Green Africa Airways grows as take-off slated for 2021
The start of the commercial activities of Green Africa Airways is being refined. On December 14, 2020, a group of 8 cabin crew were completing their training, having been preceded the month before by two groups of pilots.
The new Nigerian private carrier intends to start its first flights by the first half of 2021.
Green Africa Airways founder Babawande Afolabi is thinking big. Last September, the company signed a strategic partnership with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a leading financial institution in Nigeria, under which FCMB will provide Green Africa Airways with access of up to $ 31 million. covering working capital and a stand-by letter of credit. And this from the launch of reservations scheduled for early 2021.
The FCMB payment gateway is planned to be integrated into Navitaire, an Amadeus company that provides the airline's flight reservation system. The Nigerian bank is also committed to opening a line of credit for the training of the human capital of the carrier.
The former Morgan Stanley banker is betting mostly on a modern fleet. In December 2018, he signed a historic commitment to purchase one hundred 737Max8 of which 50 are firm orders and 50 others are optional.
According to the American manufacturer, the transaction, whose confirmation is still awaited, amounts to 11.7 billion dollars at list price, becoming "the largest aircraft contract in Africa."
In the meantime, the Lagos-based carrier has opted for diversification. On the sidelines of the Singapore air show in February, Green Africa Airways signed another memorandum of understanding, this time with Airbus for fifty A220-300s. At the same time, a rental contract for three other aircraft of the type was concluded with GTLK Europe. Delivery was initially scheduled for last August.
According to a company spokesperson, obtaining air carrier certification (AOC) is currently in its final stages, having experienced some delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For Babawande Afolabi, also formerly of American Airlines, the business plan first provides for the networking of the domestic market and then the consolidation of a pan-African network.
To start this adventure, he surrounded himself with a team whose members have proven experience in the sector. These include, among others, COO Neil Mills (former COO of defunct Air Italy); CFO Kiran Koteshwar (former CFO of Indian low-cost Spicejet); Tom Horton and Virasb Vahidi, respectively former Chairman and CEO and former CCO of American Airlines; Wale Adeosun, founder and CEO of Kuramo Capital, and William Shaw, CEO of Interjet.
Once launched, Green Africa Airways will enter a dense sky where there are already 10 local companies namely, Arik Air, Air Peace, Dana Air, Med-View, Aero Contractors, Overland, First Nation, Azman Air, Max Air, and Ibom Air. United Nigeria, the new private company based in Enugu, also plans to take to the air in the coming weeks. The state, for its part, is maturing its ambitions to revive its national company, Nigeria Airways in 2021.
Along with the after-effects of the health crisis which remain visible, the newcomer will still have to adapt to the local operating environment, which is still not favorable to the viability of domestic companies. Indeed, the price of fuel and the weight of taxes coupled with strong competition from foreign companies are, according to the AON (Airlines Operators of Nigeria), factors that hamper the development of national carriers.
