It’s been four months since I stepped foot in an airport, so I’m beyond excited to be delivering this week’s newsletter fresh from the tarmac of Southampton Airport in the UK. And even better I’m going on a flight, thanks to Blue Islands, so should be high in the skies above when today’s newsletter drops into your inbox.
This week has yet again seen a welcome increase in the number of flights taking to the skies with Eurocontrol reporting that the biggest flows are domestic. However, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation has also reported it is now seeing significant increases in air traffic flows between countries. New and additional routes are being added to schedules daily with Hamburg, Bordeaux and Manchester airports all announcing an uptick in flight schedules.
Blue Islands, the Channel Islands airline, has been busy planning its future through the pandemic. Central to its plans going forward is the introduction of new routes and jobs at Southampton Airport. Having previously served Southampton from Jersey as a franchise carrier of Flybe, today marks Blue Islands’ debut at Southampton with its ATR72 aircraft sporting a brand new livery. It’s only a short hop from Southampton to Exeter, but I have my mask and hand sanitiser at the ready and can’t wait to get up in the skies again.
Another event I’m looking forward to later this month is AviaDev’s Africa Tomorrow virtual conference. Themed around reinventing resilience in Africa’s aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors, the conference is taking place on 21 July. I’ll be moderating a session that will look at the new normal for African airports as well as actionable solutions for a post-pandemic landscape. I’ll be joined by Fundi Sithebe – Chief Operating Officer for Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), Nicolas Deviller – Deputy CEO Ravinala Airports in Madagascar and Lawal B. Abdullahi – Operations Officer, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
It’s set to be a packed day of conference sessions and networking with plenty of insightful discussions covering Africa’s aviation sector. So if you haven’t already, register here now.
Best wishes,
Chloë Greenbank, Regional Gateway Editor.
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