7th Mar 2018 | Elizabeth Sasu
AviaDev, Africa’s only event dedicated to growing connectivity to, from and within the African continent, will take place in Cape Town in June 2018. The networking event, which is entering its third year of growth, initially took place in Kigali in 2016 and 2017.
It was announced on the 12th February that RwandAir will launch a new route from Kigali to Cape Town via Harare from May 16th and that the route will operate four times per week.
Discussions regarding the route viability were accelerated during the one-to-one meeting sessions at the AviaDev Africa event in Kigali 2017.
Jon Howell, Managing Director of AviaDev said of the new route “AviaDev Africa was set up to provide a platform for airports and airlines to market themselves to one another. For too long, African airlines have looked outside of the continent before being well connected domestically and regionally. We are delighted that AviaDev played a small part in the creation of this route and it is even more special due to the fact it connects our past and future hosts”
Intra-African connectivity is particularly underdeveloped. Analysis of OAG data conducted by AviaDev partner Maslen Aviation Consultancy shows that intra-African share of total region capacity has fallen to its lowest level in 10 years at just 43% (it was 46.6% in 2007). This compares to Europe where the proportion of intra-regional travellers is 67%, North America where it is 78% and Asia where it is 79%.
Col. Chance Ndagano, Ag. CEO, RwandAir
RwandAir Ag. CEO, Col. Chance Ndagano said “It was a pleasure hosting AviaDev in 2016 and 2017 and we are delighted that it has helped us deliver a new route. RwandAir is continuing to expand its operations both regionally and internationally and will continue to support the event in its drive to improve connectivity to, from and within the African continent.”
Tim Harris, CEO, Wesgro
Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris said that “this was an exciting move that will help grow trade further, and assist in landing FDI from Rwanda’s growing economy into Cape Town. Improved Air Access with the continent will not only boost tourism, but also help bring more investors to our respective countries. We are extremely grateful for the confidence RwandAir has shown us and our team is ready to provide support to them so that this route maintains itself well into the future”
AviaDev will take place at the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel on June 12-14. In parallel, Bench Events will also run a regional AHIF briefing, which will attract the hotel investment community, who will be keen to join discussions about which African destinations will be highest priority for more aviation traffic.
About AviaDev
AviaDev Africa is the only dedicated air service development event for Africa, taking place on the African continent in 2018. It is organised by Bench Events (www.benchevents.com), which is known for producing the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and several other top-level hotel conferences around the world.
Sponsors of AviaDev are: Host Sponsor: Cape Town Air Access; 2018 Confirmed Event Sponsors: Embraer, TravelCommerce Solutions, Travelport, ADB Safegate and Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO).
For more information please visit: www.AviationDevelop.com, #AdvancingAfricasConnectivity
About Bench Events
Global event organiser Bench Events has a long track record of delivering multiple premium hotel investment conferences and forums across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Market leading annual conferences include the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) in Dubai, now in its 13th year, the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) the new Asia Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC), The Summit in London and the Latin American Hotel & Tourism Investment Conferences (SAHIC).
Bench Events’ extensive portfolio also includes the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) in Dubai and AviaDev, designed to promote the future air connectivity in Africa. Bench Events’ mission is enabling prosperity by facilitating growth, networking, and thought leadership in the hospitality industry worldwide. www.benchevents.com
About Wesgro
Wesgro is the Official Tourism & Trade, Investment Promotion Agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape. Its divisions include Tourism, Trade, Investment Promotion, Research, Film & Media and the Convention Bureau. Cape Town and the Western Cape is a region of unlimited potential. And this translates into unlimited opportunity. For anyone interested in unique travel experiences, investment, shooting a film or exporting to Africa and the rest of the world, the region has a great deal to offer and Wesgro is keen to help realise the opportunities.
About Cape Town Air Access
The members of the Committee include: WESGRO, ACSA (Airports Company South Africa), Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism, South African Tourism and selected private sector partners.
About RwandAir
From its hub at the heart of Africa located at Kigali International Airport, RwandAir is reputed for its excellent on-time performance, customer service and safety, and has one of the youngest fleet on the African continent. RwandAir, an IATA member airline renewed its IOSA certification and has been ISAGO and EASA certified.
With a fleet of twelve aircraft including two wide-body Airbus A330 acquired last year, the airline currently reaches out to twenty-four (24) destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Last year, RwandAir started flights from Kigali to Mumbai, Harare, London (Gatwick) and Brussels as well as Dakar from its new hub in Cotonou. RwandAir also introduced flights to Abidjan, Libreville and Brazzaville from its Cotonou hub. This year, RwandAir is planning to fly to Guangzhou in China, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Bamako in Mali and Conakry in Guinea. RwandAir also plans to enter the American market with flights to New York, in the USA.
Further Information
For further information and high-resolution images, please contact: Mala Patel on mala.patel@benchevents.com
Source: gh-aviation
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