How an ICAO safety audit led to the suspension of all AOCs in Uganda in 2014

Summary

• Because Uganda was at risk of failing an ICAO safety audit in 2014, all air operator certificates in the country were suspended.
• As a result of the safety audit, Air Uganda ceased operations, leaving a large gap in the Ugandan aviation market.
• The suspension also affected smaller airlines, but ultimately led to the revival of Uganda Airlines.

In June 2014, an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety audit in Uganda led to the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) suspending all Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) of airlines operating international flights. The suspension led to the demise of Air Uganda, one of the country’s most prominent airlines at the time.

Risk of failing an ICAO audit

As a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Uganda must comply with all standards and recommended practices established by the United Nations (UN) specialized agency. To ensure that member states comply with international standards, ICAO regularly conducts safety audits under the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP).

In 2008, ICAO conducted a safety audit in Uganda and provided an action plan to address the audit findings and implement the recommended improvements. In 2014, another audit was conducted to determine the status of implementation of the agreed action plan to address the issues. However, this one did not end well for the Ugandan operators.

The Ugandan CAA was at risk of failing the airline oversight portion of the exam, so it suspended all AOCs from Mission Aviation Fellowship Uganda, which operates a fleet of Cessna Caravans, to Uganda Air Cargo and Air Uganda, which provided Lockheed with their L-100-30s and CRJ200s respectively. The CAA concluded that it could not fail for lack of oversight when no airlines were operating. A public hearing on relicensing was held within months, but Air Uganda stated that it would not resume operations.

Revocation of Air Operator Certificates

ICAO conducted a three-day audit of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, culminating with an audit of international airlines registered in Uganda, including Air Uganda, Transafrik Uganda Ltd and Uganda Air Cargo Corporation. The areas audited within the CAA included:

• Previously recommended changes to the corrective action plan
• The organizational structure of the CAA
• Strengthening accident investigation
• Modernisation of air traffic control services
• Airports
• Flight operations procedures
• Aircraft maintenance centers
• Flight training facilities

Airlines were required to regularly revise their operating manuals and submit them to the CAA for approval before use. Air Uganda was the first to be audited and the CAA, with Sam Muneeza as Director of Safety, Security and Economic Regulation, claimed it had identified several irregularities, including the following:

• Handwritten and unauthorized changes and revisions
• Photocopied pages and changes that differ from the documentation submitted to the CAA
• Operating procedure manuals with overlays showing different information from authorisations in the custody of the CAA
• Missing CAA approved original pages
• Lack of professionalism and misconduct by Air Uganda Safety employees

The CAA also listed a number of safety incidents involving Air Uganda aircraft that were allegedly not reported to the regulator. However, sources within the airline suggested that there were documentation discrepancies between the CAA and the airline. Air Uganda CEO Cornwall Muleya blamed the CAA for failing to properly file reports and audits and for failing to carry out oversight as recommended by the UN specialised agency ICAO.

Air Uganda suspends flight operations

Air Uganda claimed that it had complied with all required international standards, including obtaining the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate, the industry standard for safety audits. The airline justified the suspension by citing the UCAA’s failure to pass the 2014 ICAO safety audit. As a result, Air Uganda was forced to cease all operations. The airline’s statement read, among other things:

“It is now evident that the audit has revealed deficiencies in the CAA’s supervisory and regulatory capacity, which consequently impacts the CAA’s ability to issue Air Operator Certificates. The Ugandan CAA regrettably decided on 17 June to revoke the Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) of all international commercial air transport operators registered in the country without consulting the airlines concerned.”

The airline had a fleet of three CRJ200s and operated international flights to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Kigali, Mogadishu, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa and Juba. As a result of the suspension, all aircraft were returned to lessors in Europe. Air Uganda was established in 2007 as part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), which also controlled Air Mali and Air Burkina.

The airlines were invited to apply for recertification at a public hearing on June 27, 2014, but Air Uganda was not interested in returning to Ugandan skies. A spokesperson for the airline told TNW that shareholder AKFED “I’ve had enough of African politics.” Due to the suspension of the AOC, the airline suffered enormous financial losses and reputational damage on a daily basis.

Consequences of the suspension of the AOC

Since the demise of Uganda Airlines in 2001, Air Uganda was widely recognized as the national airline of the Republic of Uganda. The national carrier was finally revived in 2019 but still faces several challenges such as political engagement, a challenge faced by many African airlines. Many airlines suffered from the suspension of AOCs following the safety audit which was more about CAA oversight than airline operations.

In addition to Air Uganda, a number of smaller airlines operating domestic and international flights were also affected. The suspension also meant that Mission Aviation Fellowship, which ran humanitarian missions in South Sudan and surrounding areas, could no longer operate flights, putting the lives of missionaries and aid workers at risk. Unfortunately, the decision by the UCAA authorities to save their jobs had serious consequences for the Ugandan aviation sector.

However, not everyone was on the losing side. Following the termination of Air Uganda’s services, Ethiopian Airlines and RwandAir were granted fifth freedom rights from Entebbe to Nairobi and Juba respectively, while Kenya Airways almost tripled fares between Entebbe and Nairobi. The demise of Air Uganda also paved the way for the revival of Uganda Airlines, which now has a fleet of two Airbus A330-800s, four CRJ900LRs and the world’s second oldest active Airbus A320 under a wet lease agreement.

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