Iata's millennium programme will tackle Africa and the Middle East last, but in many ways this region is in the greatest in need of help. As with most aspects of aviation safety, Africa and the Middle East present the most challenging problems for Year 2000 project managers. 'The region is small in terms of business [3-4 per cent], but there is a huge job in terms of what has to be done,' says an Iata spokesman.

The difference is 'that the Middle East is more likely to have the money to address Year 2000 problems than Africa', according to Eric Smith, programme manager with Emirates in Dubai. The Emirates programme is being implemented through area and station managers at the various destinations served by the airline. But this can be an uphill struggle in regions like Africa, where many airports are partly controlled by the military and the government often regulates the supply of essential services. 'It is essential that the chief executives of the airlines serving [these airports] use their influence to open doors to the ATC and service providers for the Iata programme,' says Smith.

The Emirates Group co-manages Dubai airport through its Dnata subsidiary, giving it a huge advantage in identifying problems there. As Middle East carriers set their sights on more international business, they have an interest in ensuring their airports are up to scratch.

'The US is a year ahead of us in this area,' says Smith. He believes that progress will always be faster in countries where the legislative framework means that individuals could be personally responsible for millennium shortcomings. 'Elsewhere, bureaucracy will always slow the process down,' he adds.

Africa is, however, quite a different matter. Only three airports in sub-Saharan Africa meet international safety standards - Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Accra - a fact that US Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has been eager to hammer home. In a recent joint declaration, the US, Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe pledged to cooperate to improve regional transportation systems. The drive is part of President Clinton's Safe Skies for Africa Initiative, introduced earlier this year. The US is offering technical assistance, but Slater has stressed that the responsibility for improvements lies with the states themselves.

But the outlook for meeting the millennium bug challenge does not look good. Mohammed Ahmed at the African Airlines Association in Nairobi merely says: 'We have left this to Iata. We don't know what our members are doing about it.'

While Ethiopian Airlines has a designated Y2K task force, its head, Amare Tsadik, did not make himself available for comment. Other carriers have matters they consider more pressing on their minds. Kenya Airways has been grappling with a 40 per cent drop in its share price while Air Afrique has had four of its Airbus A310s seized by creditors. 'There is less awareness of the problem in Africa,' says Smith.

Source: Airline Business