Analyst Air Transport : African Wings In Liberian Air

Air travel has revolutionized global transportation by dramatically reducing the time needed to travel great distances. Journeys across nations or oceans that used to take weeks or months can now be made in a matter of hours. With large numbers of people traveling in airplanes, air transportation has become a major part of the world’s transportation system. Common carriers offer scheduled and charter flights to international, national, regional, and local destinations. Depending on the length of the trip and the amount of cargo or number of people to be carried, common-carrier aircraft range from small, single propeller airplanes to large, four-engine jet airplanes.

Four African common carrier passenger airlines operating in Liberia were initially considered for this elaboration. They are Compagnie Air Ivoire, Bellview Airlines Limited, Slok Air International Limited, and Weasua Air Transport, all with their Monrovia City offices located on Broad Street. The four carriers are registered as air transport companies in four different countries, with their respective head offices at Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, Lagos in Nigeria, Banjul in the Gambia, and Monrovia in Liberia.

On Broad Street towards Ducor Hill, while the last three are on the right side of the street, the first is the only one located on the left side of Broad Street. Equally, while those three on the right have regular flights into and out of Liberia, Air Ivoire has had no flight for over a year. In the process of researching for African airlines operating in Liberia, a discovery was made of a new entrant, Antrak Air, fronted by Weasua Air Transport. Brief mention is therefore made here of Antrak Air.

Antrak Air

Antrak Air is a new entry into the Liberian air route, and it seems to have no town office yet. Flight schedule for Antrak Air published in local papers indicate that the airline makes two (2) landings at and take-offs from Roberts International Airport (ROB) each week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Information concerning Antrak’s origins and any further flight connections are not available for now.

Bellview Airlines

Bellview Airlines is registered as an airline company in Nigeria, and it operates routes within the continent, connecting almost all the West African cities, and flies to central Africa, Far East and Europe. Bellview Airlines makes three (3) landings at and take-offs from ROB in three days in a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays Bellview Airlines flies not-stop only to Accra and Abidjan, but it goes on to connect eight (8) other cities through its regional network, including Abuja, Bamako, Banjul, Conakry, Dakar, Freetown  and Lagos.

Slok Air

Slok Air is registered as an airlines company in the Gambia. Apparently it operates flights within Africa and to Las Palmas. The airline uses a fleet of 737-200 series for passengers and charter services. In its operations in Liberia, Slok Air makes six (6) landings at and take-offs from Roberts International Airport (ROB) each week, twice in a day in three days on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. From ROB, a Slok Air passenger can make direct flights to Accra and Freetown on the mentioned days, and on to connect other five (5) cities on the Slok Air regional air network within the West African sub-region, to include Abidjan, Bamako, Banjul, Conakry and Dakar.     

Weasua Air Transport

Somehow, repeated attempts to get information and facts from Weasua Air Transport proved futile.  Information available from the press indicates that Weasua Air flies non-stop to Abidjan from ROB three times in a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Direct Or Non-stop Fights

Direct or non-stop flight is an air route in which a passenger boards a plane from a port of embarkation and flies straight to his booked port of destination without any stop-over at any other airport for any normal carrier services. In as much as Antrak Air, Bellview Airlines, Slok Air and Weasua Air can convey Monrovia passengers to ten (10) cities in nine (9) countries within the West African sub-region through their air routing network, however, presently the four carriers only offer  fourteen (14) direct flights to three (3) cities -- Abidjan, Accra and Freetown – within a week. In this line, there are four (4), eight (8) and three (3) direct flights to Abidjan, Accra and Freetown respectively in six (6) days in a week; that is, one on Thursdays, two (2) each on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and three (3) each on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Direct Flights From RIA - Antrak Air, Bellview Airlines, Slok Air & Weasua Air

Passenger Services

Air Transport business is a complex and expensive venture. Traveling by air is still a luxury in these parts of the world. This suggests that those who patronize the business are people of means.  And the local passenger airlines know these facts. As a result, these airlines are canny, and they lure potential clients with witty slogans such as: Slok Air … connecting cities, Bellview … the preferred airline, Air Ivoire ... voir tous jours plus loin. (see always far away). Air transport business dealing with passenger services is the most complex because it basically deals with movement of people from one place to another. Such distances may vary from a few kilometers to thousands of kilometers apart. It therefore involves not only carrying  passengers from point C to D but to feed them and take care of their personal security and belongings on board because from point C to D could take 10 to 17 hours to connect with several landings and take-offs in between.

Corporate Responsibility

In general, air transport industry supports a wide range of businesses. These include independent maintenance and repair shops, food catering, aircraft cleaning services, fuelling services, and airport security firms. The industry also supports schools for pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics, as well as travel agencies, hotels, car rental companies, and other businesses in the travel and tourism industry. 

Lastly, individual corporations, the airline companies, also get involved in what is called as corporate responsibility to the community, which is through corporate philanthropy, through sponsoring community development, educational, cultural or social events. Probably due to law volume of air passengers and cargo from Liberia, African airlines operating in Liberia have not been involved in supporting such community-based events. As the country ends the transition period from being a conflict state and graduates into a post conflict state, it is hoped that the few privileged private corporations, like the airlines, GSM companies and banks, with high capital bases, will give part of their profits to the poor communities in which they operate.