Ethiopia: ‘Nowadays, Aeroplanes Have Become As Important Utilities As a Mobile Phone and Laptop’

by Zelalem
interview

Captain Solomon became a successful aviation industry runner starting from scratch. He is now a pilot, pioneering Ethiopia’s private aviation industry. He owns Abyssinia Flights and Pilot Training School. The Ethiopian Herald held an exclusive interview with the Captain, sharing his life experiences and enlightening us about the contributions of aviation in a country’s socio-economic development. Excerpts:

Where did you find the love for flying?

It is really difficult to explain how I fall in love with the idea of flying, because that was my childhood dream. I dream of aeroplanes before I saw cars for the first time. It was like a natural process for me the first time I saw it I fall in love with it. I remember the day and every moment as it was a spiritual experience for me.

Can you tell our readers about your youthful?

Due to the unpleasant situation, especially for the youth during the Derg regime, it was impossible to go to school, so I decided to move to Addis in search of job. I worked as a daily labourer, as a driver, as a garage assistant and more. Then, I was privileged to get a scholarship through the missionaries I worked with and moved to US. Even there, I was working hard doing all kinds of jobs like waitering, gardening, washing cars, bus driving. So, literally, I have gone through a lot of ups and downs to achieve what I want to achieve in my life.

How did you join pilot training school?

As I was working for the missionaries in the beginning, I used to clean their aircraft and also help out in maintenance, with that my love for aviation actually evolved. Then I got a University scholarship in US to study business administration. When I was a second year student, I said this is my chance to make my dreams come true. So every day, I go to school then I work three or four jobs at a time. Every weekend, with the extra time I have, I go to the local airfield to learn flying small aeroplanes paying cash. After struggling for three or four years, I joined the missionaries that I used to work for, as a pilot and as a mechanic, because they had aeroplanes.

What is the role of the private sector in aviation industry?

Aviation is a major part of Ethiopia’s development. The private sector runs the economy of any country. It is the enabler of the economy. For instance, I could be hired in a private company in any aviation service since I am a professional. However, in this relatively small company we have more than 85 people working and it’s not just about creating employment opportunities, but we are also one of the big tax payers. No matter how we are a small company, we are playing a major role in the nation’s development. As a pioneer in Ethiopia’s private aviation industry we are contributing a lot in showing people that it is possible regardless of the challenges and difficult circumstances. Therefore, the role of the private sector in a country like that of ours, for an eccentrically growing economy is unquestionable. The major question should be how shall we give it a chance to undertake its indispensable role that it is destined to play. I believe the private sector is the engine that runs the country.

What is the status of Abyssinia services?

Abyssinia started operation with one lease purchased aeroplane and recently owned its 18th aircraft. As we have been operating for 18 years, it is like we owned one aeroplane every year since our establishment. We now have the first private beautiful helicopter. When helicopters were needed in Ethiopia, they used to come either from the Emirates, South Africa or mostly from Kenya, at a lucrative amount of cost which is almost impossible to afford. Now we have a private helicopter here as a country where we can respond to needs at a fair price.

The flight school is a separate entity. Now we can also train other aviation related disciplines in addition to piloting like flight attendants, mechanics, and that by the way, I may stress this one, would be a billion dollar business for the country. According to a statistics by the Boeing, more than 600,000 pilots, and 650,000 aircraft mechanics are needed all over the world in the next 19 years, and I don’t think the world is currently able to supply even five per cent of these demand. Therefore, it is obvious that we have to capitalize on the capacity and it is not something we can do alone. We need to maintain strong partnership with the government, the banks and other potential investors.

The banks’ involvement at this stage is null because nobody understands the lucrative return that could be secured from the aviation sector. But we are looking at a billion dollar investment potential for this country. If the government and the banks really understand how the aviation industry could transform the economy and they had a clue on the return rate of the business, we could play a major role in the country’s development endeavour. Therefore we can see that there is an untapped potential in the sector.

Ethiopian Airlines’ impressive growth also indicates the nation’s potential in the sector not just because of Ethiopians’ magnificent performance, but also because of the strategic location of the country, the accumulated experience and the gift of Ethiopians in the aviation sector. Just like Indians are good with mathematics and computers, Japanese in technology, Ethiopians are good in aviation. So we need to capitalize on that.

What are the aviation services you provide currently?

We give charter air taxi services with demand. For example recently we gave flight service to foreign investors who are planning a joint venture business in Ethiopia. Big multinational investors, they have the money, the knowledge, the human resources, and everything but they just don’t have one thing. And that’s time. Hence, that’s why the private aviation has to involve in the business and fill that gap. Small aeroplanes are very safe, reliable and enablers. So, we do regular charter on demand, we do pilot training, supply air services to humanitarian aid services, a job which foreigners used to do coming from the US, Kenya, Britannia. But for the last five, six years we have been doing it efficiently. So we are retaining the business, with our own people, our own resources, and we are very proud to do so. But still there’s room for improvement and we believe there is a lot more we can do. We just wanted to take one at a time, step by step.

Now, with the arrival of the helicopter, we are able to give a totally different kind of service. We can respond based on demand, right on the spot services, for companies, investors, NGO’s, embassies and the government itself. There is a good service available for exploration, tourism, photography, movie making. For example, we took top Hollywood actors to places in the country. For them, instead of spending a number of days on a road trip, you can take them to the spot they want in just one or two hours. We maximize the productivity of those people.

What is aviation’s economic role?

The role of the sector in a country’s economy is so crucial. Multinational companies arrive in Addis in the morning from abroad and fly to any corner of Ethiopia by nine o’clock, do their business and return by three to meet government officials or fly back to their country the same night. So it encourages people to come to Ethiopia, because after they come to the country they can travel to different places and continue their journey to wherever they want with the little time they have.

It is important to note that business aviation is not about luxury, it is about necessity. It is not for people who have money and spoiled. It is not for people who want to show off. Nowadays, aeroplanes have become as important utilities as a mobile phone and laptop. Because they enable you like pencils does. People spend millions of dollars to purchase private jets to make billions of dollars.

So in that spirit we can play a vital role in tourism, air ambulance – which used to come from Germany, Kenya or South Africa to rescue somebody in a car accident or heart attack. And the cost for that would be at least two times as much as we charge in here. The other important thing here is, on demand accessibility because I could be there to give my service in just 30 minutes, whereas, those who come from other countries, they have to pass through clearances and procedures and fly for five and six hours to get here. So by the time these people could land here, I have already put these people in hospital in Nairobi.

Therefore, the understanding of the role of private aviation sector is quiet important. The banks need to understand that the sector avails a high return on investment. The problem is the banks don’t understand about aeroplane and the aviation business. They just think the aeroplane could just fly away like a bird and never come back, which is so absurd. But for us, in relation to what we could achieve, maybe we are now serving only 30 per cent of the demand in the sector. We know that we can exploit so much more.

What are the supports provided by the government?

As far as the Ethiopian Civil Aviation is concerned, I am really impressed with what they do specially in the last five/six years. They are doing extraordinary jobs which I could say is beyond my imagination. It has matured and has become a really professional organization and the access we have from the director’s office, to the gatekeepers in my 18 years experience is amazing and I am really grateful for Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority. Especially the Director General’s office is always accessible to us. Not just for us but for the aviation industry as they have secured the highest ICAO standards. Ethiopia is in a very good map as far as aviation is concerned now, and it is majorly their contribution.

The authority is bringing change because they paid attention, but there is still deficit in other areas. The National Bank, the Customs, the Finance Ministry need to understand the sector and open gets themselves involved in it. For example, we are required to pay millions of birr in collateral to send a broken part overseas for maintenance. For us it is unnecessary to put that kind of money as collateral as we concurrently need the money to run our business. But the foreign companies come and go as they wish as they are not required to that kind of obligation.

Lack of communication is a major problem. It is obvious that the more access I get, the more I would be able to pay taxes. Hence, the government needs to enable us to work more. When I am being held, it is not just me who would be held back. The country would be held back.

What do you see in future for Ethiopia’s aviation industry?

In the future, we also plan to deal with services like transferring fast cargoes like the services provided by Fedex, DHL. The growth of the country itself demands the service to grow. For example, to a survey for road construction, now it is possible to do it in a very short time with the use of aeroplanes, as the country is building thousands of kilometres of roads in the remotest areas. Surveys, which are traditionally undertaken in nine months, could be completed in a handful of days using air planes.

Currently, we fly to neighbouring countries like Djibouti, Kenya, but we would also like to fly overseas specially to the Middle East. We are limited to 50 seats and companies are not making that kind of planes any more. So we need to have a comprehensive, united perception for tomorrow. Airline service providers based in Dubai are operating in Addis Ababa. Why can’t we fly to those Middle East countries?

The other important thing is, the academy which is more of a reflection of my life. We now have a complete aviation school. We experimented in giving training in the shortest possible period and now we are able to train professional pilots in just one year. We train people from a lot of places in the world. We have an international taste and it is interesting that we also have lots of Ethiopian trainees. Airlines service providers keep snatching professionals from each other, due to the deficit in the number of professional pilots and mechanics all over the world. So I can say we are looking at a multi-billion dollar business for the country.

Hence, I could say that, this is a huge investment potential. The school fee for piloting is not cheap, but if we can connect them to the banks and loan services, and considering the return it could be affordable to many people.

Looking at personal matters, what is your memory of your passengers as a pilot?

As a pilot, I have flown with a number of people from laymen to distinguished public figures. But, nobody impresses me like Jessica Cox did. As she is the first licensed armless pilot, flying alongside her gave me a special impression and makes me wonder her dedication towards achieving the seemingly impossible things regardless of her situation.

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