Africa Weekly Aviation Trails: Week 29, 2024 Highlights.

In the past week, a major continental convention took place in Libreville, Gabon, bringing together key aviation stakeholders. Meanwhile, the world experienced the largest IT outage in history, severely impacting airline operations globally. Namibia released its 2023 Tourist Report, highlighting significant growth in arrivals. Tanzania renewed its Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with a Middle Eastern country, and an African airport signed a sister agreement with an airport in the USA. Additionally, new routes were inaugurated or announced, fleet renewals occurred, and a notable appointment was made alongside other significant incidents. Read the article below to discover more details on these developments and other important events in the African aviation industry.

Introduction.

The Ninth ICAO Africa & Indian Ocean Aviation Week, organized by ICAO WACAF and ICAO Eastern and Southern African Regional Office, kicked off in Libreville, Gabon. With over 350 participants from 180 countries, the event was inaugurated by the Vice President of the Gabonese Republic alongside International Civil Aviation Organization President Salvatore Sciacchitano and Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar. Held from July 15-19, 2024, the week aimed to enhance air travel safety across Africa and the Indian Ocean amidst challenges like climate change and regional terrorism.

Boeing has cautioned its customers about potential delays in the delivery of the B737 Max in 2024 and 2025, with some deliveries now expected to be pushed to 2026. Meanwhile, Airbus announced the certification of the A321XLR (Extra Long Range) single-aisle aircraft by the EASA – European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The A321XLR, the world’s longest-range single-aisle aircraft, is set to enter service later this year. After over 900 flight test hours and extensive certification processes, this model promises to burn 30% less fuel and produce fewer CO2 emissions per seat compared to previous generation competitors, at half the trip cost of modern widebodies.

On July 19, 2024, the largest global IT outage in history, attributed to a faulty update of CrowdStrike cybersecurity software by Microsoft, disrupted stock exchanges, banking services, online shopping, airlines, and various businesses worldwide. Several airlines around the globe grounded their flights, and many more reported delays. In Africa, South African Airways experienced intermittent technical outages at their contact centers due to the global network issue, advising customers to expect long hold times for new bookings, changes, or ancillary purchases. Flight delays and cancellations were anticipated. However, Africa’s largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, and Airlink reported no disruptions to their IT systems or flight operations.