Monday, November 18, 2024
The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has outlined its priorities for the next five years during its annual general assembly in Cairo, where CEOs from its 45 member carriers convened to shape the future of African aviation.
The event, held from November 17-19, marks the beginning of AFRAA’s strategic planning for 2026-2030.
AFRAA Secretary General Abderahmane Berthe highlighted safety as the association’s top priority, following eight runway excursions reported in Africa between January and May 2024.
These incidents were primarily attributed to unstabilized approaches, adverse weather conditions, and crosswinds.
To address these issues, AFRAA has introduced initiatives such as a Safety and Operations Summit, which debuted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2024.
The summit will continue in 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, featuring workshops on best practices, enhanced simulator training, and the establishment of runway safety teams across the continent.
Another key focus is intra-African connectivity and route development, an area that has long been a challenge for the region’s carriers.
“We have been talking about it for many years, and still African airlines are not really cooperating very well to improve connectivity,” said Berthe.
To advance network development, AFRAA plans to launch an updated version of its Route Intelligence Portal during the Cairo assembly.
Initially introduced in 2022, the portal aims to help airlines analyze their networks and identify potential new routes, as well as opportunities for collaboration through interline agreements or codeshares.
“The objective of the route intelligence portal is to allow airlines to look at their network, and the potential new routes they can develop, along with the market that is there.
Or, in cooperation with other airlines, in interline or code share. This, for us, is very important,” Berthe explained.
AFRAA’s initiatives underscore its commitment to improving safety standards and fostering greater cooperation among African airlines to enhance connectivity across the continent, laying a strong foundation for the future of African aviation.
