It has been predicted that the number of aircraft to be operated on the African continent in the next 10 years is estimated to reach 1,429 units as the result of a growth rate of 2,3 percent per year from 2024 to 2034.
To operate more aircraft, it will therefore be critical to facilitate the access to aircraft financing for airlines and to develop Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) capacities across the continent.
The importance of MRO to the growth of aviation in Africa and other parts of the world cannot be overemphasised.
The MRO necessity therefore, took the center stage at the just concluded MRO Africa & African Aviation Training Conference & Exhibition held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The annual conference brings together principal actors in all angles of aviation business ranging from airlines, aircraft manufacturers, MRO facilitators, spare parts builders, engine manufacturers and other value chain suppliers from Europe, Asia, America and other parts of the world.
Behind the Conference is the British born Nigerian, Nick Fadugba who through the programme has continued to use the different forces in aviation to map the strategies for the development of aviation in Africa for seamless air transport.
Speaking at the conference, with the theme: “Strengthening Africa’s MRO and Training Capacity for the Future”, the Chief Executive Officer, African Aviation Services, Nick Fadugba, expressed optimism that aviation can be a vital catalyst for Africa’s economic growth and social advancement.
According to Fadugba, Africa needs a safe, reliable, efficient, affordable and profitable air transport industry that facilitates travel, trade and tourism across the continent, and between Africa and the world.
While acknowledging that much has been achieved, the African Aviation CEO agreed that, many challenges still remain, saying: Aviation safety, security, training, regulatory oversight, infrastructure, liberalisation, modernisation and funding all need to be improved significantly.”
Fadugba, who was optimistic that if properly harnessed that aviation could become one of the keys to Africa›s future prosperity, declared that for aviation to succeed in Africa that the continent needs, inter alia, a clear vision, good leadership, discipline, hard work, patriotism, good governance and a genuine spirit of co-operation in Africa.”
Referring to the African Airline Technical Directors Meeting and AATO Council Meeting held ahead of the main conference, Fadugba mentioned how bottlenecks hampering the growth of aviation on the continent took the center stage of discussion by the different stakeholders who focused attention on the need for more co-operation between African airlines, the supply chain logjam, the lack of sufficient trained aviation personnel, the need for fairer pricing by international suppliers and the need for increased communication between industry stakeholders.
Among the major speakers at the MRO Conference was the group a chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlinee, Mr Ato Messina Tasew who lamented how suspicion and lack of trust amongst African governments had robbed them the desire of Ethiopian airlines to help open up in critical areas such as establishing MRO facilities and the training of personnel.
According to Tasew, some African countries often misjudged the willingness of Ethiopian airline to use its experience to help reposition air transport on the continent to mean the dominance of their space by the Ethiopian carrier, an allegation he rejected.
The ability of the African Aviation CEO, to rally the huge gathering of participants and lead sponsors of the conference from around the world including AMP-Aero, The Boeing Company; Air France Industry, KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Lufthansa Technik; AMECO, GE Aerospace and Golden Engine Maintenance, Rolls-Royce, Aero Supplies Global, Aviatt, and all exhibitors for their valued support for exchange of ideas and the sharing of expertise in MRO for the development of airlines has been acknowledged as an effort to close the wide gap between Africa and other parts of the developed world.
MRO in the aeronautical industry is a complex process that has strict and precise requirements defined by airworthiness authorities to guarantee the safety of passengers and aircrew.
With billions of dollars are spent by African airlines every year to comply with such requirements, which represent a relevant portion of their total operational costs, the consistency in hammering on the need for Africa to pay attention to the necessity of MRO to a seamless air transport and smooth connectivity of movements within the continent.
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