Q. Could you
present the company and the progress achieved
the last two years?
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.
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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.
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