Aviadev Insight

In this episode, we head to Dakar, Senegal to pay a visit to the Headquarters of The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), a specialist agency of the African Union. AFCAC is the executing agency of SAATM, the Single Africa Air Transport Market, which if successfully implemented could hold the key to a golden age of Aviation development on the continent.  To discuss progress, challenges, and priorities, we are joined by the recipient of the 2021 AviaDev Ato Girma Wake lifetime award for an outstanding contribution to route development in Africa, Madame Adefunke Adeyemi, the Secretary General of AFCAC.  Together, we discuss: The increased visibility and reach of AFCAC through a new communications strategy and appointment of SAATM Ambassadors across the continent 5 months on from the launch of the Pilot Implementation Plan, where do we stand with SAATM progress?  What are the common objections to not joining the PIP and how is AFCAC ensuring these countries are not left behind? Is everything in place to de

In this episode, we explore a solution that is growing in importance in Africa, namely ACMI, an acronym meaning Aircraft Crew Maintenance and Insurance, a form of leasing. Our guest is Dainius Staniulis, the Vice President of Commercial and Business Development at Avion Express, a provider of short and long-term leasing and charter solutions.  In the episode, we discuss: The definition of ACMI and how it differs from the traditional means of operating on the continent.  How big the ACMI market is right now? The prevailing market conditions in Africa that make ACMI particularly appropriate.  Examples where the solution has been deployed successfully on the continent.  Can an airline still make money on this type of operation?  If you are listening and want to know more, read the article accompanying the post here Connect with Dainius on LinkedIn If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you never miss another episode, leave us a review so we can be found by more people and share the episode with someone

This episode is an exclusive interview with Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer of FlySafair, a low-cost airline based in South Africa.  Bookings were opened for a new flight to Zanzibar in the week of 13th March 2023 and in this interview, we set out to understand why now is the right time to launch the route, the traffic profile driving the route, an update on the fleet expansion and which other destinations are on the radar in the Southern African region. You can follow Kirby on LinkedIn here Find out more at https://www.flysafair.co.za/  If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you never miss another episode, share it with someone you think will benefit from listening and we look forward to seeing you for the next episode soon.

In this episode, we preview the upcoming inaugural AviaDev Real Estate event, taking place alongside AviaDev Africa in Nairobi on 14th June 2023.  The podcast provides more background on how real estate development could act as a catalyst for the successful future of many African airports.  Marcel has contributed an article in Airport World, expanding on many of these topics, which you can access here Download the white paper here In the episode, we ask: Just how resilient is real estate and what are the reasons behind this resilience?  How do African airports fit with the airport city concept? Are they large enough? What specific developments can African airports look at as potential real estate development opportunities?  What are the main ingredients to ensure success?  What airports can expect from the AviaDev Real Estate event Let’s discuss the format and what they can expect from the event? Connect with Marcel here Finally, If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you never miss another episode,

This episode was recorded on the sidelines of the ACI Africa event which took place in Kigali, Rwanda between 28th February and 2nd March 2023. I am joined by Adonis Succar is the Director of Business Development for MEA at SITA. SITA is the world's leading specialist in air transport communications and information technology and has many customers on the African continent.  In the podcast, we discuss: Passenger preferences.  Are we all looking for a more contactless, digitally enabled journey?  How can an airport deliver innovation and contactless solutions without huge costs?  What are the tangible benefits to digitizing? How do smaller airports future-proof themselves?  How do we plan for and cater for the increased proportion of older travellers? What opportunities and challenges does this offer?   Finally, what does the journey of the future look like? How far are we away from not needing our physical passports in order to travel?  Download the IT insights report here Connect with Adonis here If you enjo

For this episode, you find me on location in the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda. AviaDev’s relationship with Rwanda and RwandAir goes back to 2016 when AviaDev was born in Kigali. My guest today is the CEO of RwandAir, Yvonne Manzi Makolo who took the reins of the airline in 2018. Yvonne comes from a telecommunications background rather than aviation, although she’s now firmly immersed in our community and the airline continues to develop with new routes, new aircraft, and a renewed focus on cargo operations. In this podcast we discuss: ✈️ would Yvonne consider herself an #avgeek ? ✈️ what’s the current network strategy? ✈️ what’s driving the new focus on cargo business with the arrival of a Boeing 737-800 freighter? ✈️ the latest on the partnership/ strategic investment from Qatar ✈️ Yvonne’s priorities as she becomes the first African and first female to chair the board of governors ✈️ The impact of the Arsenal F.C sponsorship from Visit Rwanda on traffic and awareness ⚽️ Is Yvonne an Arsenal fan?  If you

In this episode, we speak to George Mothema, the CEO of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa or BARSA, who are a valuable partner for AviaDev and represent the interests of domestic, regional and international airlines serving South Africa to government and other stakeholders in the airline industry.   In podcast 229, we briefly discussed the idea of an upcoming BARSA event. This is now a reality and in this episode we preview the event, which will take place at the wonderful Century City Convention Centre in Cape Town on 10th March. You find out more here https://barsa.co.za/summit/ Follow BARSA on LinkedIn here https://www.linkedin.com/company/board-of-airline-representatives-of-south-africa/  Don’t forget, AviaDev takes place in Nairobi Kenya between 14th and 16th June 2023. To find out more, please visit www.aviationdevelop.com  If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you never miss another episode, share it with someone you think will benefit from listening and we look forward to

In this episode, AviaDev Africa shares an exclusive interview that was hosted, produced and published by AeroTime. In the interview, AeroTime Journalist and Africa correspondent Michael Jonga sat down in the AeroTime Studio with the Honourable Minister of Aviation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Hadi Abubakar Sirika. key topics include:

In the first episode of 2023, I am joined by 2 guests from Embraer Commercial Aviation, namely Stephane Hannemann, the VP of sales and marketing for The Middle East and Africa, who started his Embraer in the African market and has come full circle, and Akie Chabra, sales director, who joined the team in 2022, is based in Johannesburg and has a background in aviation and finance. Embraer boasts many customers on the African continent and continues to add new operators. In this episode, we discuss the following: How did the region perform and how did Embraer perform in 2022? What are airline executives in Africa focused on in 2023 and is there a greater need for rightsizing than ever before? The dominant trends for 2023 New projects at Embraer Southern Africa focus. How will the market develop in 2023 and beyond To connect with Stephan Hannemann, click here To connect with Akie Chhabra, click here  Find out more about AviaDev Africa here  If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so y

For today’s episode, you find me on location in Istanbul. Back in 2019, we announced that AviaDev would be taking place on the treasure island of Madagascar in 2020 and we started working on the plans for the event. Little did we know that in March 2020, everyone’s lives would be turned upside down. The Ravinala Airports team has just announced a really innovative and proactive route incentive program for new routes to Antananarivo and Nosy Be airports.  In the podcast, we discuss: The role and remit of Ravinala Airports The objectives of the route incentive program Why now is the right time  What routes qualify for support and what is the support on offer? How is the program being financed? The top routes that could and perhaps should be served as a result of this scheme?   If you are an airline that is interested in finding out more, you can connect with Tatam and receive the full document here: https://ravinala-airports.aero/en/ravinala-airports/offre/  You can connect with Tatamo here: https://www.linke

For today's episode, we take a flight to the home of AviaDev Africa 2023, Nairobi, Kenya to meet Martin Gitonga, Head of Network Planning and Alliances at Kenya Airways, an airline that plays a vital role in keeping Africa connected to itself and the wider world. In the last month, there have been some exciting new route announcements from the airline. These include a four-weekly flight from Mombasa to Dubai and a twice-weekly Accra- Dakar flight. In this podcast, we discuss: How 2022 has performed from KQ's perspective Why now is the right time to launch Accra/ Dakar The type of traffic is driving the demand? How KQ see the recent progress with SAATM The reasons behind launching Mombasa to Dubai on 15th December.  The other routes/ destinations KQ are considering increasing flights to and how interested partners can attract the attention of KQ? The impact AviaDev Africa being hosted in Kenya will deliver for KQ and Kenya generally? You can follow/connect with Martin on LinkedIn here

In this episode, we head back to Cape Town, the host city of AviaDev Africa 2022 to meet David King, Project Manager and Paul van den Brink, Aviation Liaison, from Cape Town Air Access team powered by WESGRO who have overseen a pretty incredible recovery of connectivity since the effects of the pandemic subsided earlier this year. In this episode, we take a look at the domestic, regional and international recovery and get a feel for what’s missing from the network. We also discuss the importance of air cargo in route development and how the Air Access team is supporting other African destinations in their drive to improve their air connectivity. CONNECT WITH PAUL CONNECT WITH DAVID

In this episode, we are joined by the CEO of TAAG Angola Airlines. TAAG is one of the most interesting airline stories out there currently as it is reinventing itself, expanding its fleet and network and restructuring itself ready for private investment. The man charged with leading this transformation is Eduardo Fairen Soria, an experienced pilot and airline executive who has been involved in numerous airline ventures around the globe. In this session, we meet the man himself, understand the vision and mission of the airline and focus on the new routes being launched which including 2 never served by TAAG before, namely Durban and Accra. We discuss: Eduardo's philosophy when it comes to airline management? Eduardo's mandate for the airline and what are the timelines? Why now is the right time to launch Durban and Accra? Where next within Africa? What do you look and need for in terms of approach from an airport/destination working to attract TAAG? The fleet plans. TAAG have ordered 6 A220s for the airline wh

Between 11th and 13th December, AFRAA (African Airlines Association) will host the 54th Annual General Assembly in Dakar, Senegal.  In this podcast,  Maureen joins me to preview the event and provide an outline of what AFRAA’s current priorities are for its members. Together we discuss:

This podcast was recorded on 7th November 2022 during World Travel Market in London.  Joining Jon Howell was Bronwen Auret, Chief Quality Assurance Officer at South African Tourism. SAT has been a long-term partner of AviaDev Africa and is one of the tourism authorities in Africa that really understand the value and impact of airlift on their success. Together we discussed:

This podcast was recorded on location during the 52nd AASA AGA in Hermanus, South Africa.  We meet George Mothema, the CEO of BARSA to discuss: George's background and the progress made in his first 12 months at the helm How BARSA views the recovery so far? What else needs to be done to ensure a sustained recovery? What are the current objectives of BARSA? George's first live BARSA conference coming in 2023. What it aims to achieve and who will be in attendance You can follow BARSA on LinkedIn here If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe so you never miss another episode, share it with someone you think will benefit from listening and we look forward to seeing you for the next episode soon

This episode is a special joint episode recorded on location at the stunning Kruger Shalati, train on the bridge.  I was joined by Kojo Bentum Williams, CEO of VoyagesAfriq travel media and host of the VA Tourism Podcast, which you can find here Together we took the opportunity to discuss the symbiotic relationship between aviation and tourism and why there is still a disconnect.  Together we discussed: