In this episode, we welcome back a previous guest, Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair, a low-cost South African airline that is about to embark on a regional expansion launching new routes to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique.

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flydubai adds Mombasa and outlines ambitious African growth plans, with Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, flydubai

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This episode is the first of a new format that focuses on sub-Saharan African air route development, with a specific focus on routes that are due to start or cease in the next quarter. We also have a rumour mill section focusing on those routes that could be on the horizon. My guest for this podcast is aviation consultant, analyst and commentator, Sean Mendis, who brings over 20 years of experience in the industry, including stints managing airports, commercial airlines, and also cargo airlines in Africa and the Middle East.

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In just over 2 weeks, the African aviation industry will convene in Nairobi, Kenya for AviaDev Africa. We have a panel dedicated to discussing new technologies at the event. Post Covid, digitisation is one of the hottest topics in the industry and one of the companies blazing a trail in this space is Technodyn International, which already support a multitude of companies across the aviation value chain.

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In this episode, we meet the leader of a true African success story. Since its inception in 2006, DPO Pay has played a vital role in changing the payments landscape across Africa. Together, we discover how DPO supports its airline customers to process transactions seamlessly and prevent fraud, whilst simplifying the process for the general public and making air travel more accessible.

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This podcast was recorded 10th May on-site at the AFRAA aviation stakeholders convention in Addis Ababa, where I was joined by Rodger Whittle, The commercial director for Africa at Kiu, a company with a global footprint that offers an innovative and robust Passenger Service system and suite of airline Solutions. Rodger himself has vast African aviation experience and is now leading the charge to support airlines to reduce their cost of distribution. Today’s episode is supported by an article that is featured in the current edition African skies, AFRAA’s magazine which focuses on containing costs affecting airline distribution in Africa.

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For this episode, I am joined by Kevin Markette, General Manager, East Africa at the Lufthansa Group. On 2nd May 2023, the group announced a capacity/ schedule increase for Lufthansa, Eurowings Discover, and Brussels airlines in the region. Together, we discuss what has driven this announcement and what this means for the region.

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Our Host partners for the event are the Kenya Airports Authority, an autonomous body charged with the responsibility of managing all airports across Kenya. They are also the entity that is actively involved in route development, the main focus of AviaDev, namely engaging the airlines to start or expand their services to Kenya’s airports. In this episode, I am joined by Jacob Bwana, Head of Marketing and Business Development at KAA and together we discuss: The post-covid recovery and resurgence. Where KAA sees gaps in the destinations served both within Africa and outside the continent How KAA works with other stakeholders to attract and retain airlines? The Cargo market opportunity. Is the market softening or continuing to grow and how is KAA supporting its development? An update on infrastructural development plans within the portfolio? What KAA hopes to achieve from hosting AviaDev Africa in Nairobi?

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In this episode, we take a glimpse into the future of how we may travel and how airports and airlines can incorporate innovation to build resilience into their businesses. I am joined by Javed Malik, Chair of the Advisory Board at Ink Innovation. Javed has been a leader in the aviation industry for over 27 years, having held various Group and C-level positions, including Group COO of AirAsia, COO of Bangalore Airport, along with senior roles at Qatar Airways, Worldwide Flight Services and British Airways.

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In this episode of the podcast, we dive deep into the current priorities of Ethiopian Airlines, the hosts of the upcoming 11th AFRAA Aviation Stakeholders Convention, scheduled to take place 7-9th May in Addis Ababa with Ato Mesfin Tasew Bekele, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines and Mr Abderahmane Berthe, SG, AFRAA

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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.

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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 Together, we discuss: The increased visibility and reach of AFCAC through a new communications strategy and the 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 deal with any disputes that may arise during implementation? Why the immediate focus is on growing the number of 5th freedom routes across the continent.

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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?

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We speak to Adonis Succar, Director of Business Development, MEA at SITA about: 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?

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In this episode, we head down to the gateway to the world's most famous game reserve, the Kruger National Park in South Africa to speak with Grant Ponting, the CEO of Kruger Mpumulanga International airport.

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This is a live session recording from the 1st July at AviaDev Africa 2022. The topic was "Diversifying African airport revenue to build resilience"

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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.

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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.

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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.

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For this 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.

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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.

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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.

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Between 11th and 13th December, AFRAA (African Airlines Association) will host the 54th Annual General Assembly in Dakar, Senegal. Maureen Kahonge joins me to discuss the event

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In this episode, we head to west Africa, specifically Togo to speak with a friend of AviaDev, Nowel Ngala.

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We meet George Mothema, the CEO of BARSA.

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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.

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The Safair fleet continues to expand and the airline recently secured the right to serve 11 regional destinations.

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Kojo Bentum Williams, CEO of VoyagesAfriq travel media and host of the VA Tourism Podcast, discusses the symbiotic relationship between aviation and tourism.

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