Air Burundi

Air Burundi

IATA ICAO Call sign 8Y PBU AIR-BURUNDI
Founded	1971
Hubs	Bujumbura International Airport
Fleet size	2
Destinations	0
Headquarters	Bujumbura
Key people	Emmanuel Habimana Group Managing Director
Website	flyairburundi.com

Air Burundi is the state-owned national airline of Burundi, although in practice it has not been operational since 2009.

It used to operate scheduled regional passenger services to Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its main base was Bujumbura International Airport, and its headquarters are also in Bujumbura.

History

The airline was established in April 1971, and started operations in 1975. It was formed as Société de Transports Aériens du Burundi, and adopted the present name in June 1975.

It ceased operations in the spring of 2007. In 2008, the airline was relaunched with daily flights to Kigali and Entebbe.

In September 2009, an inability to secure adequate funding to overhaul its aircraft led to the airline's suspension of operations; the single aircraft in operation, a Beechcraft 1900, had reached the maximum flight hours before a major service was mandated. The aircraft was flown to South Africa to undergo regular maintenance operations, to cost at least $1m.

Press reports in September 2013 indicated that the airline will require US$1.3million to overhaul and return its Beechcraft 1900C into active service in support of the airline's sole functioning aircraft, an MA60. Despite the arrival of the MA60, operations have yet to resume. For a second MA60, due as part of a "Buy-One/Get-One Free" deal with China, the contract regarding the purchase of the aircraft (recorded as having been a "donation" from China to Burundi) had yet to be finalized, with no delivery date agreed to date.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Air Burundi is wholly owned by the government of Burundi.

In August 2011, East African media reported that Air Burundi had started a process of restructuring. Six international companies had already been pre-selected, through competitive bidding, to propose a restructuring process. Plans were apparently under way to either lease or acquire new aircraft to facilitate the resumption of flight operations.

In January 2013 it was reported that the privatization of Air Burundi had in part been delayed by the carrier's 90% shareholding in SOBUGEA (Société Burundaise de Gestion Aéroportuaire), the country's airport management company. Staff there argued that the Privatization bill introduced by the government contained many irregularities, including reference to "Air-Burundi/Sobugea", a company that does not exist: "The first is a public company created in 1975, governed by Decree No. 100/160 of September 5, 1997 while the second was born in 1981 and governed by the laws of 12 March 2008." Although privatization had been discussed a while ago, it was argued that the two companies should be taken separately: "Each has its heritage and its status. Contrary to what is stated in the explanatory memorandum, any reform concerning Air Burundi does not include SOBUGEA."

Past suitors for Air Burundi were reported to have included the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) (who in turn own the Celestair Group that includes Air Uganda, Air Mali and Air Burkina Faso) and various Chinese investors; nothing has borne fruit as yet, and the view was that any potential investors in a privatized Air Burundi will be "wary of the lack of a robust, clear legal framework that specifically defines the company's activities and roles."

Business trends

Financial and other business figures for Air Burundi were rarely published, even before operations were suspended.

Destinations

Until operations were suspended, Air Burundi operated scheduled international services to the following destinations:

	Hub
	Future
	Terminated/Suspended

Fleet

Current fleet

The Air Burundi fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of January 2013):

The Air Burundi Caravelle, pictured in 1976

Air Burundi Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
Xian MA60	1	1	52
Raytheon Beech 1900C	1	–	19
Total	2	1

Previous fleet

At August 2006, the airline also operated:

• 1 DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300
• 1 Sud Aviation Caravelle

See also

• Transport in Burundi

External links

• Official website
• Air Burundi In The Middle of Restructuring
• Deliverly of Two New MA60 Aircraft Expected In 2012