As part of initiatives and efforts for the aviation industry restart and recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and ACC Aviation have launched an interactive capacity-sharing portal for African airlines, under their “AFRAA – Powered by ACC” strategic partnership.
The portal will provide airlines with access to market-leading services to support the development of Africa’s aviation industry. During the launch, a capacity building virtual workshop was held on Wednesday 12 August 2020 to demonstrate the functionality of the tool to airlines.
Cooperation among AFRAA member airlines is paramount for the sustainability of the air transport industry. The portal provides a platform for sharing capacity and increasing daily fleet utilisation. Operators can offer their available aircraft and check the list of offered aircraft for ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance), dry lease, sale and layover aircraft use. On the other hand, users can place requests for: ACMI, passenger charter, cargo charter and consultancy services. As airlines redefine their business models, network and fleet, AFRAA and ACC also able to provide restructuring consultancy services through the portal to assist with short and medium-term plans.
AFRAA’s recovery plan, developed in April, encompasses actions to navigate through COVID-19 that are anchored on nine pillars: Governments, Regulators, Service Providers, Customers, Maintenance, Cost Management, Cargo Operations, Workforce & Ensuring Business Continuity. The portal addresses actions under pillars on cost management, cargo operations and business continuity.
AFRAA’s Secretary General, Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé comments: “This platform is a tool to enhance cooperation among AFRAA members with the view to ensuring that African operators provide solutions to African challenges with win-win benefits for all operators involved in aircraft capacity sharing, during and well beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, layover aircraft at certain airports provide strong opportunities for airlines to serve new routes without investing in additional airplanes.”
A second edition of the capacity building workshop webinar will be held in September 2020 for potential customers, comprising of service providers, civil aviation authorities, logistics entities and other stakeholders in the supply chain.
