ANGOLA'S CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY BUILDS CAPACITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 000048 EMBASSY ROME FOR TSA ANTHONY GIOVANNIELLO DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/OTP KRISTIN GUSTAVSON AND BRIAN SILER E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2019 TAGS: AO EAIR ECON ENIV PREL SUBJECT: ANGOLA'S CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY BUILDS CAPACITY TO TAKE ON CHALLENGES REF: LUANDA 38 Classified By: Ambassador Dan Mozena for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 1.(C) SUMMARY: During a January 16 meeting with Ambassador Mozena, Director of Angola's civil aviation authority (INAVIC) Gaspar Francisco dos Santos acknowledged Angola's civil aviation problems, but stated his efforts to resolve them were hampered by a lack of trained operations and airworthiness inspectors rather than political interference from the GRA. Dos Santos said INAVIC plans to hire foreign inspectors by the end of February. Dos Santos said INAVIC plans to bring national carrier TAAG into compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards before the end of 2009. In contrast to the point of view of the Minister of Transportation (reftel),Dos Santos emphatically acknowledged that the EU ban is technical, requiring a technical resolution and does not have a quick political fix.. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) As a follow-up to his January 13 meeting with Minister of Transportation Augusto Tomas (reftel),Ambassador Mozena met with Director Gaspar Dos Santos on January 16 to impress upon him the need to take the EU ban on all Angolan airlines seriously. The Ambassador stressed that all levels of the GRA must understand that both TAAG's and INAVIC's non-compliance with ICAO norms is a technical and not a political problem. The Ambassador observed that some in the GRA still felt Angola could find a political solution to its civil aviation issues, and questioned Dos Santos if the GRA really understood the gravity of the situation. The Ambassador hoped that Luanda airport could be brought up to TSA standards to allow Delta airlines to begin operations into Angola in 2009, but noted that it needed a lot of work to get there. Dos Santos responded emphatically that all levels of the GRA understood that TAAG and INAVIC had serious shortcomings, and that no one in the GRA had pressured him to take political expedients in addressing these problems since he had taken the job in November. He stated that he was getting good cooperation from TAAG, despite its lingering capacity issues on documentation, and that he was receiving an adequate budget to do the job. ¶3. (C) The problem, according to Dos Santos, is that INAVIC lacked the skilled aviation inspectors needed to enforce Angola's laws and bring TAAG into compliance with international standards. He described as a failure INAVIC's attempts to hire locally five operations and five airworthiness inspectors needed urgently; only one qualified candidate responded. In light of this, Dos Santos sought and received permission from the Council of Ministers to hire foreign inspectors, and he expected to have completed that hiring by the end of February. He also cited the Council's authorization for INAVIC to partner with a foreign CAA to help boost its capacity as further evidence that the GRA was taking the problem seriously. "This is a very big departure from the way Angola had handled these issues before, and would have never happened in the past," he affirmed. He noted further capacity-strengthening efforts such as the use of a Boeing-funded U.S. aviation consultant, and the hiring in the last month of a foreign specialist to help certify TAAG. 4 (C) According to Dos Santos, once INAVIC had the proper human resources, it would work to ensure that all aviation operators were in compliance with ICAO norms and Angolan law. Dos Santos was aware that INAVIC and TAAG were in non-compliance in many areas, but stated that his goal is to raise standards and re-certify the entire industry. He hoped to have TAAG off the EU blacklist by the end of the year, but acknowledged that it was difficult to do this from outside the airline. He noted that TAAG still had not submitted required documentation even after a year of requests. Despite this, he felt that he was getting good cooperation from TAAG, and was optimistic about future cooperation, declaring, "TAAG has changed its mind completely about its problems." He praised new TAAG CEO Antonio Araujo as "very competent," and "the right choice for the job." ¶5. (C) COMMENT: We are encouraged by Dos Santos's candid acknowledgment of INAVIC's and TAAG's shortcomings. He clearly understands the challenges faced by both, and his central role in solving Angola's civil aviation woes. He is regarded as competent and knowledgeable, and seems to be adopting a sensible, practical approach in response to the hand he has been dealt. His approach stands in stark contrast to that of his supervisor, Minister of Transportation Augusto Tomas (reftel),who appears to believe that there is little that needs fixing with either INAVIC or TAAG. The gap is huge between the perceptions of these two key players in how best to sort out Angola's civil aviation problems. Embassy will continue to disabuse the GRA of any "political fix" to the problem. MOZENA