Kenya does NOT like Blackwater/Erik Prince aviation activity

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Stratofreighter
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Kenya does NOT like Blackwater/Erik Prince aviation activity

Post by Stratofreighter »

Blackwater, or Xe, or Academi.
Yes, them lot at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi
even though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Prince
is not it's CEO any more...

He currently leads Frontier Resource Group, and that Group has become active in Eastern Africa.

http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/ ... iation-asl
06NOV2014

Kijipwa Aviation has had its Air Services Licence (ASL) revoked by the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

The aviation and logistics provider had sought to renew its ASL allowing it to offer non-scheduled passenger and freight within/out flights from its Kijipwa base using Cessna (single turboprop) 172 aircraft.
Kijipwa is a Kenyan bush airstrip located on the grounds of Bamburi Cement in the Mombasa area.

According to Business Daily Africa, the KCAA declined to renew the carrier's licence over queries concerning its shareholding.

Frontier Service Group Ltd, run by former US Navy Seal and co-founder of the Blackwater security and mercenary firm,
Erik Prince, acquired a 49% stake in Kijipwa Aviation in 2013.

Frontier had planned to invest KSH7.5billion (USD85million) in acquiring 25 aircraft to be based out of Kijipwa’s airstrip.
The aircraft would have been used to provide specialised aviation services as well as aerial surveys of installations such as oil pipelines to players in the country's blossoming petroleum sector.

Concerns have also been raised about Frontier's other Kenyan interest,
Phoenix Aviation (Kenya) (Nairobi Wilson), which it plans to use for chartered passenger and cargo flights to China.
Also see
https://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/20 ... -aviation/
No Blackwater shenanigans in Kenya’

appears to be the message sent out by Kenya’s Civil Aviation Authority when news emerged that Kijipwa Aviation Limited,
a locally incorporated airline with a base at their own airfield in Kilifi county, Kenya coast,
was denied the renewal of their air service license,
effectively grounding them.

Blackwater founder Erik Prince, through the Hong Kong based FSG company where his is now serving as Chairman of the Board, had acquired a 49 percent stake in Kijipwa earlier this year, surprising pundits and aviation observers what purpose
such an acquisition could have,
considering the location and size of the airline,
and yet appears to have paid for the share in what appears way over market price.

This was then followed by the acquisition of Phoenix Aviation which is based at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport,
first again a 49 percent minority share before reportedly taking over the company altogether in an outright buyout.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corp ... index.html
...and also see the Washington Post's rather recent
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/chec ... in-africa/ .
November 2024 update at FokkerNews.nl....
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