Inaugural African Aviation Week to champion sector growth heads to Kigali

5 July 2018 Felicity Stredder Handling Talk

A dedicated African Aviation Week championing best practice, better connectivity and the adoption of world-class safety standards across the continent will be held in Kigali from 10-14 September.

African Aviation Week has been launched by GHI, the AviAssist Foundation and AviaDev. The celebratory week will be held under the patronage of the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and in partnership with RwandAir.

The initiative aims to unite Africa’s aviation decision makers to agree a tangible plan for delivering on the continent’s much vaunted growth potential.

Max Gosney, GHI Conference Chairman, said: “African Aviation Week will unite stakeholders from across the continent who are passionate about their industry. We’re looking to celebrate African aviation success stories and agree a tangible plan for delivering on the continent’s much vaunted growth potential.”

Africa is ranked as the world’s fastest growing aviation market in the next 20 years with 6% year-on-year growth in passenger numbers according to IATA figures. But, despite the buoyant outlook– stakeholders must tackle a legacy of poor safety standards, security concerns and limited connectivity between markets.

The week will comprise GHI’s 4^th African Stakeholders’ Conference; AviAssist’s Safety in African Aviation Conference; and a wealth of other training events ranging from a course on airport engineering and international air law and policy.

Tom Kok, Director at the AviAssist Foundation, an organisation dedicated to promoting professionalism in African aviation safety, said: “We are excited about this aviation week as part of our efforts to create East Africa’s leading resource centre for safety promotion in Rwanda, the ASPC-Rwanda.”

Rwanda’s Minister of State in charge of Transport, Hon. Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, voiced his support for the African Aviation Week proposal. He commented: “The initiative will unite decision makers from key industry sectors to discuss practical steps to delivering on the continent’s huge aviation growth potential.”

Yvonne Makolo, CEO of RwandAir said: “RwandAir is all about strategically linking Rwanda with the outside world, while ensuring a fair return on investment in the air transport sector. My RwandAir colleagues and I look forward to welcoming the delegates to our home base of Kigali, gateway to Africa.”