Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DJIBOUTI1171
2009-09-30 15:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Djibouti
Cable title:  

DJIBOUTI CIVIL AVIATION: GODJ PLEDGES PROMPT REMOVAL OF

Tags:  EAIR ICAO ECON EAID PGOV PINR DJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0834
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CAMP LEMONIER DJIBOUTI
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA FWD
RHMFISS/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0009
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0010
RUEHMT/AMCONSUL MONTREAL 0002
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DJIBOUTI 001171 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E
STATE PASS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/30
TAGS: EAIR ICAO ECON EAID PGOV PINR DJ
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI CIVIL AVIATION: GODJ PLEDGES PROMPT REMOVAL OF
SIGNIFICANT SAFETY CONCERN

REF: 09 DJIBOUTI 451

CLASSIFIED BY: E. Wong, CDA; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DJIBOUTI 001171

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E
STATE PASS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/09/30
TAGS: EAIR ICAO ECON EAID PGOV PINR DJ
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI CIVIL AVIATION: GODJ PLEDGES PROMPT REMOVAL OF
SIGNIFICANT SAFETY CONCERN

REF: 09 DJIBOUTI 451

CLASSIFIED BY: E. Wong, CDA; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Five months into a largely USG-financed program
to provide technical assistance to Djibouti's civil aviation
authority, Safe Skies for Africa (SSFA) and International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) officials remained gravely concerned
that the program had not achieved its first, most immediate
objective: the removal of an official ICAO "Significant Safety
Concern" (SSC) linked to Djibouti's improper issuance of an Air
Operator's Certificate (AOC) to Daallo Airlines (in which the GODJ
is now a majority stakeholder). During a September 26-29 follow-up
visit, ICAO, SSFA, and EmbOffs held frank and productive meetings
with the head of Djibouti's civil aviation authority and the
Minister of Transport, agreeing on a productive way forward to
remove the immediate SSC, revise the technical assistance program
to better meet Djibouti's needs and ICAO/SSFA expectations, and
improve communication. Current civil aviation capacity in Djibouti
remains low, and lack of internal GODJ communication between key
players is an ongoing concern. However, senior GODJ officials
reiterated that Djibouti is politically committed to addressing the
immediate SSC, and that greater cooperation with ICAO and other
international partners to improve civil aviation capacity is part
of Djibouti's overall strategy to develop into a regional air hub.
END SUMMARY.




2. (SBU) SSFA Program Manager Connie Hunter and SSFA International
Transportation Specialist Cynthia Glass visited Djibouti September
26-29, in coordination with the visit of ICAO's Nairobi-based
Regional Director Geoffrey Moshabesha and Montreal-based Technical
Cooperation Bureau head Roger Lambo. EmbOffs joined the group in
separate meetings with Djibouti Civil Aviation (DACM) Director
Almis M. Haid on September 27, and with Minister of Transport Ali

Hassan Bahdon on September 28 (accompanied by CDA).



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"SIGNIFICANT SAFETY CONCERN" NOTED

-------------- --------------




3. (C) In April, President Guelleh and other senior GODJ officials
warmly welcomed SSFA funding for ICAO to provide technical
assistance to the DACM (reftel). During an inbrief September 27
with Ambassador, ICAO noted serious concern that this program had
so far failed to correct the SSC noted in a recent ICAO Safety
Oversight Audit. ICAO's SSC was linked solely to Djibouti's
issuance of an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) to Daallo Airlines
without having the capacity to properly control or oversee this
technical safety document. At any one time, ICAO notes SSCs in an
estimated five countries worldwide. These SSCs are publicly listed
on ICAO's website. If SSCs are not addressed, Article 54J of the
ICAO's Chicago Convention allows ICAO to inform all contracting
states that a particular member has not fulfilled its commitments.
Technical Cooperation Bureau Head Roger Lambo told Ambassador that
while 54J in reality does not "have all that many teeth," the
greater hope was that the situation in Djibouti would never reach
this stage, and that ICAO would work closely with Djibouti to help
it reach and maintain compliance with all international norms.
ICAO later informed EmbOffs that they understood the European Union
(EU) was also considering putting Djibouti on its no-fly "black
list"-which is normally derived from ICAO Safety Oversight Audit
results.



-------------- --------------

CLEARING UP ICAO-GODJ COMMUNICATION GAPS

-------------- --------------

DJIBOUTI 00001171 002 OF 004



4. (SBU) While ICAO told Ambassador that they were concerned about
the GODJ's "lack of commitment" to the program, DACM Director Almis

M. Haid explained to ICAO and SSFA that he had been baffled by what
he described as an initial six-month "observation" phase in the
program. ICAO knows the issues in Djibouti "very well already," he
said, and the DACM had felt they should skip the observation phase.
In addition, Haid said that he did not understand why operational
inspectors had been sent to Djibouti before a legal advisor had
finished his work on a badly-needed draft civil aviation code.
Lambo and Moshabesha explained to Haid that this initial phase had
been specifically designed to address and remove the immediate SSC
before moving on toward general capacity building and training
phases. Therefore, ICAO first sent operational inspectors-who
nonetheless were unable to complete their task of reviewing
Daallo's AOC, because the DACM did not issue appropriate
credentials and Daallo refused to provide required documentation
for review in a timely manner.




5. (C) Both Haid and Minister of Transport Ali Hassan Bahdon
strongly objected to the tone and content of a recent letter sent
by the President of the ICAO Council to President Guelleh. Inter
alia, the letter in question directed President Guelleh to annul
Daallo's AOC and provide ICAO with proof that this had been done.
ICAO's letter was answered by Presidency Secretary General Ismail
Tani, who noted his objections to the letter's tone and directed
ICAO to work with the Minister of Transport. (NOTE. Neither Post
nor SSFA were aware that ICAO was planning to send this letter, and
only received copies of it after the fact. END NOTE). Minister
Bahdon said that the letter was "felt as an ultimatum" and that
GODJ was "disappointed" with this approach. "We know we need to be
in conformity with the rules," Bahdon said, and the political will
is already there to do so because civil aviation is a top
government "priority." ICAO told Haid and Bahdon that their
concerns had been noted and would be brought back to the office of
the President of the ICAO Council. "We will always be on your side
to assist you and make sure that Djibouti meets all international
standards," Lambo assured Bahdon.



-------------- -

AGREEING ON THE WAY FORWARD:

FOR NOW AND DOWN THE ROAD

--------------




6. (SBU) In discussions with Haid and Bahdon, all parties agreed to
take the following steps to move forward in the short and long
term:



-- IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF SSC: ICAO assured Haid and Bahdon that the
GODJ's annulment of Daallo's AOC would not lead to the interruption
of air services in Djibouti. The DACM confirmed that all Daallo
aircraft are currently leased from other companies. Therefore,
ICAO explained, Daallo can continue operations based on the AOC(s)
issued to the leasing companies. ICAO will provide technical
assistance to the DACM to verify that these third-country AOCs (for
example, one from the Comoros) conform with international
standards. Daallo would also need to continue leasing aircraft on
an ACIM (aircraft, crew, insurance, maintenance) basis. In
addition, the GODJ can issue Daallo an Air Service Permit (ASP),(a
"commercial" rather than a "technical" document),allowing Djibouti
to retain full control over Daallo's permissions to operate as a
business in Djibouti and to fly certain routes. At a lunch
September 28, Haid's de facto deputy told ICAO that the AOC would
be annulled by October 1. Once the AOC is annulled, the GODJ must
publish the withdrawal notice and inform ICAO, which will then
inform all ICAO members that Djibouti has remedied the SSC.

DJIBOUTI 00001171 003 OF 004


-- INTERIM SOLUTION AND LONG-TERM GOAL: During an interim period,
ICAO will assist the GODJ to conclude a cooperative agreement with
another state which currently meets ICAO standards (possibly
Ethiopia or the United Arab Emirates). This agreement will allow
Djibouti to issue AOCs, but with the understanding that the second
state will provide all necessary technical oversight.
Concurrently, ICAO and the second state will work with Djibouti to
train Djiboutian inspectors capable of overseeing issuance of AOCs.
Haid stressed that any such arrangement with another state needed
to be an interim solution, and preferably last no longer than six
months. (NOTE. ICAO told CDA that the duration of this phase
would depend entirely on how quickly the GODJ can work to train its
own inspectors. Lambo estimated that one year was a more realistic
interim time frame. END NOTE.) In the longer term, ICAO
underlined, Djibouti may want to consider joining a regional
grouping to pool human resource inspection capacity. Qualified
inspectors are in great demand and have proven enormously difficult
to retain throughout Africa, with flight operations inspectors
commanding salaries of up to ten thousand dollars a month.



--REVISED PROGRAM OF SUPPORT: ICAO will revise the technical
assistance program project document to reflect the current plan of
action. The current ICAO inspector detailed to the DACM will
become an ICAO "advisor," with a broader mandate. The advisor will
report directly to ICAO, and will be able to brief the Minister of
Transport regularly. In addition, ICAO can provide any additional
assistance required to help Djibouti complete and adopt a civil
aviation code. Minister Bahdon complained that the ICAO expert
sent to Djibouti to work on this code had consulted only with the
DACM and not with the Ministry of Transport (a charge refuted by
ICAO). Since President Guelleh had made the passage of a civil
aviation code a top priority, Bahdon said, he had also engaged his
own advisor to complete a draft. The two existing drafts, however,
had only "very small" differences.



-------------- --------------

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT-DACM DYNAMICS

-------------- --------------




7. (C) Bahdon told ICAO that he had not been receiving adequate
communication from the DACM (whose director he nominally
supervises),and that he wanted future ICAO communications to come
first through the Ministry of Transport. Moshabesha and Lambo told
Bahdon that ICAO would communicate with whichever entity the GODJ
designated as the main point of contact, but that this decision
would need to be transmitted to ICAO in a formal request.
(COMMENT. There is a complete lack of communication and near-open
animosity between Bahdon and Haid. During the ICAO-SSFA visit,
neither agreed to meet together, and both bowed out of a planned
lunch when it appeared that there would be both Ministry of
Transport and DACM representation. Both are connected by family
ties to First Lady Khadra Mahamoud Haid-Haid is her brother, and
Bahdon is married to her daughter from a previous marriage. Bahdon
was appointed Minister of Transport in a 2008 cabinet shuffle. He
is somewhat of an up-and-comer, and appears to have enough of
President Guelleh's trust that he acted as interim Foreign Minister
on one occasion. He is not, however, immune from gossip that he
holds his position solely because of his wife, and not by personal
merit. Haid, who is considerably older than Bahdon, has long been
associated with the DACM. The First Lady is sometimes said to be
more favorable towards another brother, Central Bank Governor Djama

M. Haid. END COMMENT.)



-------------- --------------

MAKING A REGIONAL PORT A REGIONAL AIR HUB

DJIBOUTI 00001171 004 OF 004


-------------- --------------




8. (SBU) "We are weak in civil aviation," Minister Bahdon said,
"but we are learning." Djibouti, he emphasized, does not want any
bad publicity in the civil aviation field, and is strongly
motivated to address any safety concerns. The GODJ is now a
majority stakeholder in Daallo, Bahdon said, and would like to
"upgrade" the airline. To do this, the GODJ will need to give
certain assurances to potential investors. In the long term, he
said, Djibouti wants to match strong growth in the port sector with
commensurate development in aviation, transforming Djibouti into a
regional air hub. Bahdon asked ICAO and the USG for continued
support in building Djibouti's human resource base in support of
this goal.




9. (C) Minister Bahdon highlighted the urgent need to establish a
regional center to control airspace for the Horn of Africa (i.e.
Ethiopia, Djibouti, and its neighbors). Due to the 1998-2001
Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict, for example, neither country coordinated
on airspace. Somalia's air traffic control ("Mogadishu
Information") operated from a villa in Kenya, and no country in the
region coordinated with Sanaa except Djibouti. Djibouti controlled
its own airspace up to 24,500 feet, and coordinated closely with
Israel's El Al Airline (which, for political reasons, could not use
Sudanese airspace).



--------------

COMMENT

--------------




10. (C) Fulfilling President Guelleh's long-term vision of Djibouti
as a regional transport and services hub depends on addressing
safety concerns shadowing the country's aviation authority.
Communication hiccups between ICAO and the GODJ-and within the
GODJ-are likely responsible for delaying Djibouti's response to
ICAO's Significant Safety Concern (SSC). Now that the key players
fully understand both the gravity of the situation, and that the
remedy will not/not involve grounding Daallo Airlines, Post
assesses that the GODJ is likely to keep its word in annulling the
improperly issued AOC. The GODJ deregistered 13 aircraft,
following USG demarches, in March 2008. Communication between the
DACM and the Ministry of Transport will likely remain a challenge.
Post will continue to follow up with relevant parties to help
ensure that newly-opened lines of communication between ICAO and
the GODJ do not close, and that the SSFA-funded program can move
forward to accomplish its objective of building capacity for
Djibouti's civil aviation authority. END COMMENT.
WONG