EgyptAir chief Hussein Massoud, new chairman of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), is planning to strengthen its ties with the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) which he chaired over the last year.
Aside from EgyptAir, AFRAA and AACO have a number of common members, including Afriqiyah Airways, Air Algerie, Royal Air Maroc and Tunisair. But Massoud says AFRAA "is far behind" AACO in terms of its initiatives.
To bring AFRAA up to speed, Massoud is planning to host a meeting between new AFRAA secretary general Elijah Chingosho and AACO secretary general Abdul Wahab Teffaha.
At the meeting, which will take place during the second half of December in Nairobi, Kenya, the two secretaries general will discuss how AFRAA might be able to imitate AACO's successes.
"I feel we can push AFRAA to the level of AACO in a short time," Massoud told ATI at the AFRAA annual general assembly in Addis Ababa.
AACO's Teffaha attended the Addis Ababa AFRAA meeting, saying in his address: "AACO confirms to you that we are willing to support AFRAA to the maximum, to support the secretariat and member airlines, and also to achieve synergies through the thought that we are partners and not competitors."
He admitted that all airlines were ultimately seeking to maximise their own revenue and market share, but noted: "Within that picture there are a lot of opportunities for co-operation."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
