By Ogova Ondego
Published November 13, 2015
Equatorial Congo Airline (ECAir), the national carrier of Congo-Brazzaville and Kenya’s Kenya Airways have agreed to “collaborate closely in the near future.”
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Fatima Beyina-Moussa, CEO of ECAir and outgoing head of African Airlines Association (AFRAA), speaking during the 47th General Assembly of AFRAA whose theme was ‘Open Skies: Growth through Competition and Collaboration’, said her airline, that had negotiated “with our peers and were able to conclude inter-airline agreements with TAC, Asky, Ethiopian, South African Airways, Air Algérie and agreed to operate the Brazzaville-Beirut route in collaboration with Trans Air Congo,” had agreed to “collaborate closely in the near future” with Kenya Airways whose CEO, Mbuvi Ngunze, attended the AGM that brought more than 300 participants representing 35 airlines across Africa.
The delegates, who converged at the Complexe sportif de la Concorde in Kintélé November 8-10, 2015, explored ways in which African airlines could freely access connections across Africa over the three days of the event that was also addressed by Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of Congo-Brazzaville; the President urged African airlines to collaborate, saying there is strength in unity.
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“One of the great merits of your association is the awareness that unity is strength and that in your industry salvation lies in the need for solidarity, in sharing essential resources and in vital synergy. Your association pursues ambitions and goals that are in perfect harmony with the African Union”, Denis Sassou N’Guesso observed.
Ethiopian Airlines was named–for the fourth year in a row–the African Airline of the Year for its ‘outstanding financial performance in 2014 and its ever expanding intra-Africa network and sound growth plan’.
With Edmund Makona, CEO of Air Zimbabwe having succeeds Fatima Beyina-Moussa as head of AFRAA, Air Zimbabwe is expected to host the 48th General Assembly of AFRAA in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, November 20-22, 2016.
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