The Executive Committee of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) held its second meeting of the year last week, to review the progress of implementation of the three-year business plan launched in February. The meeting also appraised the progress of preparations towards the 43rd AGA scheduled to take place in Marrakech, Morocco from 20�ê"23 November 2011. To be convened under the theme "Harnessing the Growth Opportunities Together", the 43rd AGA will be an opportunity for airlines to discuss harnessing and leveraging their resources and putting them to maximum use. "A major addition to this year's AGA will be the sharing of best practices by African airlines through presentations by CEOs and debates on topical industry issues and how African airlines are addressing the challenges through the CEO forum," explained Hussein Massoud, AFRAA chairman. The twelve member AFRAA Executive Committee is composed of chief executive officers from Afriqiyah, Air Burkina, Air Ivoire, Air Mali, Air Seychelles, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Interair SA, Kenya Airways, South African Airways, South African Express and Tunisair. The Chairman of the Committee is Hussein Massoud, group chairman of EgyptAir Holding, while the president and host of the 2011 AFRAA AGA is Driss Benhima, chairman of Royal Air Maroc. The Executive Committee commended the progress made by the Secretariat in implementing the three-year business plan and the achievement of most of the targets set for the first half of the year as measured by the Key Performance Indicators. The Committee further approved the enrolment of Ceiba Intercontinental Airlines of Equatorial Guinea as the 33rd member of AFRAA. In addition, seven aviation-related service providers have also joined the AFRAA Partnership Programme since the beginning of the year. These are: Atlantic Air Industries Maroc, AWAS, CHAMP Cargo Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Servair, Innovata and Hytena Aeronautics. According to Massoud, the AFRAA partnership programme is open to all aviation-related non-Airline companies that have an interest in contributing and supporting the growth and development of African aviation. "Current members include aircraft and engine manufacturers, spare parts and components suppliers, ICT equipment and solutions providers, product distribution and data firms as well as leasing organisations, MROs and consultancy firms. There are 22 companies in the partnership programme which are supporting AFRAA in various ways to implement various projects for the benefit of the African airline community."
