As we enter the third season of the pandemic, it feels like we have more questions than answers. That’s especially true for travelers.

There was hope that the vaccine rollout would mean worry-free jet-setting and reopened international borders, but the omicron variant disrupted those plans, with cases hitting record highs. Now that COVID-19 case numbers are falling again, there’s a positive outlook on the future.

In fact, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and a member of the Healthy Sail Panel, told travel agents during a conference call at the invitation of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings that COVID-19 is quickly approaching “an endemic phase where this becomes a persistent issue, but an issue that fades into the background of our daily lives.”

Experts agree that COVID-19 will forever be part of our ecosystem, although the public health crisis will wane. Again, this leaves us with new, unanswered questions.

“I believe that as [COVID-19] becomes endemic, travel will return to something that feels more normal, but not all the way,” Dr. Brad Bowman, chief medical officer at Healthgrades (which is owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) told TPG.

“Because [COVID-19] is so much more than seasonal influenza, some protective and transmission measures will likely continue to be recommended.”

So, what does that mean long-term for travel as the pandemic morphs into an endemic? Here’s what the experts say.

Proof of vaccination or additional symptom questionnaires could become the norm

Right now, if you want to travel abroad, many countries require proof of vaccination.

After all, we saw the news of tennis star Novak Djokovic getting deported from Australia due to his vaccination status. However, countries like the U.S. don’t require proof when flying domestically.

Some destinations, such as India and the European Union, have created a digital platform that links your vaccination status with your travel information. This is meant to not only make it easier to fly but also help “ensure that restrictions currently in place can be lifted in a coordinated manner.”

That statement suggests there could be a time when vaccination status won’t matter.

Even if that doesn’t come to fruition and proof of vaccination remains a requirement for entry, travelers shouldn’t be that surprised. Currently, multiple vaccinations for everything from yellow fever to malaria are required to travel to certain parts of Africa. So, a world with a COVID-19 vaccine requirement is not that different from the one that existed before the pandemic.

What remains to be seen is if it will vary based on destination, a belief held by Dr. Pia MacDonald, senior director of applied public health research at RTI International. While MacDonald says it’s unlikely domestic travel will require proof of vaccination, she suspects that international travel would differ significantly.

“Lower- and middle-income countries that don’t have those excellent tracking systems or easy access to vaccinations could still have a vaccination mandate to protect their populations,” she said.

Bowman agreed, adding, “It’s not hard to imagine that safety itself could emerge as a premium class (i.e., vaccine passport class). Airlines will likely follow health care’s lead and adopt similar employee requirements.”

For travelers, it could morph into something where “symptom questionnaires could be added to the boarding and check-in process” instead of a vaccine mandate, according to Bowman.

Testing mandates could be seasonal or go away altogether

If you’ve traveled internationally at any point in the last couple of years, you know that COVID-19 testing is part of the process. As new variants have emerged, these requirements have shifted and changed over time, with the latest guidance for entry into the U.S. being a test taken within a day of arrival.

While studies have shown that testing helps reduce the rate of transmission, it will ultimately become “voluntary but strongly encouraged, especially in flight and in common areas,” according to Bowman.

MacDonald notes, however, that there will be a noticeable difference between domestic and international travel. Domestically, she believes a testing mandate is not likely. But, for travel abroad, she expects it to remain in place, though it could morph into something that greatly differs from the current testing requirement.

“The endemic phase is going to include this emergence of variants that are more or less dangerous,” MacDonald said, “so, there will be an ebb and flow of change that we will have to get used to in the same way we have for influenza.”

That means we could be required to test during certain times of the year when COVID-19 spikes, similar to the flu.

Or, testing could take on an entirely new meaning.

Instead of relying on COVID-19 tests, countries could lean more on biometric screening and other illness symptom tracking methods. We see this now in places like China, where your temperature is automatically taken when you enter the country.

“As a global travel community, we’ve built out more infrastructure for testing and monitoring,” MacDonald said. “More of that is likely to come to screen for [COVID-19], future variants and new viruses.”

Masks could remain a part of air travel, whether they’re mandated or not

Mask-wearing has become a point of contention in the U.S., though it’s been the norm in other regions like Asia long before the pandemic.

Right now, masks are required on airlines, but it’s clear many people are eager to see that mandate lifted.

As we move into the endemic phase, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease expert for the White House, foresees mask-wearing as the norm on planes.

“It is conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks to diminish the likelihood that you’ll spread these respiratory-borne diseases,” he said.

Likewise, Bowman believes “a significant number of staff and passengers will choose to wear masks,” though she does not think it will be mandated in the future.

Others, like MacDonald, envision a future that’s more like the testing mandate, where masks will be required at particular times of the year, with guidance varying by country. There’s the possibility it could eventually become permanently mandated, though that would likely take a long time.

“Look at smoking on planes,” MacDonald said. “That changed over time where certain countries still allowed it and others didn’t until it was permanently banned. Masking will also change over time, especially as travelers become more and more used to it.”

Bottom line

While there is still so much up in the air about the future of COVID-19, it’s likely to continue affecting travel, even after the pandemic transitions into an endemic. Pandemic travel requirements such as masks and symptom screenings are probably here to stay, though they may look different from current measures.

Much like other communicable diseases before it, COVID-19 may never completely go away. Only time will tell just how much measures to combat it will remain a part of our travels.

Source: The Points Guy

Q&A with Lydie Charpin, vice president, customer solutions, corporations, Amadeus

The concept of New distribution capability (NDC) was introduced eight years ago yet development and implementation has been slow. Amadeus’ Lydie Charpin explains why 2022 could see significant steps forward and why IATA changed the way it measures progress.

BTN Europe: How would you describe industry progress on NDC to date? Many would say it’s been a slow journey so far.
Lydie Charpin: It’s been eight years since IATA outlined a vision for the distribution ecosystem. Yes, it does feel like the industry has taken quite some time to put the NDC groundwork in place and, for some time, it appeared that the NDC vision would prove difficult to turn into reality due to the complexity of standardisation and commercial considerations impacting so many different actors. But significant progress has been made in the past years with an increasing number of actors in the whole distribution chain having started their NDC journey.

BTNE: How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected progress?
LC: Despite Covid-19, I’m optimistic that 2022 will be seen as a pivotal year for NDC. We are currently working with more than 30 airlines on the IT side and 17 more to distribute their NDC content through the Amadeus Travel Platform, including IAG, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Etihad. Meanwhile, more than 3,500 travel agencies across 57 markets can book this NDC content through our solutions. Our goal is to make NDC-sourced content available to all Amadeus travel sellers globally in the coming months.

BTNE: Explain why the need for NDC is now particularly pressing?
LC: Modern consumers have the same expectations of travel companies as they do of brands such as Amazon, Netflix and Spotify. As an industry, we must improve how we deliver products across all channels and be more responsive to today’s digital consumers. NDC offers new possibilities for the retailing of travel services that better meet these needs. The potential for NDC – together with IATA’s ONE Order initiative – to help airlines and travel companies conceive, retail and deliver end-to-end services more efficiently is an exciting prospect. The future promises a greatly improved traveller experience for the creation of additional value, driven by further industry-wide collaboration. In September, we published a report on NDC containing insights from airlines, corporations and travel sellers. This was designed to shed light on where we are today as an industry in terms of NDC readiness, the barriers that still exist to reach full industrialisation, and show what can be done to accelerate the journey to modern retailing.

BTNE: Why did IATA recently change the way it was measuring progress on NDC implementation?
LC: IATA recently updated the way it measures progress in the adoption of the NDC and ONE Order standards under the Airline Retailing Maturity index (ARMi), for which Amadeus recently was registered both as an airline and travel seller provider. ARMi is the first official industry index that measures the progress in air travel retailing and is structured around three key pillars: capabilities verification, partnership deployment, and a value capture compass.

Ultimately, as an industry, we need to strive towards richer, more tailored, and more relevant travel offers to speed up recovery. We have so far seen some initial successes selling ancillaries and bundles through NDC, but the ability to sell more personalised offers remains mostly untapped. We see this index as a positive development that can accelerate the transition towards this goal.

Amadeus is committed to innovation, cutting edge technology and leadership on NDC and retailing, and being dually registered in the index is another proof point that we are headed in the right direction. We sit at the centre of the travel industry and continue to drive collaboration among all industry players.

Transitioning from the classic and transaction-oriented way of working to a retail-oriented, next-generation environment based on NDC and ONE Order is a sophisticated process that will require a change in mindset and way of working from both airlines and travel sellers. Working together, we can rebuild travel to be bigger and better than ever before and to deliver more value across the whole industry.

BTNE: How is NDC enhancing personalisation?
LC: Corporations can work more closely with airlines to design bespoke offers that cater to their employees – such as special packages for senior managers. This would mean employees don’t have to book and expense such services separately. For example, we spoke to Neil Geurin, managing director of digital customer experience and distribution strategy at American Airlines, who believes NDC delivers what travellers want, more simply. In the aforementioned report, he said: “We know corporate travellers tend to need wifi, and that pretty much every company is happy to fund it. The corporation also likely wins if its senior managers have speedy boarding and a premium cabin seat so they can be more productive. With NDC our corporate customers will be able to work with us to help define their experience with American.”

In practice, NDC makes it easier to provide additional information to corporate travellers: telling them how many frequent flyer points they would earn by booking certain flights, for instance. Such a message can be a powerful driver to comply with travel policy and could mean the corporation unlocks perks like free WiFi or lounge access. Furthermore, personalisation could extend to offering tall passengers a seat with extra legroom or special meals to those who need them. Such tailored offers can be based on travellers’ preferences, historical and real-time data, or the context.

What’s more, this kind of content can be integrated in the same search and booking flow as before via desktop or mobile. This means travellers can conveniently find NDC content, alongside non-NDC content, view and book seats and ancillaries while maintaining the same approval flow.

TMCs, meanwhile, need to help corporations meet their duty of care towards employees, now more than ever, and are experimenting with NDC to access timely data that transfers from booking systems into downstream systems so they can locate every traveller at any moment.

BTNE: How is NDC going to really get off the ground?
LC: While early adopters have seen some initial success with NDC, real acceleration will only happen once we collectively broaden the appeal of NDC. And to do this, collaboration and experimentation are fundamental. Only with mass adoption will we be able to accurately address performance, scalability, and capability requirements. What’s certain is the future of business travel will require greater flexibility, agility and innovation – NDC is forming a core part of this journey as business travel recovers.

Source: BTN Europe

As the aviation industry restarts after over a year of passenger downturn, the IATA Travel Pass is becoming a crucial initiative in this next chapter. Airlines across the globe have been introducing the mobile app to help travelers store and manage their details during the pandemic, but how does the tool actually work?

A new climate

Governments worldwide have implemented a series of stringent travel restrictions since the rise of the global health crisis last year. The conditions grounded fleets and forced millions to stay where they are, effectively preventing them from seeing their loved ones or traveling for work for months on end.

These restrictions have been slowly relaxing. However, there are still several requirements in place to ensure that passengers move safely amid the current situation. With borders opening up, the spread of the virus needs to be controlled. Therefore, requirements such as testing and vaccinations have to be met in order to fly.

Meeting requirements

To help with the recording of this information, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) introduced its Travel Pass. Airlines initially began testing the app for loading COVID test details and related information. However, trials began expanding the utilization to include vaccination records. Following successful testing, governments have been gaining the confidence to accept the app’s usage for all their passengers.

Notably, recently, IATA announced that it integrated the acceptance of digital vaccine certifications issued by the European Union and the United Kingdom into the app. Therefore, it is now smoother for travelers to prove their vaccination status when flying.

Overall, the platform is an effective way to prove test results and vaccination status than paper processes. Authorities can verify documentation authenticity and the identity of individuals with the pass. Ultimately, travelers benefit by having their core post-COVID travel details in one place.

The core features

There are four primary modules to the IATA Travel Pass:

1. Registry of health requirements -This segment allows travelers to find information on travel, testing, and vaccine requirements.
2. Registry of testing and vaccination centers – Here, passengers can locate centers and labs at their departure and/or arrival locations.
3. Lab app – The feature allows authorized test centers or labs to securely send vaccination certificates or test results to travelers.
4. Travel Pass app – The app gives passengers the opportunity to:
5. Create a “digital passport.”
6. Verify their vaccination and/or test.
7. Share their vaccination or test result through integration into passenger management systems.

Importantly, Travel Pass does not store any data centrally. It solely links entities that require verification with the test or vaccination data when passengers allow it. Altogether, the airline customer has to give the go-ahead to verify. If the traveler opts to do so, the data is sent from their mobile device directly to an airline or government.

The right support

To enhance the digital health pass, IATA is working closely with Raytheon Technologies subsidiary Collins Aerospace. The company is using its wide-ranging presence in the aviation industry to help make integration with Travel Pass streamlined.

As a leader in high-integrity solutions, Collins Aerospace highlights that by using a carrier’s host systems connections to seamlessly send passenger itinerary data to the Travel Pass app. Using the firm’s TransAction Service, this process enables itineraries to be matched against destination conditions and coronavirus health results to determine if a passenger is “OK to travel.” Crucially, the same connections can then be used to update the carrier’s host system with that status.

With this managed service, the ongoing support and maintenance of the integrations are covered by Collins Aerospace. So, the connection process can continue to be relied upon as the challenges of the aviation industry continue to evolve.

IATA notes that Collins’ tool assists operators to catalyze the app’s adoption amid the ease of integration. Ultimately, while the world continues to navigate the impact of the pandemic, additional support from the likes of Collins will go a long way.

“More than half of the world’s borders have some kind of travel restriction in place, but we see the deployment of vaccinations and testing measures as positive steps toward restoring international airline travel,” shares Jennifer Schopfer, president of Connected Aviation Solutions. “With the use of Collins Aerospace’s technology, Travel Pass will enable the secure flow of information to ensure that passengers know the health requirements for their journey, and for airlines to confirm those requirements have been met.”

Looking ahead

Over 60 carriers have registered to use IATA’s Travel Pass. More and more people are returning to the air as borders slowly open in numerous key regions. For air travel to keep going in the right direction, carriers and the broader market need to show that the new governmental conditions can be handled effectively. So, the Travel Pass will hold a vital position in the next stage and beyond.

Airlines and passengers alike would dread another dark age of travel as we saw over the last one and a half years. Altogether, initiatives such as the IATA Travel Pass will prove valuable in the mission to continue safe and efficient operations.

Source: Simple Flying

Shifts towards new market policies, airline behavior, operations models and governance are clearly pointing towards a consolidated African aviation sector. Accelerated by the onset of the pandemic, what were once loose discussions around the formation of mutual pan-African airline ties are now taking shape.

While conversation centered on establishing a single African airline or airline group have been taking place for some time, it’s only now that action is being seen and new partnerships are leading the way. The Yamoussoukro Decision, a document dating back to November 1999, was set in motion to liberalize African air services, which have operated under multilateral agreements set on a country-by-country basis. 

This has limited free movement of trade goods and air services across the continent. The implementation of policies such as the Single African Air Transport market (SAATM) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), pick up where former efforts left off. This liberalization has alleviated restrictions on airspace, lessened tariffs and red tape, and potentially led to an increase in passenger volumes. 

Today, industry and airline executives agree that airline partnerships and mutual cooperation are prerequisites for emerging from the pandemic downturn with a stronger and better-connected African market that competes on an international level.

The African sector has responded with an increased urgency to augment infrastructure and personnel training. This also includes expanding the continent’s regional connectivity by adapting and modernizing its fleets to allow passengers wider access to more destinations through regional airports. 

A key motivator in this focus on regional operations is the projected population growth rate on the continent. Over the past 30 years, the African population has doubled, reaching 1.2 billion in 2015 compared to 550 million in 1985. By 2050, the population is expected to double again on the back of a growing middle class and projections of 26 African countries doubling their current population. 

Improved regulations are expected to enable greater air service efficiencies for the continent’s short to medium–haul fleets, which include regional aircraft types from manufacturers such as such as the Bombardier (Dash 8, CRJ900), Embraer (ERJ 145,190, E2), Boeing (737) and Airbus (A320). 

An efficient intra-African route network is within reach for the African market and consolidation seems to be tied to the narrative of unlocking air travel in the sector.

Regional partnerships taking form

At the 51st Annual General Assembly, which was held virtually in late October 2021, airline executives pushed forward the idea of unionizing resources and capacities as a solution to combat the sector’s fragmentation, stagnant regulations and excessive fuel costs. Alongside a fragmented airspace, other agitators of the continent’s fuel costs include minimal aviation fuel production/manufacturing on the continent, and an inadequate road network and road infrastructure. This poses a challenge to the efficiency of fuel deliveries, which are operated by trucks that utilize regional road networks. 

Price competition on the continent is also a concern as airlines group to unionize the sector. However, the sector’s leaders suggest that the benefits would far outweigh the risks.

Thomas Kgokolo, the CEO of South African Airways, believes that airline subsidies may hold more benefits over capital injections, as the sector addresses low connectivity on the continent.

“Resource pooling could, therefore, help to stimulate the market, but of course one has to be careful of competition boundaries,” stated Kgokolo during a panel discussion at the AGA. 

In the industry, there is an emphasis on reforming African carriers’ approaches in order to stimulate recovery in the market and step away from working in isolated bubbles.

Kgokolo added: “The post-pandemic recovery in Africa in terms of air traffic requires bold decisions. Our biggest challenge [in the region] is that we are now much more fragmented due to the impact of the pandemic and working in silos.” 

During the latter part of 2021, we have seen airlines position themselves to increase their operational capabilities and move to what seems to be economies of scale. 

Unfolding in the form of non-exclusive partnerships, this could give airlines significant negotiating power and operational capabilities.

Today, South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airlines (KQ) have forged a partnership that will bring forward a pan-African airline in 2023 after signing a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in November 2021. A partnership of this scale gives both airlines the benefits of increased finances and the operational expertise.

In the year 2020, KQ lost $333 million dollars, while SAA lost $341 million dollars. Despite the losses, both carriers are in the midst of a major restructuring. According to reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Kenyan government will withdraw its interest in nationalizing KQ and guarantee $750 million to pay off the carrier’s debts as part of the restructuring, which is expected to cost up to $1 billion. Similarly, as part of the restructuring of SAA, the South African government committed to provide $729 million in state aid to the country’s flag carrier to help it pay off its debts.

The partnership between the airlines increases stability and positions the carriers to further connect passenger volumes between East and Southern Africa and broaden the destination choices available to their passengers at competitive prices.

And the benefits do not stop at passenger flights. The partnership will also enhance trade on the continent.

With the AfCFTA in place, goods, trade and freight operations across the continent can be redefined to a global standard. Cargo volumes for African carriers are at about 26.7% above October, 2019 levels, according to IATA. An active cargo player, like Kenya Airways, widens and diversifies its operations across the continent with the backing of this partnership. 

The airline has also shown an intent to widen its export destinations in central Africa by enhancing its regional operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Congo Airways in April 2021. 

Similar partnerships between airlines have also been drawn up, aimed at connecting destinations across the continent. However, some airlines have turned to international partnerships to bridge the competition gap.

Partnering with international players

The sector dynamics in central Africa are an interesting angle to explore. While we’ve seen a number of collaborations between South and central African airlines, there are some African carriers who are joining forces with international players.

The realization of partnerships between African and international airlines is also gaining momentum as the sector consolidates. These African carriers are set to gain access to expertise, resources and an understanding about how to better position their business by tapping into the global networks and traffic of international players. In return, African carriers can offer greater connectivity options for global airlines looking to broaden operations on the continent.

The RwandAir and Qatar Airways partnership is a prime example of a mutually beneficial alliance between an African and international airline. Over the past two years, Qatar Airways has been focused on an expansion plan that involves broadening its footprint on the African continent. In December 2019, the middle eastern airline secured a 60% stake in Bugesera International Airport, a new airport under construction in Rwanda’s capital Kigali. In February 2020, Qatar also confirmed its partnership with Kigali-based RwandAir after acquiring a 49% stake in the airline. Together, the airlines boast a network that covers more than 160 destinations, which are served through their main hubs in Doha and Kigali. After signing a codeshare agreement in October 2021, passengers on both airlines can connect to more than 65 destinations across Africa and globally.

The alliance between RwandAir and Qatar brings a new dynamic to the traffic flows in central and east Africa, which have been dominated by Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines, Nairobi-based Kenya Airways and Gulf carrier Emirates Airlines.

Qatar Airways gains a new channel to feed passengers to its own hub in Doha and to Kigali, while increasing its presence in Africa. RwandAir gains both a new partner and a well-established hub in the center of Africa, rivalling that of Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. 

Similarly, carriers in Northern Africa have shown interest in establishing ties with neighboring international airlines. As of October 2021, Royal Air Moroc and El Al have established a codeshare agreement to connect traffic from both of the carriers’ hubs. 

A partnership between Bahrain-based Gulf Air and Cairo-based Egyptair is planned in North Africa. In November 2021, the airlines revealed their interest in combining resources and cooperation for cargo, maintenance, personnel training and the airlines’ frequent flyer programs after signing a letter of intent to explore cooperation between the two carriers.  

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cairo International Airport retained the most passenger traffic of any African airport, serving over 7 million passengers annually in 2020, down from 15 million pre-pandemic. This retained traffic is greater than the number recorded by former leading airports such as O.R Tambo International Airport and Bole International Airport. As part of a $1.1 billion dollar Airport Modernization Program, Bahrain International Airport opened a new terminal, which increases the airport’s capacity to 14 million passengers annually. The combined passenger traffic of Cairo and Bahrain looks like a promising incentive for a future partnership with Gulf Air and Egyptair.

However, a well-known regional airline is redefining its image on the continent by breaking away from its former identity as an affiliate of SAA. Established almost 30 years ago, South African airline Airlink has operated on a business model that fed inbound passenger traffic in South Africa to smaller hub airports as well as some larger airports. A partnership with South African Airways was established in 1995 and Airlink became somewhat of an affiliate feeder airline to SAA. Airlink’s ambition to expand will redefine its brand, not as a siloed entity, but rather as an airline open to multiple global partnerships. 

Airlink has garnered a number of codeshare partnerships and interline agreements with the likes of Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, KLM, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Delta, United, Lufthansa Airlines, LAM Mozambique Airlines and TAAG Angola Airlines. 

The airline’s former network pales in comparison to the hundreds of destinations and potential passenger traffic it will serve with its newfound partnerships as it emerges from the pandemic.

Is it too late or is this now the right time to consolidate?

To answer this question, we need to take a look at the environment the pandemic has created. 

Despite the downturn in traffic and enormous global losses, the pandemic has initiated a wave of restructuring and revision of airline governance across the majority of African airlines.

A number of African airlines are state-owned or partially state-owned, and have been subject to government influence. Even before the pandemic, bailouts were a common practice for airlines due to ill-management. However, while bailouts were necessary during the pandemic, they were only a temporary solution for most airlines. As a result, they were forced to rethink their operations models. Today, the sector is more welcoming to private investors and ownership in order to help rebuild and run their airlines, as seen with private entity Takatso Consortium and South African Airways.

So, how do we gauge the probability of success for the consolidation of state-owned, or partially state-owned, airlines in Africa? Well, a good starting point is Ethiopian Airlines.

The Addis Ababa-based airline has long led the standard for aviation on the continent, turning profits for a majority of the company’s existence. The airline’s ambition has been to establish plans for multiple hubs across the continent under its Vision 2025 multiple hub strategy. To achieve this, its growth plan has been focused on collaborating with African carriers to expand operations and connectivity on the continent, while sharing resources, expertise and capacity.

EA shares a number of ventures with airlines on the continent through ownership of equity stakes. Today, its airline network combines to serve South, South-East, Central and West and East Africa. 

In West Africa, EA holds a 40% stake in ASKY Airlines. Its 49% stake in Malawi Airlines and in Tchadia Airlines further boosts its Central and East African operations. This includes a 99% ownership of Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines and stakes in the national carriers of Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Ethiopian Airlines has also partnered with African governments to launch national carriers across the continent. Zambia Airways launched on December 1, 2021, with the backing of a joint venture between Ethiopian Airlines and the Industrial Development Corporation Limited (IDC), a government-owned financial institution based in South Africa. Both parties hold a 45% and 55 percent% stake in the airline respectively, and provide access to about $30 million in capital. 

Air Congo is another carrier set to launch in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alongside existing national carrier, Congo Airways. A joint venture between the DRC’s Ministry of Transport, which holds 51% of Air Congo’s shares, and Ethiopian Airlines, which holds a 49% stake, will see the airline take to the skies in December 2021. The MoU signed between the parties will see Ethiopian Airlines share resources in the form of fleet capacity of a minimum of seven aircraft.

A majority of the Ethiopian Airlines’ stakes and ventures were established during the past five to 10 years, with the most recent occurring in the past two years. A key element in these ventures is the sharing of resources, capacity and expertise from EA to its partners. And with a fleet of more than 130 aircraft at its disposal, the reality of bringing forth a number of efficient aviation hubs across the continent is drawing closer.

Several factors control the success of a consolidated African market. Some of these aspects include liberalized skies and regulations and being open to private investment, including investment into infrastructure development, fleet modernization and personnel training. It will also require airlines to gain a greater understanding about how to better position their companies, and to no longer operate as extensions of a government with political motives.

Source: AeroTime Hub