AviaDev Insight Africa

In this episode, Helen Mwamba joins me to discuss the Aviation Week Africa Summit Exhibition and Air Show, taking place 22-26 April in Lusaka, Zambia. Together, we discuss:

• How and why the event was created and what it aims to achieve
• Who the event partners are
• The format of the event
• Some of the speaker and session highlights

Find out more at https://aviationweekafrica.com/

In this episode, I speak to Peter Knights, CEO of Wild Africa Fund. https://wildafricafund.org/ Together, we discuss the organization's mission to popularize conservation across Africa and engage local communities through media and influencers. Takeaways:

• The Wild Africa Fund aims to popularize conservation across Africa and engage local communities through media and influencers.
• Tourism plays a crucial role in wildlife conservation and economic development in Africa.
• Partnerships with airlines and airports allow the fund to create bespoke content that promotes wildlife conservation and tourism.
• The aviation industry can contribute to efforts to combat wildlife trafficking and promote sustainable tourism in Africa.

Follow Wild Africa on Instagram

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In this episode, we hear from George Mothema, head of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (BARSA). The theme of the upcoming summit is: "Moving forward: Embracing accountability for a better future." Together we discussed:

• BARSA's mandate and summit objectives
• Key objectives for BARSA in 2024 - ensuring fuel security, addressing regulatory issues, and supporting the development of aviation infrastructure.
• Key sessions and speakers we will hear from at the event.
• Leadership development and developing a skills pipeline

To find out more about the Summit, please visit: https://barsa.co.za/summit-2/

Welcome to the fifth edition of AviaDev Insight Africa's Connectivity update, a podcast that offers insights into new route developments in Africa.

Hosted by Jon Howell, CEO and Founder of AviaDev Africa, this podcast covers new route developments and expansions in the aviation industry on the African continent.

In this episode, we discuss: Ethiopian Airlines' Summer 24 schedule, which includes new destinations and increased frequencies. They also highlight the airline's focus on connecting Africa to the world, discussing Ethiopian Airlines' expansion plans, including the addition of Warsaw as a potential new destination. FlySafair's new route from Cape Town to Kruger Mpumalanga Cemair becomes the latest airline to serve the growing Johannesburg-Harare route Airlink's new routes, including Bloomfontein-Durban and continued growth in Malawi Qatar Airways changes to their Southern Africa schedule Air Tanzania's new route to Dubai Rumour Mill: Air Cote d'Ivoire's fleet and expansion plans Emirates' potential return to Nigeria Air Peace's potential route to London China Southern's possible flight to Accra. Connect with Sean here Connect with Behramjee here Finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone that you feel would benefit from listening and subscribe to never miss another episode

This episode is something a little bit different and hugely exciting. Those avid listeners know that each month we are now delivering a connectivity update where we summarise and analyse the route changes to, from, and within Africa in the previous month.

Kenya Airways announced some huge changes to the network and to discuss this we are joined by Martin Gitonga, head of network planning and alliances at the airline to discuss the thought process behind the strategy.

I was joined for this interview by Chief Regional troublemaker, Sean Mendis and Behramjee Ghadially, an aviation consultant and Africa specialist.

The podcast is wide-ranging and discusses new routes, codeshares, scheduling, visas, and much more, so fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the episode.

In this episode, Jon and Victo discuss the need for better accessibility and communication for differently able travelers in Africa, as well as the importance of creating uniform global standards.

They also explore the role of airlines and customers in driving change and using technology to improve accessibility.

Victo shares her experiences and highlights the work of the Tunaweza Foundation in supporting people with disabilities. The episode concludes with a discussion on Victo's TED Talk and involvement with the Obama Foundation.

00:00 Introduction 01:19 Discussing African aviation accessibility 06:15 Challenges faced by differently able travelers 13:05 The need for better facilitation by airlines and airports 14:47 Creating uniform global standards 15:44 The role of airlines and customers in driving change 18:10 Using technology to improve accessibility 24:18 Engagement with airlines and the need for follow-up 26:30 The Tunaweza Foundation and its mission 31:54 Victo's TED Talk and involvement with the Obama Foundation 35:16 Closing remarks

Connect with Victo:

https://twitter.com/VictoNalule

https://www.linkedin.com/in/victo-nalule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47UWiWAVgAg

https://tunawezafoundation.org/

https://www.facebook.com/victo.nalule/

https://twitter.com/TunawezaO

https://twitter.com/TunawezaO/status/1726908954784280946/photo/1

https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/news/disability-champion-nalule-to-present-at-hiv-NV_146931

In this episode of AviaDev Insight Africa, host Jon Howell interviews Dr. Namhla Tshetu, the Executive Manager for Corporate Services at Airlink, Africa's largest private carrier.

Together, they discuss Namhla's role in aeropolitical affairs and her aviation journey.

They also touch upon the Airlinkers booklet and The Link program, sharing its successes.

Namhla talks about her recently completed PhD on open skies in Africa and the potential for its realization.

A deep dive into the thorny issue of aeropolitical negotiations and market access conversations, especially in southern Africa.

Airlink's strategy post-SAA partnership and working with CEO Rodger Foster.

Finally, they touch on Airlink's future plans, hinting at consolidation and potential expansion.

Connect with Namhla here

Download the Airlinkers booklet here

Head over to www.AviaDev.com to sign up for event updates.

Finally, as always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't hesitate to subscribe for free to ensure you never miss another episode.

Welcome to the fourth edition of AviaDev Insight Africa's Connectivity update, a podcast that offers insights into new route developments in Africa.

Hosted by Jon Howell, CEO and Founder of AviaDev Africa, this podcast covers new route developments and expansions in the aviation industry on the African continent.

For this month's episode, Jon is joined by two industry analysts, Sean Mendis and Dr. James Pearson, to discuss and analyze these developments.

In this episode, the podcast discusses:

TAAG Angola closing Madrid and moving to a daily Lagos service

SAA's new route from Johannesburg to Perth

Discover's continued expansion in Africa

Malawian increasing its Johannesburg routes

Ethiopian Airlines' daily flights to Toronto and its North American ambitions

Fastjet's reduction in Harare-Johannesburg flights

Air Senegal's strategy shift, including new strategic partnerships

The rumors about Gabon launching a national carrier.

Connect with Sean here

Connect with James here

Subscribe to James' weekly route newsletter here

Finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone that you feel would benefit from listening and subscribe to never miss another episode

This episode was recorded on location in London at the Headquarters of Zero on 30th November 2023.

Zero, https://www.zero.co/ is a pioneer in the field of sustainable aviation fuel and I visited Kwame Bekoe, an industry colleagues and a personal friend, who is serving as the Commercial Director of the business.

Kwame Bekoe has a rich aviation history including working with GECAS, a large international lessor, and before this over 10 years with Airbus.

After completing an MBA with Columbia Business School he embarked on his latest journey with Zero to revolutionise the industry.

In the episode, we discuss:

The mission and origin story of the company and its links to Formula1

Why Kwame chose to join Zero after completing his MBA

How the technology works

Industry partnerships with Boeing and Rolls-Royce

The biggest challenges right now

The size of the opportunity for Africa to lead the charge with new fuels.

The roadmap for the coming years.

You can follow/ connect with Kwame here

This episode was recorded on location in Kampala, Uganda where I attended the 55th African Airlines Association AGA, hosted by our friends at Uganda Airlines,

During the 3 days, I took the opportunity to sit down with Raphael Haddad, President of Jetcraft commercial who spent 18 years working with Bombardier in Africa, Europe and the Middle East bringing the Q400, C-series which became the A220 and also the Crj 1000 to the continent.

He set up Jetcraft commercial in 2015 where he focuses on the global procurement and placement of commercial aircraft, so together we explore the current market trends and opportunities affecting Africa

We discuss:

• Is there a trend towards rightsizing in Africa?
• Is the demand for widebodies waning?
• With interest rates high and finance hard to secure, are there more airlines looking for short term dry/damp/wet leasing arrangements
• The costs of leasing right now
• Will there be consolidation coming to the market?

Jetcraft Commercial are here to help you with your aircraft needs, so please contact the team via the website www.jetcraftcommercial.com

Follow / Connect with Raphael here https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaelhaddad/

If you enjoyed this episode, don't hesitate to subscribe to ensure you never miss another episode.