With theobjective accelerating the implementation of Free Routing Airspace in Africa, AFRAA kicked off the Free Routing Airspace (FRA) trials workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this week.
The FRA project is one of the five LAB Projects of the African Aviation Industry Group African Aviation Sustainability Laboratory to revamp Air Transport in Africa that was held from 27 June to 1 July 2022 at AFRAA Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The FRA implementation aligns with the common strategy of providing efficiency in operations, lowering air navigation fees while reducing flight operating costs and C02 emissions. A total of eight (8) routes will be on trial – five from Ethiopian Airlines and three from Kenya Airways.
In his opening remarks, AFRAA Secretary General, Mr. Abderahmane Berthe stated: “Implementing these trial routes will annually bring significant cost savings to the participating airlines and will support a sustainable future for the African Industry.”
The FRA workshop provides the opportunity to conduct trials along the paths linking various city pairs across different FIRs. The results of the trials will be shared with the AFI FRA Project Management Team and APIRG, which is meeting in the second week of November 2023 in Cotonou, Benin.
Present at the workshop included:
- Daniel Abebe – Ethiopioan Airlines Group VP Strategic Planning & Alliances – representing Mr. Mesfin Bekele, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines,
- Yohannes Abera, Director representing Mr. Getachew Mengiste, Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority,
- Nene Addo and Ms. Chisom Ozoemena, representatives of the Afreximbank,
- Thabani Myeza, Director Africa Affairs CANSO,
- Eric Ntagengerwa, Representative of the African Union Commission,
- Robert Lisinge, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Representative,
- Experts from ASECNA, Civil Aviation Authorities and Air navigation Service Providers, ICAO, IATA, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.
Hosted by Ethiopian Airlines, the FRA trial kickoff workshop preparation was spearheaded by CANSO and AFRAA under the kind sponsorship of Afreximbank.