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