AFRAA Secretary General – Mr. Abderahmane Berthé, discussed insights on fleet growth, safety, airline operations and leadership and talent retention in the African context in a panel session at the Airbus Fleet Connect for Africa taking place from 23 – 25 June 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda. Mr Berthé’s interventions were on the following key areas:
- Fleet Growth: Expectations for aviation in Africa, passenger demand evolution and the African continent’s preparedness for the expected aviation growth.
- Safety & Operations: The biggest hazards/threats to safety for Africa, measures for African aviation to grow without increasing the risk of accidents and best practices to promote safety culture in a way that will work for African operators. He outlined the outcomes and roadmap of the Inaugural African Aviation Safety & Operations Summit by AFRAA and Flight Safety Foundation.
- Talent & Leadership: Strategies on training and retention of skilled aviation personnel as well as expectations for current and future leaders for a sustainable African aviation.
The event provided a forum for sharing of information and best practices between airline operators and aircraft manufacturers – specifically, Airbus. Participants also had a unique opportunity to deliberate on specific regional operation challenges and share with Airbus.