ATR 72-500 gets certifica-tion to operate in Canada

4

AFRAA TIACA sign a Memorandum of Under-standing

5

Boeing, flydubai sign histor-ic deal for 225 737 MAX Airplanes

5

Pricing Optimization –

The next chapter of Total

Revenue Optimization

6

Airbus A350-1000 receives

EASA and FAA Type

Certification

6

A F R I C A N A I R L I N E S A S S O C I A T I O N

A S S O C I A T I O N D E S C O M P A G N I E S A E R I E N N E S A F R I C A I N E S

Inside this Issue:

2017 Composition of the

AFRAA Executive Com-

mittee

2

Appointment of officers 2

Appointment of new

Secretary General 2

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing

787-9 made its debut flight

to Beijing

3

EgyptAir selects LEAP-1A

engine for new A320neos 3

Bombardier signs Letter

of intent with EgyptAir for

up to 24 CS300 aircraft

4

Air Tanzania expecting

C300s in late 2018 4

Volume 9, Issue 11

November 2017 Issue

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Aviation leaders conclude AFRAA 49th Annual General Assembly in Rwanda

AFRAA BULLETIN

T he African Airlines Association

concluded its 49th Annual Gen-

eral Assembly and Summit in

Kigali, Republic of Rwanda at

the Kigali Convention Centre, with a call

for African Governments and stakeholders

to enable airlines to improve intra-Africa

connectivity by unlocking the barriers to

connectivity. The 23 States that have

signed up for the full implementation

of the Yamoussoukro Decision to-

wards the Single African Air

Transport market were urged to fol-

low through on their commitment in

order to stimulate the development of

inter-African air transport and the

realization of aviation‟s economic

and social benefits. The Assembly

also called upon States with blocked

funds to release airline sales reve-

nues for airlines to do business

effectively.

The three-day conference which

was convened under the high pat-

ronage of the Government of the

Republic of Rwanda was officially

opened by Rt. Honourable Edouard

Ngirente, the Prime Minister of

Rwanda on behalf of His Excellen-

cy Paul Kagame, the President of

the Republic of Rwanda. The event

was held under the theme

―Rethinking strategies for airline

profitability in Africa‖ and was

attended by over 450 high profile

delegates from 52 countries across

the world.

Opening the 49th AGA and Sum-

mit, the Right Honourable Ngirente

highlighted the importance accorded

to aviation by the Government of

Rwanda as an enabler of economic

transformation. He cited the Govern-

ment‟s initiatives such as the new

Bugesera International Airport project

and the support to RwandAir‟s fleet

and route expansion plans. In order for

the aviation industry in Africa to catch

up with the rest of the world, he called

upon African Governments and airlines

to harmonize their operations including

airport taxes, improve and expand the

aviation infrastructure and train the

required personnel.

He further urged States to facilitate the

movement of people across borders by

providing visas at the port of entry for

those requiring them and called upon

countries yet to sign the Yamoussoukro

Decision to do so as a matter of urgen-

cy. “Let us all strive to work together to

continue promoting the African avia-

tion sector for the better future of the

entire African continent,” he said.

Col. Chance Ndagano, Ag. CEO of

RwandAir and President of AFRAA

paid tribute to the Government of

Rwanda‟s support that has seen the

country achieve huge strides in avia-

tion and economic development.

Commenting on the theme of the

AGA, which was timely with the

current state of the industry, Col Nda-

gano welcomed aviation leaders at-

tending the Assembly to seek ideas

towards lasting solutions to the peren-

nial challenges that have led to the

loss of market share and poor finan-

cial performance.

He highlighted to the Assembly

RwandAir‟s achievements that had

been realized as testimony to the

Government‟s commitment to the

development of aviation. “Through

the Government‟s support, RwandAir

is making a positive contribution to

the region‟s aviation industry,” he

said.

Dr. Elijah Chingosho, AFRAA

Secretary General in his welcome

remarks commended the Govern-

ment of Rwanda for facilitating the

development of the country as a

preferred business and tourist desti-

nation and for supporting the coun-

try‟s national carrier, RwandAir. He

acknowledged the strides made in

the aviation industry in Africa on

safety standards, liberalization and

removal of non-physical barriers to

movement of people and goods and

called upon stakeholders to increase

the momentum to foster increased

intra-Africa trade, integration and

socio-economic development.

Among various challenges faced by

airlines, Dr. Chingosho highlighted

the issue of blocked funds and high

industry costs that needed to be

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Volume 9, Issue 11 Page 3 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S

T he Assembly recognized two companies and one individual

for their remarkable perfor-mance and contribution to

aviation industry. Ethiopian Airlines

was crowned Airline of the year for

exceptional financial performance in 2016, exemplary strategic cooperation

with regional airlines and extensive intra-African network development.

The Government of Rwanda received the Service Provider of the Year Award for outstanding services and initiatives

that have given a major boost to avia-

tion, trade and tourism in Africa while the Airport Company of South Africa

(ACSA) received the Service Provider of the Year Award for significant

reduction in airport charges in South Africa which is facilitating the devel-opment of African airlines. The awards

were conferred at a colourful gala

dinner at the Serena Kigali Hotel.

Continued from page 1 steering committee. He is the holder

of a Private Pilot License which he

obtained in 1985 for Single Engine

Aircrafts.

Host of AFRAA 50th AGA

Royal Air Maroc was elected by the

49th Assembly as President of

AFRAA and host of the 50th AGA in

the Kingdom of Morocco, from 25 –

27 November in 2018. As a prelude

to what delegates should expect next

year, a short video on some of the

facilities and attractions that will be

sampled during the AGA was

played by a representative of Royal

Air Maroc.

elected to represent the West/Central

Region, while Mr. Joseph Makonise,

Ag. CEO of Air Zimbabwe was elected

to represent the Southern Africa region.

The three members will serve for a

term of 3 years each up to the close of

the 52nd AGA.

Appointment of new

Secretary General The Assembly confirmed the appoint-

ment Mr. Abderahmane Berthé as the

new Secretary General of AFRAA.

With a total of 28 years‟ experience in

airline industry, of which 16 years as

an airline CEO, Mr. Berthé has built

his career in various airlines and multi-

cultural environment both in Europe

and Africa at positions such as aircraft

performance and dispatch engineering,

maintenance and operations quality,

ground operations and Chief Executive

Officer.

Mr. Berthé has been active in many

associations including: the European

Regional Airlines Association (ERA)

operations committee, AFRAA Execu-

tive Committee and ECOWAS airlines

AFRAA Awards

addressed. “There is need for a policy

shift from governments treating air

transport as a preserve for the rich but

rather as a means of mass transport and

major contributor to economic and

social development of African coun-

tries,” he said.

Aviation leaders at the Assembly dis-

cussed various challenges facing Afri-

can aviation and made resolutions on

key focus areas.

Appointment of officers

The 49th AFRAA AGA elected Mr.

Safwat Musallam, Group Chairman of

EgyptAir Group, as Chairman of the

Executive Committee. Col. Chance

Ndagano, Ag. CEO of RwandAir was

elected as the First Vice Chairman of

the Executive Committee while Mr.

Sebastian Mikosz, CEO of Kenya Air-

ways, was elected as 2nd Vice Chair-

man of the Executive Committee. The

AFRAA Executive Committee has

oversight responsibility for the Associ-

ation and crafts policy as well as over-

seeing implementation of projects and

programmes by the Secretariat.

The Assembly also elected three new

members to replace those whose term

of office on the Executive Committee

expired at the close of the 49th AGA.

Mr. Ilyes Mnakbi, CEO of Tunisair,

was elected to represent the Northern

Africa Region, Mr. Desiré Balazire

Bantu, CEO of Congo Airways, was

2017 Composition of the AFRAA Executive Committee

Mr. Abdelhamid

Addou

CEO, Royal Air Maroc

AFRAA President

Chairman & CEO

EgyptAir Holding Co.

Chairman of AFRAA Executive Committee

Col Chance Ndagano CEO, RwandAir

1st Vice Chairman

Mr. Sebastian Mikosz

CEO, Kenya Airways

2nd Vice Chairman

Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam

CEO, Ethiopian Airlines

Mr. Ernest Dikoum

CEO, Camair-Co

Capt Blaise Sanou

CEO, Air Burkina

Mr. Ilyes Mnakbi Chairman & CEO

Tunisair

Mr. Vuyani Jarani

CEO, South African

Airways

Mr. Joseph Makonise

CEO, Air Zimbabwe

Mr. Desire Balazire Bantu

CEO, Congo Airways

A ir Mauritius operated its first flight to Geneva in November

2017. MK048 departed from SSR International Airport at

09H20 mornings and landed in Geneva at 17H50 local time. This marks the start of

seasonal operations to Geneva initially scheduled for part of the „IATA Northern Winter‟ period. The flights will be operat-ed by the airbus A340-300.

Somas Appavou, CEO of Air Mauritius said: “We are pleased to note the excellent response of the market to the resumption of operations to Geneva. We believe that

it will contribute to boost tourist arrivals from Switzerland. The addition of another

non-stop destination to our network fol-lows the start of joint operations to Am-

sterdam with our airline partner KLM last month. Non-stop long haul operations

Issued by the African Airlines Association

have traditionally been our strength to secure competitive leverage and we are

currently exploring other similar opportu-

nities to expand our network.” Air Mauritius‟ main hub in Europe is

Paris from where it offers code-share flights to nearly 40 destinations in Eu-rope, with partner Air France. It is now developing Amsterdam as a second hub

in Europe to offer additional travel op-tions, for instance, to Nordic countries. Source: Air Mauritius

Volume 9, Issue 11 Page 2 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S

CFM International said: “EgyptAir‟s

continued confidence in CFM products

and services is highly gratifying. We

look forward to working closing with

them to introduce the new LEAP en-

gine into their fleet.”

In another development, Boeing,

AerCap announce EgyptAir as newest

787 Dreamliner operator. EgyptAir is

leasing the airplanes from Dublin-based

AerCap, the world's largest 787 cus-

tomer with more than 115 787s owned or on order.

Mr. Musallam said: “The 787 Dream-

liner has built a reputation for reliabil-

ity, operational efficiency and passen-

ger comfort. We look forward to the

787 becoming an integral part of

EGYPTAIR's fleet as we progress

our modernization and network

expansion plans.”

Source: Boeing/CFM

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-9 made its debut flight to Beijing

EgyptAir selects LEAP-1A engine for new A320neos

Air Mauritius starts oper-ations to Geneva

E thiopian Airlines announced that its first B-787-9 aircraft named after the Chinese capi-tal city Beijing, has made its

maiden commercial flight to Beijing. Ethiopian is among the veteran carriers that started serving the People's Repub-lic of China back in the early 1970‟s, which has translated into a flourishing commercial and bilateral cooperation between the continent of Africa and China. Currently Ethiopian operates 30 weekly scheduled flights through its five gateways in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Chengdu. Ethiopian is supporting China‟s Belt and Road Initiative with its extensive and convenient network of passenger and cargo connectivity in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe. In another development, Ethiopian Air-lines and Boeing announced an order for four Boeing 777 Freighters in a deal

valued at more than $1.3 billion at list prices. The deal includes a new order for two freighters. It also includes two freight-ers the airline announced as a commit-ment in June that finalized into a firm order and posted on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website this month. Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, who signed for the new airplanes at the 2017 Dubai Airshow said: “This airplane order will provide Ethiopian's Cargo & Logistics business with enhanced cargo capacity and better operating economics as we continue to build one of the largest cargo terminals in the world. Operating high-performance airplanes such as the 777 Freighter is a reflection of our commitment to expand and support the growing imports and exports of our country and the African continent."

With nearly 100 airplanes in opera-tion, Ethiopian flies one of the largest and youngest fleets in Africa, includ-ing Boeing 737s, 757s, 767s, 777s, and 787s. This order pushes 777 net orders this year to 57 – 37 of them for the current-generation 777 airplane – providing further support to a smooth production transition to the new 777X. Source: Ethiopian Airlines

Photo: Airbus

Photo: EgyptAir

Photo: Boeing

E gyptAir announced that it will

lease 15 new Airbus A320neo

aircraft powered by CFM

International‟s LEAP-1A en-

gine from AerCap. The airline is sched-

uled to begin taking delivery soon.

Mr. Safwat Musallam, Chairman & CEO

of EgyptAir said: “We have been im-

pressed with everything we have seen

about the LEAP engine in service. The

performance and very high utilization

rates CFM has achieved will be very

important to our operations. These new aircraft are a key element in our fleet

modernization strategy and we know we

can count on CFM to ensure that the

introduction will be a smooth one.”

Gaël Méheust, President and CEO of

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Volume 9, Issue 11 Page 3 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S

W irecard is expanding its collaboration with euro-

trade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH, a subsid-

iary of Flughafen München GmbH, in point-of-sale (POS) payment processing

in order to offer WeChat Pay at the Munich airport. As a wholly owned retail subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH, eurotrade

operates some 70 shops at Munich's airport. The premium brand portfolio is also targeted towards Chinese custom-

ers. This target group is increasingly gaining in importance. To cater to their

needs, eurotrade will now become the first supplier in Germany to accept WeChat Pay after successfully integrat-ing Alipay into its till systems in July

2016. Christian Reindl, Executive Vice Presi-dent Sales Consumer Goods at Wire-

card, adds: “As one of the first WeChat Pay partners for POS acceptance in Europe, we are proud to be expanding

our collaboration with eurotrade Flu-ghafen München Handels-GmbH.

Thanks to our flexible payment plat-form, we have been able to achieve this quickly and easily.” Source: Wire-card

Air Sénégal orders two A330neo aircraft

Bombardier signs Letter of intent with EgyptAir for up to 24 CS300 aircraft

Photo: Airbus

Air Tanzania expecting C300s in late 2018

A ir Sénégal signed a Memo-

randum of Understanding

(MoU) for two A330neo aircraft. The A330neo will

benefit the airline‟s growth and business expansion in the future. The agreement

makes Air Sénégal the first airline in Africa to select the A330neo. The agreement was announced during a

signing ceremony at the Dubai Airshow in the presence of Maimouna Ndoye Seck, Minister of Air transport and Development of Airport Infrastructure,

Senegal. Air Senegal will launch opera-tions in 2018, the airline plans to use the A330neo to develop its medium and long-haul network with the aircraft

offering cutting-edge technology along

with more efficient operations.

Philippe Bohn, CEO Air Sénégal said

“Aviation is a catalyst for economic development and this purchase demon-strates Senegal‟s ambitions for econom-ic growth in line with the country‟s

strategy to accelerate progress towards emergence (Plan Emerging Senegal). The A330neo has proven itself to be the right aircraft, combining low operating

costs, long range flying capability and high levels of comfort. We are looking forward to launch operations and offer our customers best-in-class service”

„‟We are very pleased to welcome Air Sénégal among our A330neo custom-ers. The A330neo offers the latest in

fuel saving technologies combined with

best-in-class comfort, reliability and

operational efficiency. The A330 is

the ideal choice for Air Sénégal to

build its network and become West Africa‟s fastest growing airline,‟‟ said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Air-

craft. Source: Airbus

A TR announced that the ATR 72-500 aircraft received its certification from Transport Canada, the Canadian air-

worthiness authority. This will enable Canadian airlines to operate ATR 72-500s either in passenger or cargo configu-ration. Alessandro Amendola, Senior Vice Presi-dent Engineering at ATR said: “Obtaining this certification will allow us to expand the operational scope of our family of aircraft. Once again, ATRs have proven that they are the perfect match for challenging markets, such as Canada, where their ability to fly in extreme cold, icy weather conditions, take off and land on unpaved and short runways, and their unrivalled performance are invaluable.” The ATR 72-500 will bring further op-portunities for passengers as well as cargo air services. he Canadian operator First Air has al-ready been operating the 50-seater ver-sion of the same series – the ATR 42-500 – for the past years, in the North of Cana-da. Source: ATR

Photo: Bombardier

Air Seychelles thrills 254 school children with full aircraft experience

A group of 254 children were given the full Air Seychelles

experience today as part of a fun-filled educational tour of

the airline‟s jet aircraft at Seychelles International Airport.

Hailing from La Misère, Glacis, English River and Les Mamelles elementary schools, the children visited Air Sey-chelles to learn more about the world of

aviation for a transportation project on their curriculum. After arriving at the airport, the kids were taken on a guided tour of an Air-

bus A320 by Air Seychelles Line Maintenance Manager Darrel Woodruff,

following which they boarded its larger cousin, the A330, where they had a

chance to experience the inflight prod-ucts and services of Air Seychelles. Mr. Roy Kinnear, CEO of Air Sey-

chelles, said: “It was a pleasure welcom-ing children from across Seychelles on a special tour of our aircraft today. As the national airline, we take immense pride

in making a meaningful difference to the lives of our youth, especially as part of an educational programme. We would also like to thank our close partner, the

Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, for supporting this school visit.”

The children were also provided with

Air Seychelles gift bags at the end of their tour to take home as a souvenir of the day out. Source: Air Seychelles

Photo: Air Seychelles

Fred Cromer said: “We‟re thrilled that EgyptAir selected the CS300 aircraft to renew its fleet. Bom-bardier‟s 20-year market outlook foresees demand for 450 airplanes in the 60- to 150-seat category for the region and this LOI confirms the need for right-sized aircraft in the Middle East. We are confident that our small single-aisle C Series is ideally-suited to serve the hot temperature environ-ments of the region and will undoubt-edly provide performance and eco-nomics that will drive higher profita-bility.” Source: Bombardier

Sherif Fathi, a press conference was held at the Dubai Airshow where Safwat Musallam, Chairman and CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company and Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Com-mercial Aircraft celebrated the signature of the letter of intent, which opens a new chapter in the relationship between the two companies. Mr. Musallam said: “It is our pleasure to have this new partnership with Bom-bardier, which came as a continuation of our fleet modernization strategy. We undertook a thorough evaluation process of our fleet and realized that the CS300 would fit perfectly into our business plans and growth strategy”.

B ombardier Commercial Air-craft announced from the Dubai Airshow that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI)

for up to 24 CS300 aircraft with EgyptAir Holding Company. This in-cludes 12 CS300 aircraft with purchase rights for an additional 12 aircraft. Based on the list price of the CS300 airliner, a firm-order contract would be valued at approximately $1.1 billion US. Should EgyptAir also exercise the 12 purchase rights for CS300 aircraft, the contract value would increase to nearly $2.2 billion US. In the presence of His Excellency Min-ister of Civil Aviation of Egypt Mr.

Thanks to Wirecard, Munich Airport will be Germany's first WeChat Pay provider

ATR 72-500 gets certifica-tion to operate in Canada

A ir Tanzania will take delivery of its first Bombardier and Boeing equipment during the second and early third quarters

of next year. Government spokesman H Abassi told The Citizen newspaper the state owned carrier would add its two CS300s in June next year with its single B787-8 due a month later. The aircraft, which will be leased from TGF - Tanzanian Govern-ment Flight, will be used to develop Tanzania's regional as well as long-haul network with focus on the UK and Asia. To address a lack of domestic connectivi-ty, Air Tanzania has acquired three Dash 8-400s, the third of which will be deliv-ered in the near future. At present, Air Tanzania uses its two Q400s, as well as a Dash 8-300, on flights covering Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar, Kili-manjaro, Kigoma, Dodoma, Songea, Mtwara, Mwanza, Bukoba, and Mbeya domestically and Moroni Int'l, in the Comoros, regionally. Source: Ch-Aviation/ angelfire.com

R olls-Royce celebrated the entry into service of its Trent 1000 TEN engine. The engine is designed to power all variants

of the Dreamliner family, including the new 787-10. The engine incorporates new technologies to deliver increased thrust and improved efficiency for the aircraft. Earlier this year the Trent 1000 engine celebrated a hat trick of firsts when it powered the first flight of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, having powered the first flights of the 787-8 and the 787-9. More recently the Trent 1000 TEN powered an 18-hour test flight during which a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner test flight drew a giant outline of the plane across the United States. The Trent 1000 TEN is one of three Rolls-Royce engines to have achieved a first flight in the past 12 months. Commenting on the milestone, Chris Young, Rolls-Royce, Director - Pro-grammes, said: “We are very proud to see the Trent 1000 TEN enter into service on the 787 Dreamliner. The Trent 1000 TEN offers important improvements to our customers and we would like to congratu-late those customers who will be operating it from today.” Source: Rolls – Royce

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Volume 9, Issue 11 Page 4 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S

E mbraer and American Airlines

Inc. signed a firm order for ten

E175 jets. American Airlines

is exercising its purchase

rights from its original contract with

Embraer signed in 2013. This new order

is in addition to the one placed in April

for four aircraft; is valued at USD 457

million, based on current list prices, and

will be included in Embraer‟s fourth-

quarter backlog. Deliveries begin in

2018 and continue through mid-2019.

Combined with the airline‟s two previ-ous orders for the E175, this new con-

tract results in a total of 74 E175s for

American Airlines.

Charlie Hillis, Vice President, Sales &

Marketing, North America, Embraer

Commercial Aviation said: “Because of

its excellent operational performance,

the E175 has proven to be the right

solution for American. This repeat

order demonstrates the confidence that

the airline has in Embraer and in the

E175. We are proud to be part of Amer-

ican Airlines Inc.‟s overall fleet vision

and are dedicated to serving their busi-

ness needs.”

Including this new contract, Embraer has sold more than 390 E175 jets to

airlines in North America since January

2013, earning more than 80% of all

orders in the 76-seat jet segment.

Since entering revenue service, the E-

Jets family has received more than

1,800 orders and over 1,300 aircraft

have been delivered. Today, E-Jets

are flying in the fleet of 70 customers

in 50 countries. The versatile 70 to

150-seat family is flying with low-

cost airlines as well as with regional

and mainline carriers. Source: Em-

braer

AFRAA TIACA sign a Memorandum of Understanding Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN enters service

T he African Airlines Associa-

tion (AFRAA) and the Interna-

tional Air Cargo Association (TIACA) signed a Memoran-

dum of Understanding (MoU) on 13th November 2017 to work closely on

development of air cargo for the benefit of their mutual members and the indus-try at large. The MoU was singed at the side-lines of the just-concluded AFRAA

49th Annual General Assembly & Sum-mit that took place at the Kigali Conven-tion Centre in Rwanda.

According to Dr. Elijah Chingosho, “AFRAA is constantly seeking ways to create more value to its members, and in doing so we are very excited to deepen

the cooperation with TIACA, to tap into their expertise and knowhow on air cargo. With the financial and economic performance of African airlines being

currently below global standards, AFRAA believes it can build on our mutual experience and expertise with TIACA to benefit both organisations and

help change the fortunes of African carriers. We expect synergies to emerge among our organisations.” Under the MoU, the two Associations

will work to improve air cargo safety and security, as well as champion indus-try‟s adoption of digitization, and offer new training initiatives with the aim to

support the rapidly developing air cargo sector in Africa. “This is a landmark

agreement that allows TIACA to offer

its expertise to the much larger group of

airlines in Africa,” said Vladimir

Zubkov, Secretary General, TIACA. Other areas of cooperation include advocating for improved market access across the continent, the modernization

of air cargo facilities and services, and promoting environmental best practice, as well as working together on future events.

Dr Elijah Chingosho, AFRAA Secre-tary General hailed the MoU stating: “It is indeed important that the oft-neglected cargo sector receives the

attention it deserves at AFRAA forums and conferences.” Mr. Zubkov was upbeat about the

MoU stating: “TIACA stands to benefit

from better connection with the conti-

nent, which is the fastest developing

in air cargo movement. We are happy to offer assistance from TIACA in structuring the air cargo part of the future AFRAA agenda.”

The memorandum was signed by Mr. Vladimir Zubkov, TIACA Secretary General and Dr Elijah Chingosho,

AFRAA Secretary General. Others present at the signing ceremony in-clude: Mr. Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO Astral Aviation, Dr Koussai Mrabet

AFRAA‟s Director Commercial Corporate & industry Affairs and incoming AFRAA Secretary General, Mr. Abderahmane Berthé.

Pratt & Whitney successful-ly tests Next-Generation Pure Power® Geared Tur-bofan™ technology as part of FAA sustainability pro-gram B

oeing and flydubai signed a landmark agreement for 225

737 MAX airplanes with a list price value of $27 billion. The

deal represents the largest-ever single-aisle jet order – by number of airplanes

and total value – from a Middle East carrier. Signed at the 2017 Dubai Airshow the

agreement includes a commitment for 175 MAX airplanes, and purchase rights

for 50 additional MAXs. When final-ized, the purchase promises to sustain

tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Boeing's U.S. factories and net-work of suppliers.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President & CEO Kevin McAllister said: “We are extremely honored that flydubai has selected to be an all-Boeing operator for

many years to come. This record-breaking agreement builds on our strong

partnership with flydubai and the other leading carriers of this region.

With flydubai's proven business model and ambitious growth plans, we look forward to hundreds of flydubai 737 MAXs connecting

Dubai with the rest of the world.” Source: Boeing

Embraer and American Airlines sign a contract for Ten E175s

Boeing, flydubai sign historic deal for 225 737 MAX Airplanes

P ratt & Whitney recently com-pleted more than 175 hours of

ground testing of a next-generation Geared Turbofan

(GTF) engine propulsor technology as part of the Federal Aviation Administra-

tion's (FAA) Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program, an FAA NextGen initiative to accelerate the development of environmentally-

friendly aircraft technologies. The full-scale test, conducted in West Palm Beach, Fla., marks 10 years since Pratt & Whit-ney first successfully demonstrated the

GTF, a revolutionary new engine that delivers 16 percent better fuel efficiency, 50 percent lower nitrogen oxide emissions to the regulatory standard and a 75 per-

cent smaller noise footprint. Source: Pratt & Whitney

Issued by the African Airlines Association

Volume 9, Issue 11 Page 4 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S Pricing Optimization – The next chapter of Total Revenue Optimization

T he airline industry is under

constant pressure to increase

revenue. Today, if airlines truly want to achieve total

revenue optimization (TRO) and get a truly comprehensive, 360-degree view of

all revenue streams, they must look beyond revenue management alone. Pricing is one area of focus that offers

vast potential to airlines looking to grow revenue and stand out in today‟s crowd-ed marketplace. Ultimately, if airlines engage in their pricing strategies to help

them tell their story, they can increase customer satisfaction, discover unique points of differentiation and achieve total revenue optimization.

Consider the pricing problem airlines

face today: If an airline wants to serve a

new destination, cater to a special event,

or grow an existing market, where does it start? How does it determine fares for the various trip options across different markets, travel dates, products and

points of sale? Equally important, how will it constantly monitor existing fares and determine how they are perform-ing?

To address these questions, many air-lines control their prices by monitoring the competition and conducting ad hoc

analyses. They also use manual process-es, which are prone to human error and don‟t always provide the necessary data to make effective pricing decisions.

Moreover, manual processes don‟t

always take customer segmentation

and their willingness to pay into con-

sideration. The only way to improve an airline‟s gross margins is to make pricing man-agement a strategic priority. Airlines

need end-to-end pricing decision support capabilities to stay ahead of their top competitors. An innovative, unique set of high-end pricing capabil-

ities that will prove to be an industry game changer is on the horizon. Click here to learn more about how airlines should approach pricing opti-

mization. Source: Sabre

A ir Senegal SA has become the latest airline in Africa to

introduce SITA‟s passenger services system (PSS) to

manage every aspect of their operation – from reservations and pricing to ticket-

ing and departure control. The airline is one of a growing number of carriers on the continent that have

turned to SITA to provide technology solutions to better manage their passen-ger operations. Already 15 airlines and ground handlers in Africa use SITA‟s

Horizon® Passenger Management and Distribution solution while 100 airlines and ground handlers around the globe

Air Senegal becomes the newest airline to use SITA’s Horizon®

F ollowing an intensive flight test campaign performed in less than a year, the A350-1000 received Type Certification from the

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Admi-nistration (FAA). The certified aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. Fabrice Brégier, Airbus COO and Presi-dent Commercial Aircraft said “Receiving the A350-1000 Type Certifi-cation from EASA and FAA less than one year after its first flight is an incre-dible achievement for Airbus and for all

our partners who have been instrumental in building and testing this superb widebody aircraft. The A350-1000 bene-fits from the maturity of its successful brother, the A350-900, which has tran-slated into excellent right-on-time per-formance. We now look forward to deliver the first aircraft to Qatar Airways by the end of the year.” The Type certification is a requirement for the aircraft to enter commercial ser-vice. This milestone comes after an intensive flight test trials that have taken its airframe and systems beyond their design limits to ensure the aircraft suc-

cessfully meets all airworthiness criteria. The three A350-1000 flight test aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce engines successfully accumulated over 1,600 flight hours. Of these 150 flight test hours were completed with the same aircraft in an airline like operational environment to demons-trate its readiness for entry into ser-vice. Source: Airbus

experience on the continent, together with the real business value offered

by Horizon, has placed us in an ideal position to support both the conti-nent‟s emerging and established airlines, using a passenger manage-

ment platform that can accommodate airlines of any size, fleet or operating model.” Source: SITA

have used it to board more than 123 million passengers and check in 158

million travelers each year. Air Senegal, the west African country‟s new national airline, has turned to SITA

to provide a full suite of services – in-cluding reservations, ticketing, airfare distribution and departure control – that will support the launch of the airline‟s

first flights later this year. Hani El-Assaad, SITA President, Middle East, India & Africa, said: “The air

transport industry in Africa is emerging as a major growth market in terms of passenger growth. Our presence and

GE Aviation and United En-gine Corporation sign MOU to explore turboprop busi-ness opportunities in Russia

G E Aviation and United Engine Corporation signed a Memo-randum of Understanding to explore turboprop engine busi-

ness opportunities, as well as identify areas of synergy for growing a turboprop portfolio in the Russian market. The signing took place today during the Czech and Russian Presidential meetings in the presence of Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Miloš Zeman, President of Czech Republic. With its large, remote areas and high demand for domestic connectivity, the Russian territory - is a good environment for turboprop aircraft. Turboprops can operate out of small landing fields and operators can benefit with considerable cost savings due to lower fuel consump-tion on shorter flights. Michele D`Ercole, President & Managing Executive of GE Aviation's Business & General Aviation Turboprops said: “The reliable, robust and easy-maintenance design of GE H-Series engines target the most severe environments and remote areas of Russia, e.g. Siberia, Far East. With a strong turboprop technology foot-print and localized turboprop services in Russia, GE turboprops address market needs, serving customers all across the vast Russian territory in commuter & business regional transport, utility and training aircrafts.” Source: GE Aviation

Airbus A350-1000 receives EASA and FAA Type Certification

Iconic island airport looks to the future with Amadeus

A nticipating an increase in the number of travellers, Velana, the main international airport in the Maldives, has now

successfully deployed Amadeus‟ airport management solutions. Through this partnership, Amadeus has recently deployed Amadeus Airport Operational Database (AODB), to host, manage, and disseminate complex flight-related information. Amadeus AODB provides complete visibility of flight schedules up to 365 days ahead to accu-rately forecast passenger and baggage demand. Velana has also implemented

Amadeus Airport Fixed Resource Man-agement Solution (RMS) which allows the airport to determine the best re-source allocation against its flight schedule. Sarah Samuel, Head of Airport IT Sales, Amadeus Asia Pacific, said, “As we grow our customer base in Asia Pacific, it is key that we are able to service any type or size of airport, any-where in the region. Our scalable tech-nology fits perfectly with Velana‟s plans for future growth without the need for big future investments. This has been an exciting project for us as

we have adapted our offer to meet and exceed the needs of our customer. We are proud of the trust that Velana International has placed in us to deliv-er this market-leading solution.” Amadeus is currently working with the airport to implement more airport management solutions throughout its journey of digital transformation. Source: Amadeus

FLYHT Signs USD $2.1 Mil-lion sales contract with Azur Aviation

F LYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd. announced the sale of its Auto-mated Flight Information Report-ing System (AFIRSTM) and

FLYHTLogTM services to Azur Havacil-ik A.S (Azur Aviation). The value of FLYHT‟s agreement with Azur Aviation is USD $2.1 million, as-suming the Company provides hardware over the full term of the five (5) year contract. Additional subscription data services may be added in the future, fur-ther increasing the value of the sales contract. FLYHT has all of the necessary Supplemental Type Certificates (STC‟s) to complete installation on Azur Avia-tion‟s fleet of B767, B737 and B757 aircraft. Installations are anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2018. Source: FLYHT

T he Cathay Pacific Group and CFM International have final-

ized an order for the advanced LEAP-1A engine to power the

Group‟s 32 new Airbus A321neo aircraft. The engine order is valued at nearly US$1

billion at list price, with delivery sched-uled from 2020.

Volume 9, Issue 8 Page 6 AF R I C A N A I R LI N E S

Issued by the African Airlines Association

The AFRAA Bulletin is monthly publication by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA). Send articles or enquiries to: mkahonge@afraa.org

About AFRAA AFRAA, is a trade organization of Airlines from the member states of the African Union (AU) whose aim is to foster commercial and technical cooperation for airlines and represent their common interest. Founded in Accra, Ghana in April, 1968, and currently headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the Association members represent 83% of total intercontinental traffic carried by African Airlines. For more information, visit: www.afraa.org

NokScoot expands global distribution with Hahn Air Group

H ahn Air Group announced

that NokScoot has imple-

mented Hahn Air Systems‟

H1-Air product, which

means that the Thai-based carrier will

be available for HR-169 ticketing in all

major GDSs worldwide under the

reservation code H1. Earlier in 2017,

the airline signed an HR-169 interline

agreement with Hahn Air, making

NokScoot available under its own XW

code in the Abacus/Sabre, Amadeus

and Travelsky GDSs. Source: Hahn Air

AFRAA’s Director Commercial Corporate & Industry Affairs meet with Lufthansa Systems Representatives to discuss on AFRAA—Lufthansa partnership

Cathay Pacific places $1.0 billion CFM LEAP-1A engine order

From left Mr. Michael Weghorst - VP MEA, Lufthansa Systems, Dr. Koussai Mrabet AFRAA Director Commercial Corporate & Industry Affairs and

Mr. Peter Lauer - Director Sales Middle East & Africa, Lufthansa Systems