In October 1992 there was an ownership change and the Managing Director Aslam Khan left CHS Aviation to start his own charter company Aircraft Leasing Services Ltd. In February 1993 CHS Aviation was granted permission to operate charter flights from Nairobi to Paris and Mombasa to Paris. CHS Aviation used a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 of 167 pax to operate the route twice a week. In October 1993 CHS Aviation added two Cessna 208 Caravans and a Beechcraft B200 King Air
to its general aviation fleet, to provide charter services to Southern Sudan for the SPLA. At the end of October 1993 CHS Aviation had three Cessna Caravans, and two King Air B200s operating flights to Southern Sudan.
In February 1998 Anthony Kegode and Uhai Ltd bought out all the shares of WHB Parkinson and PS Panesar. Uhai Ltd was then owned 100% by Anthony Kegode and Elizabeth Kegode.
When the company later changed its name to East African Safari Air Limited on 27 February 1998, it saw the exist of the other founder shareholders, with Uhai Limited and Mr. Kegode acquiring 100% of the shares of East African Safari Air. Mr. Pritam Singh Panesar remaining on the board of the company as a non-shareholding Director; by a special resolution passed on 2 July 1998, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Kegode was appointed as a member of East African Safari Air, Anthony Kegode became the carriers' Executive Chairman.
In 1998 East African Safari Air applied to the Kenya Government and was the first privately owned local airline to be granted designation on Bilateral Air Service Agreements to all COMESA Countries, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. The company was also granted permits to operate scheduled flights to Mombasa, Lokkichoggio, and Kisumu from Nairobi.
In or about the year 2001, East African Safari Air acquired all (99%) but one of the shares in Flying Jetpet (Kenya) limited, which was incorporated as Company No. c. 82314. The said company later changed its name to East African Safari Air Express Limited. In 2001 East African Safari Air acquired 99% East African Safari Air Express Limited with Anthony Kegode still holding 1% of the company.
In 2003 East African Safari Air began operating international, and regional designated routes, local scheduled and other charter flights, using two Boeing 767 300ERs (5Y-CCC & 5Y-QQQ) and two F28 -4000.
East African Safari Air Express purchased Eagle Aviations' two Fokker F28 Fellowship aircraft by a Conditional Sale Agreement dated 30 April 2003 from Aircraft Services Corporation ("ACS") based in Ireland, a subsidiary of General Electric Aviation Capital ("GECAS"). Prior to the execution of the agreement Aircraft Services Corporation entered into an early termination accord with M/s Eagle Aviation Limited concluding an earlier contract between the parties to facilitate the sale of Fokker F28-4000 Serial No 11229 and Fokker F28-4000 Serial No 11231 to East African Safari Air Express.
Fast growth saw the airline run into cash flow problems and in late 2003 East African Safari Air started to search for investors. In May 2004 Mr. Adam Ogden through Two Ninety Investments Limited approached East African Safari Air Express with an interest to invest in the company. On 7 December 2003 the aircraft Fokker F28-4000 5Y – NNN was involved in an accident at Lokichoggio Airport, Kenya.
In late 2003, as the operations of East African Safari Air (the parent of East African Safari Air Express) experiences unrelenting cash flow problems. This was due to the company's decision to operate five flights per week to London Heathrow from Nairobi. East African Safari Air entered into a joint venture agreement with British Midland International (bmi) airlines, who provided passenger handling services at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Although East African Safari Air was the first to introduce daytime flights out of Nairobi to London, and direct flights to the resort holiday town of Mombasa, other major airlines quickly followed suit. At first, the difficulty in establishing strong traffic numbers was forcing the company to operate near empty flights to and from Heathrow. Gradually however, the numbers carried began to steadily increase. Unfortunately the months by which the route was being built and traffic was uneconomical had taken their toll. East African Safari Air had accumulated nearly US$24,000,000 in debt.
At this stage however passenger traffic had steadily gained in numbers, and the forward bookings in mid 2004 showed that all the airline's flights would operate at strong load factors and have enough business to trade out its crushing debt. In early 2004 it was decided that the company would benefit from the injection of investment capital from the outside. To this end, Mr. Ogden who was well known to the largest shareholders of the company, Mr. and Mrs. Kegode, introduced a company by the name of Four Ninety Investments Limited willing to invest US$6,000,000.
An agreement prepared by Four Ninety's lawyers Walker Kontos advocates to the effect that, interalia, East African Safari Air was insolvent and that Four Ninety would only pay Ksh 5 for a 90% stake in the company, but invest enough cash to take the company out of insolvency. The agreement left Anthony A Kegode with only 10% interest in the company and also saw to it that Mr. Kegode was to be bound by way of personal guarantees for 100% of the loans the company had hitherto taken. "As much as I felt the arrangement was inequitable, I was at pains to salvage the company, and since the strategy of Four Ninety in the run up to this final agreement had left us with no other choices to save the business, we were inclined to proceed with the sale for the sake of the company's survival," said Mr. Kegode.
East African Safari Air Shareholders passed minority rights and approved the agreement selling 90% shares to Four Ninety and leaving the founder with 10% shareholding in the company on the 4th June 2004. Mr Adam Ogden thereafter took over the management of the company's operations.
On 13 September 2004, while nearly four months under Mr. Ogden's stewardship, East African Safari Air and East African Safari Air Express were placed in receivership, after only US$2,000,000 was purportedly paid in by Four Ninety Investments Limited, only one third of the US$6,000,000 required for the airline's recovery needs. At that time the airlines were ferrying approx 25,000 passengers per month on their various routes. East African Safari Air Express has since re-emerged from receivership and is currently operating scheduled regional and domestic services.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
based in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Its international operations were suspended in September 2004, but the airline still has scheduled regional and domestic services through its subsidiary East African Safari Air Express.
History
East African Safari Air Limited was founded by Anthony A Kegode, and derived from a company known as Car Hire Services (Aviation) Limited, which was incorporated on or about 16 May 1989 in the Companies Registry as No. C. 40158. The Company later changed its name to East African Safari Air Limited on 27 February 1998.At the time of incorporation of Car Hire Services (Aviation) limited the shareholders were Mr. Kegode, M/s William Henry Boyd Parkinson, Pritam Singh Panesar and Samuel Gakuru. On 27 November 1990, Mr. Mohammed Aslam Khan was appointed Managing Director of CHS Aviation, and in December 1990 East African Safari Air (then CHS Aviation) was granted a license from the Civil Aviation Board to operate Scheduled and Coach services to the Maasai Mara. Additionally, CHS Aviation operated 2 Cessna 310
Cessna 310
The Cessna 310 is an American six-seat, low-wing, twin-engined monoplane that was produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engined aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II.-Development:...
s and 1 Cessna 402
Cessna 402
The Cessna 401 and 402 are series of 6 to 10 place, light twin, piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner...
B. In 1990 East African Safari Air (then CHS Aviation) borrowed US$247,000 from Barclays Bank Kenya and purchased a de Havilland Twin Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
from Sataircraft in Denmark registration 5Y-KEG (after the first three letters of the founder's last name KEGODE) and leased it to Air Kenya Aviation Ltd. This aircraft was later sold to Air Kenya Aviation in 1998.
In 1992 CHS Aviation became the first privately owned Kenyan carrier, if not in the East African region, to be licensed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Board to operate charter flights to and from South Africa to Mombasa using a Boeing 707 aircraft.
12 November 1992 CHS Aviation was licensed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Board and the Italian Civil Aviation Authorities to operate charter flights to and from Italy and Mombasa. CHS aviation flew from Milan to Mombasa wet leasing two Boeing 767 300ER from Air Europe Spa. As East African Safari Air the company ferried 1,320,000 tourist passengers to and from Italy to Kenya between 1992 to 2002.
In October 1992 there was an ownership change and the Managing Director Aslam Khan left CHS Aviation to start his own charter company Aircraft Leasing Services Ltd. In February 1993 CHS Aviation was granted permission to operate charter flights from Nairobi to Paris and Mombasa to Paris. CHS Aviation used a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 of 167 pax to operate the route twice a week. In October 1993 CHS Aviation added two Cessna 208 Caravans and a Beechcraft B200 King Air
Beechcraft Super King Air
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
to its general aviation fleet, to provide charter services to Southern Sudan for the SPLA. At the end of October 1993 CHS Aviation had three Cessna Caravans, and two King Air B200s operating flights to Southern Sudan.
In February 1998 Anthony Kegode and Uhai Ltd bought out all the shares of WHB Parkinson and PS Panesar. Uhai Ltd was then owned 100% by Anthony Kegode and Elizabeth Kegode.
When the company later changed its name to East African Safari Air Limited on 27 February 1998, it saw the exist of the other founder shareholders, with Uhai Limited and Mr. Kegode acquiring 100% of the shares of East African Safari Air. Mr. Pritam Singh Panesar remaining on the board of the company as a non-shareholding Director; by a special resolution passed on 2 July 1998, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Kegode was appointed as a member of East African Safari Air, Anthony Kegode became the carriers' Executive Chairman.
In 1998 East African Safari Air applied to the Kenya Government and was the first privately owned local airline to be granted designation on Bilateral Air Service Agreements to all COMESA Countries, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. The company was also granted permits to operate scheduled flights to Mombasa, Lokkichoggio, and Kisumu from Nairobi.
In or about the year 2001, East African Safari Air acquired all (99%) but one of the shares in Flying Jetpet (Kenya) limited, which was incorporated as Company No. c. 82314. The said company later changed its name to East African Safari Air Express Limited. In 2001 East African Safari Air acquired 99% East African Safari Air Express Limited with Anthony Kegode still holding 1% of the company.
In 2003 East African Safari Air began operating international, and regional designated routes, local scheduled and other charter flights, using two Boeing 767 300ERs (5Y-CCC & 5Y-QQQ) and two F28 -4000.
East African Safari Air Express purchased Eagle Aviations' two Fokker F28 Fellowship aircraft by a Conditional Sale Agreement dated 30 April 2003 from Aircraft Services Corporation ("ACS") based in Ireland, a subsidiary of General Electric Aviation Capital ("GECAS"). Prior to the execution of the agreement Aircraft Services Corporation entered into an early termination accord with M/s Eagle Aviation Limited concluding an earlier contract between the parties to facilitate the sale of Fokker F28-4000 Serial No 11229 and Fokker F28-4000 Serial No 11231 to East African Safari Air Express.
Fast growth saw the airline run into cash flow problems and in late 2003 East African Safari Air started to search for investors. In May 2004 Mr. Adam Ogden through Two Ninety Investments Limited approached East African Safari Air Express with an interest to invest in the company. On 7 December 2003 the aircraft Fokker F28-4000 5Y – NNN was involved in an accident at Lokichoggio Airport, Kenya.
In late 2003, as the operations of East African Safari Air (the parent of East African Safari Air Express) experiences unrelenting cash flow problems. This was due to the company's decision to operate five flights per week to London Heathrow from Nairobi. East African Safari Air entered into a joint venture agreement with British Midland International (bmi) airlines, who provided passenger handling services at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Although East African Safari Air was the first to introduce daytime flights out of Nairobi to London, and direct flights to the resort holiday town of Mombasa, other major airlines quickly followed suit. At first, the difficulty in establishing strong traffic numbers was forcing the company to operate near empty flights to and from Heathrow. Gradually however, the numbers carried began to steadily increase. Unfortunately the months by which the route was being built and traffic was uneconomical had taken their toll. East African Safari Air had accumulated nearly US$24,000,000 in debt.
At this stage however passenger traffic had steadily gained in numbers, and the forward bookings in mid 2004 showed that all the airline's flights would operate at strong load factors and have enough business to trade out its crushing debt. In early 2004 it was decided that the company would benefit from the injection of investment capital from the outside. To this end, Mr. Ogden who was well known to the largest shareholders of the company, Mr. and Mrs. Kegode, introduced a company by the name of Four Ninety Investments Limited willing to invest US$6,000,000.
An agreement prepared by Four Ninety's lawyers Walker Kontos advocates to the effect that, interalia, East African Safari Air was insolvent and that Four Ninety would only pay Ksh 5 for a 90% stake in the company, but invest enough cash to take the company out of insolvency. The agreement left Anthony A Kegode with only 10% interest in the company and also saw to it that Mr. Kegode was to be bound by way of personal guarantees for 100% of the loans the company had hitherto taken. "As much as I felt the arrangement was inequitable, I was at pains to salvage the company, and since the strategy of Four Ninety in the run up to this final agreement had left us with no other choices to save the business, we were inclined to proceed with the sale for the sake of the company's survival," said Mr. Kegode.
East African Safari Air Shareholders passed minority rights and approved the agreement selling 90% shares to Four Ninety and leaving the founder with 10% shareholding in the company on the 4th June 2004. Mr Adam Ogden thereafter took over the management of the company's operations.
On 13 September 2004, while nearly four months under Mr. Ogden's stewardship, East African Safari Air and East African Safari Air Express were placed in receivership, after only US$2,000,000 was purportedly paid in by Four Ninety Investments Limited, only one third of the US$6,000,000 required for the airline's recovery needs. At that time the airlines were ferrying approx 25,000 passengers per month on their various routes. East African Safari Air Express has since re-emerged from receivership and is currently operating scheduled regional and domestic services.
Destinations
- Kenya
- KisumuKisumuKisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
- Kisumu AirportKisumu AirportKisumu Airport is an airport in Kisumu, Kenya . It is the third busiest airport in Kenya.-Airlines and destinations:-Trivia:* U.S. President Barack Obama's father is from the village of Nyang'oma Kogelo, 37 miles or 60 km from Kisumu... - Lokichogio - Lokichogio AirportLokichogio Airport-Location:Lokichogio Airport is located in Turkana District, Rift Valley Province, in the town of Lokichogio, in the northwestern corner of the Republic of Kenya, close to the Internatioal borders with South Sudan and Uganda. Its location is approximately , by air, northwest of Nairobi...
- NairobiNairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
- Jomo Kenyatta International AirportJomo Kenyatta International Airport-Charter airlines:-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has its head office in the KAA Complex on the airport property. African Express Airways has its head office on the airport property...
Hub
- Kisumu
- Somalia
- HargeisaHargeisaHargeisa is a city in the northwestern Woqooyi Galbeed region of Somalia. With a population of approximately 2 million residents, it is the second largest city in the country. Hargeisa is the capital of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region...
- Hargeisa Airport
- Hargeisa
- South Sudan
- JubaJuba, SudanJuba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County.- Population :In 2005, Juba's...
- Juba AirportJuba AirportJuba Airport is the main airport in Juba, South Sudan.-Location:The airport is located in the capital city of Juba, South Sudan. The airport lies to the northeast of the Central business district of the city, on the western banks of the White Nile....
- Juba
Incidents and accidents
- On 7 December 2003, East African Safari Air Flight 812 from Nairobi overran the runway after landing at LokichokioLokichokioLokichogio, also Lokichoggio or Lokichokio, is a town in the Turkana District, northwest of Kenya . It is often called Loki. The town lies on the A1 road, and is served by the Lokichogio Airport....
. The Fokker F28 went through a fence and came to rest in a ditch. Five of the 44 occupants were injured. (ref: East African Standard) - On July 28, 2004, a Boeing 767Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
operated by East African Safari Air experienced a fire in the left engine shortly after takeoff from RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The flight crew extinguished the fire after the second fire bottle was discharged. The airplane returned to Rome and landed uneventfully.
Fleet
The East African Safari Air Express fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2008):- 1 Fokker F28
- 1 Grumman Gulfstream IGrumman Gulfstream I|-See also:-External links:*...
- 2 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14McDonnell Douglas DC-9The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner. It was first manufactured in 1965 with its maiden flight later that year. The DC-9 was designed for frequent, short flights. The final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.The DC-9 was followed in subsequent modified forms by...