NO SURVIVOR IN ILL –FATED AIR ALGERIA AS MAGHREB NATION MOURNS

NO SURVIVOR IN ILL –FATED AIR ALGERIA AS MAGHREB NATION MOURNS

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

Air Algeria has insisted that there was no survivor in the crashed aircraft that killed over all the 118 passengers on board among which includes an unidentified Nigerian.

 In an exclusive investigation by Paedia Express in Lagos, a female voice during a phone conversation told this reporter that any inquiry on the sensitive subject should be referred to the airlines website.

According to her every information needed by the media and the entire global community especially the nations with national on board the aircraft should go to the website of the company for further details.

The full identity of those that are involved in the plane crash have not been disclosed though there countries of origin is widely known with a Nigerian believed to be on board.

The website of  Air Algeria still shows the mark of the mournful mood of the North African nation as at press time.

Over a week ago,An Air Algeria flight flying from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed amidst very bad weather somewhere in Northern Mali  but terrorism is not been ruled out either
 The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight that crashed early Thursday has been found in the northern Mali desert as at press time , officials in Burkina Faso, where the plane took off, said on state-owned RTB television.

No survivors were found, according to Burkina Faso Gen. Gilbert Diendere.

Flight 5017 was carrying at least 116 people when it departed for Algeria. It disappeared from radar after diverting from its planned course due to bad weather, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters.

At least 50 of the passengers aboard the MD-83 were French. Mali will lead the investigation into the crash.

French forces, including two fighter jets, helped search for the aircraft, along with Algerian and U.N. personnel in the region, Fabius said.

Radar contact with the crew was lost 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at 1:47 a.m. Thursday, Fabius said. The aircraft was supposed to arrive at Algiers' Houari Boumediene Airport. Mali lies between Burkina Faso and Algeria.

The plane was carrying 110 passengers and six crew members, Air Algerie sales manager Zoheir Houaoui told reporters.

Among the passengers, he said, were 50 people from France; 24 from Burkina Faso; eight Lebanese; six Algerians; five Canadians; four Germans; two from Luxembourg; one from Mali; one Cameroonian; one Belgian; one Ukrainian; one Romanian; one Swiss; one Nigerian; and one Egyptian.

The plane's six crew members were Spanish, Houaoui said. The plane belongs to a private Spanish company, Swiftair, but it appears to have been operated by Air Algerie.

AIR ALGERIE  is  a  Joint - Stock  Company  with  a  registered  capital  of  43,000,000,000  Algerian Dinars (DA).

AIR ALGERIE  is  firmly  working  to  meet  modern  challenges. 

In  2009, AIR ALGERIE  made  a  turnover  of  58.1  billion  Algerian  Dinars (DA)  with  an  increase  of   seven  per  cent  (7%)  compared  to  2008,  and  a  four
(04)  billion  Algerian  Dinars  (DA)  net  profit.  The  company  carries  annually  about  3.54  million  passengers (on  the  scheduled  flights:  Hadj  and  Omra).   

AIR ALGERIE  has  today  a  fleet  of  fourty  (40)  aircraft.  Thirty - nine (39)  of  them  are  operated  for  passengers  carriage  and  one (01) for  cargo.  Between  seventeen  (17)  years  old  in  2003  and   seven  (07)  years  old  at  the  end  of  2010,  AIR  ALGERIE’s  passengers  fleet  is  one  of  the  youngest.

The  development  process  is  still  in  progress.  After  achieving  the  new  Maintenance  Base  and  modernizing  its  fleet,  AIR  ALGERIE  started  to   modernize  its  management  means  and  information  systems, and  to  upgrade  its  activities  in  order  to  meet  the  market  challenges.

AIR ALGERIE  has  today  a  number  of  strong  advantages  to  improve  its  market  competitiveness, to  ensure  its  profitability  and  to  preserve  its  financial  health.

A  HEALTHY  FINANCIAL  POSITION  THAT  SHOWS:   

• Profitable  net  results  on  the  last  ten  (10) financial  years;
• Financial  forecasts  presented  on  the  loans  repayments  term (2004 – 2011) showing  well – balanced  net  results;
• AIR ALGERIE’s  ability  to  repay  the  taken  up  loans  at  maturity  dates;
• A  strong  registered  capital  raised  from  2.5  billion  DA  in  2001  to  43 billion  DA  in  2007.  The  successive  registered  capital  increases  were  made  by  incorporation  of  the  company’s  reserves;
• A  net  surplus  of  cash flow.  Loans’  repayment  at  maturity  date  didn’t  create  a  cash  flow  shortage;

AIR ALGERIA CRASH SITE IN NORTHERN MALI

The representative of the Burkinabe victims' relatives prays in front of debris of the Air Algerie Flight AH 5017 during a visit to the crash site in Mali's Gossi region, west of Gao, on July 26, 2014 (AFP Photo/Sia Kambou )