A. The current management - myself and my deputy were asked to take the reins of responsibility in July 2001. At that time, it was very difficult to maintain the direct air link between Sierra Leone and the outside world. These past two years SNA has been the catalyst that engendered the confidence the country has gained economically. Before then, it was very difficult to come directly into the country except through a third country. Now we have maintained a regular travel route and the relationship between ourselves and the outside world, i.e London, has been good and people now know that within 6 hours they can be in Freetown from London to start transacting their business. Passengers from the United States can now join our flight in London to come to Freetown, which was previously unheard of. The ability to maintain the flights on a regular basis has provided a source of comfort and confidence in the government and the country.

Q. What are the competitive advantages of your company? Why should people travel with your company?

A. When you have a product, you must be able to sell it. Its value must be perceived. At the right price people will be able to perceive its benefits. Having said that, we have been able to sell at a competitive price to the people for the last two years. We have provided the convenience of a one stop shop. We now know the market and through our contacts and colleagues in the United Kingdom and the United States, we can provide our customers with advance information as to what they can expect. This means that for US originating passengers they can get into London in the morning and get a connecting flight out to Freetown the same day. So basically it is having the correct product, at the right price and at the appropriate time to travel. We strive to improve on the qualities. Even with papers no condition is permanent. Where there is room for improvement we get feedbacks from passengers and where the need is to improve competitively we initiate the moves immediately.

Q. Can you talk about the financial situation of your company or the growth rate?

A. To be frank about this, when we took over the management, there were substantial corporate debts from the past, and it is our responsibility to honour them. So while there has been growth in business, the benefits gained from that has to a large extent been used to offset these debts and upgrade company facilities that had been left unattended to in the past. Maybe this was not deliberate. You know the war prevented the acquisition of new equipments. Now we have to restart all over again as some of our equipments were not operational, and money is needed for their rehabilitation. We have been able to renegotiate payment plans with our Creditors and Suppliers. Among our corporate responsibilities we are to ensure that confidence is maintained in government and in the country. So when you talk about profits, we have a social obligation to ensure that people travel to and from Sierra Leone in comfort. As a corporate body, we pride ourselves in the fact that we have been able to offset some of our outstanding debts. We are taking one step at a time and we are progressing steadily.

Q. How many passengers do you carry on a monthly basis?

A. These vary. We have our peak periods, during Easter, Summer and Christmas. The passenger level levels out during the other periods. It averages between 1500 and 2000 monthly.

Q. You are now operating to London. Do you have plans to start operating else where?

A. It is not easy to drop into the unknown. To be able to take some decisions, you should be able to do market research and evaluate the needs of the target groups or communities. Obviously there is a potential market in the United States based on recent trends and on the fact that people are willing to revisit their homeland for the first time in 10 years. With this trend some people will have to come back especially those with temporary stays. So the early bird catches the worm, and we are looking at that very seriously. Even within the West African sub-region there is the expectation that we start looking at code-sharing with other airlines. This is to enable us have a share in the market.

Q. When do you plan to open new routes?

A. Well there should be the commercial justification for it. Based on this premise we have plans to start operating into Amsterdam, and that will start in November. This is a market full of possibilities with Amsterdam being in the center of Europe. Passengers from other destinations in Europe could easily connect to the flight originating from Amsterdam. This vision is always up front in our marketing strategy. We are also looking at the possibility of the critical mass that is already there in terms of regional operation. But again if you get the figures wrong, without proper preparation, then you will experience setbacks after a couple of flights. That is why we will tread cautiously, evaluate as things unfold hopefully for the better.

Q. The majority of your customer are now linked to NGO's or UN. What are you doing in order to attract more people to your country?

A. This is quite interesting, because nature does not tolerate a vacuum. If the seats are empty, we have the right to ensure that within the shortest possible time we target other market groups to replace the current ones. These should include returnees from the Sierra Leonean Diaspora. We should convince these people to come back home or ask others to try Sierra Leone as a new tourist destination. You strike a cord also on being able to convince people about Sierra Leone having the best beaches and all the hot spots. Anyway with government assistance and the availability of the necessary infrastructures things will improve. Tourism is a joint effort. In some ways, I am very pleased to say that there is an improvement in hotel development, so the scene is already being set. As and when there is the signal for the change in the target groups, we shall move in to attract other members of the business community.

Q. How do you see Sierra National Airlines within the next 5-10 years? What is your strategy of development?

A. Ten years is a too long a period. The Chinese will tell you that a thousand miles journey must start with the first step. We are taking one day at a time. For example this is not our building and it is not in consistent with the image we want to portray. It is our intention to be relocated to a more ideal site which will reflective of the country and the airline. That will be our first step in creating the right image which people would hardly miss. Having said that, as the country opens up, people will be far too busy to be traveling by sea cruises, they want to travel in comfort and in less time. Our strategy is to make sure that we take advantage of this and be able to be ahead of the competition. This we should do at competitive prices. Added to that we lease aircrafts now, but we are hoping that with time we will be able to acquire one for ourselves. We are actually looking for an external financier, particularly when it comes to aircraft acquisition. We are also planning to develop and improve on our other operational infrastructures and equipments at the Freetown International Airport, Lungi.

Q. If you have a message for our readers, what would you tell them about your company and your country?

A. Well you know for the last three or so years, we have been able to rise above the ashes of corporate malaise and we can say we are foremost in terms of air travel and transportation. We uplift people into and from Sierra Leone, thereby maintaining the air corridor with the outside world. We have helped to bring the world closer to our people, and making Sierra Leone a home for a number of different communities. We are foremost in catering for the needs of our people and the travelling public. We want to maintain our objective in offering the best at all times.