ATR at AFRAA AGM

The African Airlines Association’s (AFRAA) 50th Annual General Assembly, hosted by Royal Air Maroc, took place 25 – 27 November in Rabat, Morocco. The event had the theme ‘Strengthening African aviation in a liberalised environment’ and featured many seminars and panel discussions dedicated to securing a prosperous future for African aviation.

As the global market leader in the Regional segment, ATR made an important contribution to the event, both as an event sponsor and by contributing to one of the panel discussions. Mark Dunnachie, Head of Commercial EMEA & Russia, was part of the panel on Revolutionising African aviation through disruptive innovation. Mark delivered the message that innovation has always been a key part of our industry and that ATR continues to be a pioneer highlighting Clearvision™ and Cabinstream™ as two recent examples. Mark also used the panel to reinforce the clear importance of regional connectivity in Africa where the ATR is a superb fit.

The event was also an opportunity for colleagues from Sales and Marketing to network and stay abreast of the current challenges facing African aviation. The African and Middle Eastern market will require some 350 turboprops in the next 20 years. Many of these will be necessary to serve approximately 300 new routes. This region is one of the largest and geographically varied however suffers from a lack of road and rail infrastructure. ATRs represent the easiest way to an immediate safe and affordable regional connectivity that answers accessibility challenges and supports local economies.