Korongo Airlines: THE END

[galaxy]

Terrified passengers were traumatized and scrambled to get out and away from the doomed aircraft.
Meanwhile, the captain informed passengers that the next flight to Kinshasa was scheduled the next day

Tout va très bien madame la Marquise,tout va très bien....

[EC-DBM]

It seems the last BAe 146 left Lubumbashi and Korongo. Only one aircraft left now for Korongo.

[cathay belgium]

And that last one was in trouble...
No back up..
CXB

[Tomskii]

Haha seriously "the doomed aircraft" made me laugh, the congolese press should make a novel of some kind, they are good at making facts 10 times worse than they are

[Flanker2]

LTM doesn't have a good reputation with pilots and mechanics of SN.
This sounds like a landing gear unsafe event or something like that.

With the 146 leaving and the LTM where it stands, I smell the end of Korongo.
Or maybe they're trying to show their unhappiness to the DRC about letting JAF come into the market.
Big deal, the DRC don't care as long as SN spent a whole lot of money in the DRC for nothing.

As for the Korongo operating model, it just doesn't make sense to operate at the uber-high fares that they are trying to get for a miserable product, on old aircraft. The fleet they sent was not better than many aircraft you see in the DRC and the lack of connections to BRU from FBM are the signature lack of vision of the SN management.

The idea was good though and I liked the enthusiasm of the Korongo CEO.

[tolipanebas]

Now, back to reality:

http://www.tijd.be/r/t/1/id/9301279

[RoMax]

Now, back to reality:

http://www.tijd.be/r/t/1/id/9301279

Can you give a summary of the whole article as I can only read the first part...

[b-west]

In short: Things are going well for Korongo; don't believe the rumors; each month sees a 20% increase in lf, the second Bae146 apparently wasn't needed anymore after the start up fase.

[airazurxtror]

De Tijd says :
Alle an­de­re Con­go­le­se lucht­vaart­be­drij­ven staan op de zwar­te lijst van de EU.
But Korongo also staat op de zwarte lijst van de EU :
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air ... ist_fr.pdf

[RoMax]

De Tijd says :
Alle an­de­re Con­go­le­se lucht­vaart­be­drij­ven staan op de zwar­te lijst van de EU.
But Korongo also staat op de zwarte lijst van de EU :
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air ... ist_fr.pdf

Yes indeed, Korongo as a company is blacklisted (not because of the company, but because they have a Congolese AOC, meaning they are blacklisted anyway as with some other countries they don't have enough confidence in the authorities). But the difference is that the Korongo-fleet is Belgian-registrated and operated by SN on ACMI base for Korongo (if I'm correct?). So everything is under sight of SN and the Belgian authorities. Making it quite stupid they are still blacklisted, but that has nothing to do with Korongo.

[Passenger]

De Tijd says :
Alle an­de­re Con­go­le­se lucht­vaart­be­drij­ven staan op de zwar­te lijst van de EU.
But Korongo also staat op de zwarte lijst van de EU :
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air ... ist_fr.pdf

Yes indeed, Korongo as a company is blacklisted (not because of the company, but because they have a Congolese AOC, meaning they are blacklisted anyway as with some other countries they don't have enough confidence in the authorities). But the difference is that the Korongo-fleet is Belgian-registrated and operated by SN on ACMI base for Korongo (if I'm correct?). So everything is under sight of SN and the Belgian authorities. Making it quite stupid they are still blacklisted, but that has nothing to do with Korongo.

Correct. The blacklist states: "...Air carriers listed in Annex A could be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with..."

[Flanker2]

I'm glad that they're doing fine.
Seriously they need to invest more into this venture, it's a huge opportunity in the makings. In a start-up phase, the old 146 and B737's were fine, but it's time to start thinking big and to look at the opportunities that it represents. They need to support it with decent aircraft and a link BRU-FBM, because this will put SN in a position that no other carrier can equal. LTM alone is not a viable solution to support this operation.

I like the Korongo CEO's enthusiasm and vision, and I like the Korongo project. Who knows what cr*p he has to put up with, both from the DRC authorities and from SN management.

It's time to give Korongo the tools and resources to make it successful, so they can finally start making some money while offering decent fares and reliable service.

[Tomskii]

Exactly what I was thinking Flanker! Korongo as far as I know has been doing great on the flights it does, but I think it's time to expand a bit (maybe more regular flights/new destinations/a real addition to the fleet).

If this continues to succeed Korongo might become a good player for intra-african flights! (or who knows maybe more)

[crew1990]

I know that Korongo can't grow up for the moment in RDC because the airports are n't ready yet, but I don't understand why Korongo isn't flying out of RDC, Luanda, Libreville, Lusaka, Bujumbura, Kigali, Cap Town, Dodoma, Kampala...

If it happend and SN does Brussel-Lumbumbashi, a bunch of new destination would be available for SN with code share agreement.

[convair]

And why not a code-shared BRU-FBM with SN and an SN 330? Does someone know what the new bilateral agreement provides for Congo-registered airlines?

[tolipanebas]

We have to remember Korongo isn't a "normal" airline and FBM isn't a "normal" airport, just as much as east Congo isn't a "normal" country; something many here clearly have no good understanding about.

A few of the issues at hand:
SN can't officially code share with Korongo because of the EU blacklist, even though they are operating the Korongo flights themselves, believe it or not!
Also, the airport at FBM isn't fully approved by the BCAA to accept an A330 at present.
Not to mention that the RDC has all sort of immigration requirements which make hubbing through FBM not the easiest thing: visa, vaccination, customs etc....
Not to mention the missing terminal infrastructure as well as the lack of security facilities to allow flights to BRU.
All can be solved, but they take time, effort, political bargaining and a lot of investment.

There's an audit planned at Korongo next month to see where it stands at present and what the next phase should be. The airline has just managed to demonstrate its operational capabilities in an extremely difficult environment while making a small operational profit from it, so we'll see what the next phase brings. Rome wasn't built in a day either....

[convair]

Thank you Tolipanebas.

[rwandan-flyer]

SN can't officially code share with Korongo because of the EU blacklist, even though they are operating the Korongo flights themselves, believe it or not!

Do you know why SN IATA code is on Korongo flights ?

FBM Lubumbashi Luano CD [FZQA]
FIH Kinshasa N'Djili CD [FZAA]
THU 12 Sep 2013 - 19 Sep 2013

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Frequency | Dur'n | Dep T | Arr T | Effect | Ending | Exceptions

ZC/SN 101 FBM 08:00 FIH 09:25 733 0 ------7 02:25

Planned Flight Info
Segment Departure Arrival Duration
------- --------- --------- --------
FBM-FIH 08:00/Sun 09:25/Sun 02:25

Segment Flight Note
------- --------------------------------------------------------------
FBM-FIH AIRCRAFT OWNER BRUSSELS AIRLINES
FBM-FIH COCKPIT CREW BRUSSELS AIRLINES
FBM-FIH CABIN CREW KORONGO AIRLINES
FBM-FIH OPERATED BY BRUSSELS AIRLINES
FBM-FIH MCT FLIGHT TRACKING D/D
FBM-FIH 9/ NON-SMOKING
FBM-FIH ET/ ELECTRONIC TKT CANDIDATE
FLIGHT NOT OPERATING ON DATE SPECIFIED / SEE ALTERNATE DISPLAY

[tolipanebas]

Do you know why SN IATA code is on Korongo flights ?

It's not; it's just your booking tool showing the operating carrier of that flight, nothing more.

SN is not codesharing with ZC, as that is simply not allowed to by the EU, given its a blacklisted company.

[rwandan-flyer]

Ok thanks so much