AfBAA AGM CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

Celebrating TEN years since it was formed in May, 2012, African Business Aviation Association (AfBAA) is holding its AGM, Conference & Exhibition at Montecasino, Johannesburg, South Africa, from Monday, 24th to Wednesday, 26th October, 2022.

Following the success of AfBAA’s first Safety Seminar & African Business & General Aviation Conference & Exhibition which took place at The Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya from Monday, 28^th to Wednesday, 30^th January, 2019, and the AfBAA AGM, Conference & Exhibition which took place in October, 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2019, we are very pleased to be returning to in-person events.

The event was officially opened by Captain Gilbert Kibe, Director General of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, and is being attended by African jet and turboprop aircraft operators and international aviation service providers and suppliers.

A key component of the conference was the AfBAA Aviation Safety Seminar sponsored by Bombardier, Canada, aimed at enhancing aviation safety in Africa. In addition, for the first time ever, AfBAA explored the challenges and opportunities in both Africa’s business and general aviation industries and the synergies that exist.

AfBAA Chairman, Nick Fadugba, said: “We were pleased with the positive response by the African and international aviation industry to this new initiative in Kenya. AfBAA is fully committed to serving the needs of its members throughout the continent, as well as to seeking the support of African governments and civil aviation authorities for business and general aviation in Africa.”

Fadugba added that the key challenges facing AfBAA today are to grow its membership in Africa, provide added-value services to its members and to become financially sustainable. The Association has gone through a significant leadership transition this year with the appointment of Nick Fadugba as Chairman and JP Fourie as Vice Chairman, in May, and the end of the six-year tenure of the former Executive Director, Rady Fahmy, in November. A new Executive Director will be appointed as soon as possible, says Fadugba.

AfBAA was established in May, 2012, as a not-for-profit organisation with a vision to grow business aviation in Africa and to make it a safe, secure and accepted form of transportation that is a driver behind economic development on the continent.Importantly, AfBAA’s remit has recently been expanded to include Africa’s fast-growing general aviation industry.

The acronym for AfBAA’s guiding principles is ASSIST, which stands for Advocacy, Safety, Security, Integrity, Service and Training.

The African Business and General Aviation Industry had grown significantly in recent years and is expected to play an increasingly important role as the continent’s economy continues to expand at a faster rate than the world average.  In 2013, the African business jet fleet alone consisted of approximately 230 aircraft and was predicted to rise to 500 aircraft by 2019.   According to ExecuJet in May, 2018, there were 481 registered private jets in Africa with a year-on-year business aviation growth of 44%. Let us discuss the impact of the last few years on the industry.