Tassili Airlines has a new general manager, the third in 8 months
National for Research, Production, Transport, Transformation, and Marketing of Hydrocarbons), Tassili Airlines became a 100% subsidiary of the national oil group in 2005. Ambitious without its beginnings, the carrier is now struggling to find a a good captain to lead his destinies.
Less than two months after his appointment, Djamel Moualek is no longer the boss of Tassili Airlines. In office since December 20, 2020, he was replaced, Wednesday February 17, by Abdessamad Ourihane. The new interim managing director previously served as director of flight operations and pilot within the company. With the dismissal of Djamel Moualek, managerial instability continues at the head of the subsidiary of the oil and gas group Sonatrach. 4 general managers (principal and interim) in 3 years Tassili Airlines is still looking for the right one captain to bring it back on the course of financial balance. In June 2019, Adil Cherouati, previously commercial director, was brought to head of the company, replacing Belkacem Harchaoui, who had taken control of Naftal, another subsidiary of Sonatrach. The health crisis passed through this last year, and pushed Tassili Airlines further into managerial instability, as its revenues fell dramatically. Its international flights have been suspended for 11 months. On June 8, 2020, he was sacked and replaced on an interim basis by CFO Sid Ahmed Tazka. At the end of December, the latter was also dismissed in favor of Djamel Moualek An instability which hides a very deep evil... The reality on the ground is that Tassili Airlines still fails to generate any profit despite its investments.
Careful consultation of Sonatrach's financial statements between 2017 and 2019 shows that Tassili Airlines' financial situation is much more worrying than it suggests. It is indeed one of the loss-making subsidiaries of the oil group. Compared to 2017 and 2018, its debt worsened in 2019. The company, which operates a fleet of 15 aircraft including seven 737-800s, now has liabilities of 1.41 billion dinars (8.8 million euros). And this despite its turnover of 73 million euros. In 2019, the company employed nearly 1,400 employees for a payroll of 4.7 billion dinars (29 million euros). In deficit since then and shaken internally by changes in staff moods, Tassili Airlines should quickly recover shooting especially that his situation could worsen with the imminent arrival of new local competitors. Indeed, in the Council of Ministers on August 23, 2020, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, called "if the need arises, towards the creation of an additional national airline to meet demand, through better operation domestic airports for acceptable profitability, and the opening of new international routes with a view to raising national air transport capacities. "
