Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LIBREVILLE37
2009-01-26 11:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

GABON REFORMS CIVIL AVIATION AMID CONCERNS OVER

Tags:  EAIR ECON EINV GB TP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLC #0037/01 0261100
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 261100Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0874
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000037 

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR AF/C LISA KORTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2019
TAGS: EAIR ECON EINV GB TP
SUBJECT: GABON REFORMS CIVIL AVIATION AMID CONCERNS OVER
SAFETY

Classified By: DCM Nathan Holt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000037

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR AF/C LISA KORTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2019
TAGS: EAIR ECON EINV GB TP
SUBJECT: GABON REFORMS CIVIL AVIATION AMID CONCERNS OVER
SAFETY

Classified By: DCM Nathan Holt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

--------------
Summary
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1. (SBU) Civil aviation in Gabon is in disarray. Since July
2008, the European Union has imposed safety-related
restrictions on all Gabon-certified air carriers, including a
complete ban on most companies. In response, Gabon is
scrambling to put in place a new, independent civil aviation
authority, aimed at ensuring the safety of airline passengers
and employees and thus bringing an end to the EU ban.
Embassy Libreville, with limited resources or expertise, is
attempting to monitor the safety of available air carriers in
order to minimize the risks associated with necessary travel
within Gabon and to and from Sao Tome. END SUMMARY.

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EU Imposes Comprehensive Ban
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2. (U) On July 24, 2008, the European Union,s committee for
aviation safety imposed restrictions on all companies
certified by Gabon,s civil aviation authorities. Banned
carriers include Solenta Aviation Gabon, Sky Gabon, Nouvelle
Air Affaires Gabon, SCD Aviation, Nationale et Regionale
Transport, Air Services SA, and Air Tourist (Allegiance).
Two carriers, Gabon Airlines and Afrijet, are permitted to
enter Europe, but are restricted to their present levels of
operations.


3. (U) According to official EU sources, the present ban
resulted from two separate audits, both of which identified
significant safety deficiencies on the part of Gabon,s civil
aviation authority as well as the airlines it oversees. In
2007, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
carried out a Universal Safety Oversight Audit and reported
major shortcomings in the capacity and performance of
Gabon,s civil aviation authority, which had failed to
implement more than 93% of the ICAO standards. The ICAO
audit was followed by French inspections through the Safety
Assessment of Foreign Aircraft program (SAFA),which produced
evidence of serious, systematic breaches of safety in the
operations of the air carriers certified in Gabon.


4. (C) In response to the negative audit results and in

anticipation of the EU ban, the government of Gabon undertook
to reform its civil aviation oversight system, adopting a new
civil aviation law in May 2008 and, two months later, a law
ordering the establishment of a new, independent National
Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC). Gabonese authorities
reportedly told the EU that the new civil aviation system
would be operational by December 2008. Gabon anticipated the
lifting of the EU ban by November 2008, when the EU committee
on aviation safety met in Brussels to review the EU blacklist
of banned airlines. However, the committee concluded that
progress had been insufficient to lift the ban.
Specifically, the committee noted that at the time of their
meeting, ANAC had yet to find a director or other key
personnel, and that ANAC did not have the physical
infrastructure necessary to support its activities. The
committee also questioned the degree of ANAC,s independence,
concluding that the ultimate authority to oversee civil
aviation still rests with the Ministry of Transportation.


5. (C) Following the November meeting of the EU committee on
aviation safety, the government of Gabon requested that the
ICAO provide technical assistance, at Gabon,s expense,
towards making the ANAC operational and carrying out other
reforms necessary for a lifting of the EU ban. Three ICAO
advisors, former Air France pilots, arrived in late November
2008 to work with the ANAC and the banned air carriers for a
period of between six and eighteen months. A fourth
technical advisor was expected to join the team in January

2009. The goal of the ongoing ICAO technical mission is to
have the ANAC up to speed in time for the next EU aviation
safety committee meeting on March 24-26, 2009. However, one
of the ICAO advisors indicated that three months is the
minimum amount of time that the process will require, and
that it might very well take longer to achieve. He told us,
"It is serious. From what I,ve seen so far, the system
needs a serious overhaul."

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Mission Response
--------------


6. (U) In light of the EU ban and other developments, the
Mission is attempting to minimize the risks associated with

air travel by mission staff and visitors. Official travel is
not permitted on all but one of the affected airlines.
Mission personnel continue to fly on Air Service, one of the
airlines currently banned by the EU. Embassy Libreville also
continues to attempt to monitor the overall safety of civil
aviation in Gabon, within the severe limits of our expertise
and resources. Air Service is the only commercial air
carrier with flights from Libreville to Sao Tome, a country
to which we are accredited (and home to both resident USG
personnel and significant local and TDY staff). We note that
no U.S. government agency "bans" foreign carriers or
otherwise grades their safety if those carriers do not fly to
the United States, and that responsibility for direct mission
personnel to use or not use specific airlines rests with the
Chief of Mission.


7. (U) In evaluating whether or not to continue using Air
Service despite the EU ban, we interviewed the airline's
deputy general manager, Arthur Bongo Ondimba, the son of
Gabon's president El Hajj Omar Bongo Ondimba (and also a
pilot). We also interviewed the company's chief of
maintenance, an American citizen. Both asserted that Air
Service meets or exceeds international maintenance and safety
standards, and claimed the airline is being penalized for the
shortcomings of Gabon's civil aviation regulatory regime.
Both pointed out that Royal Dutch Shell, a company with
extensive operations in Gabon, carries out independent safety
inspections and continues to make extensive use of Air
Service aircraft, for both regularly scheduled and charter
flights. The Embassy confirmed independently that Shell and
other international oil firms remain major customers for Air
Service. Against this positive evidence we weighed negative
reports, both direct and second-hand, from former Air Service
employees questioning the airline's safety. Finally, we
sought an evaluation by one of the visiting ICAO technical
advisors. He declined to comment on the safety of Air
Service or any of the other banned airlines, saying he and
his team needed more time and information to make a sound
judgment.

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Comment
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8. (SBU) Gabon clearly needs, and does not yet have, a
competent and independent civil aviation authority. Some of
the steps Gabon has taken in response to the EU ban,
particularly the invitation and funding of the ICAO technical
assistance mission, are encouraging. We will continue to
monitor the situation, encourage the government to take the
necessary steps to correct deficiencies, and scrutinize
closely the airlines used by mission personnel for official
travel. In the absence of authoritative guidance from the
FAA or other competent U.S. government agency, however, we
will be far more comfortable if and when the EU ban is
lifted. END COMMENT.
REDDICK