Cote d’Ivoire repositions national carrier
Cote d’Ivoire has implemented a unique and tactically disciplined plan that has revived its national airline, placing it on a new slope for growth and expansion.
Advertisement
Since its inaugural flight in January 2013, Air Cote d’Ivoire has grown its footprints in West Africa from 13 destinations to 22 cities at the close of last year, with its fleet also increasing from three aircraft to eight, with plans to increase to nine aircraft by April 2016.
“Our emphasis on safety and customer satisfaction has brought us this far. We are still growing the business and will need more human resource in the coming years. This is why we are training more young people to join the growing team,” the Chairman of Air Cote d’Ivoire, General Abdoulaye Coulibaly (retd), said when the airline took delivery of a new Bombardier aircraft in Abidjan to augment its fleet.
The more agile, fast and cost-effective Dash 8 Q400 is the fourth Bombardier New Generation aircraft in Air Cote d’Ivoire’s eight-member fleet. It is to enable the airline – which has many West African destinations, including Accra – to develop more routes and service some of the promising existing ones better.
The airline officials said the new aircraft would enable it to develop its domestic routes, while servicing prospective routes such as Abidjan-Accra with more frequency, morning and evening flights.
How it started
The government of Côte d'Ivoire owns 65 per cent of the airline, with Air France, the strategic partner, owning 20 per cent, and Goldenrod, an Ivorian private equity company, holding 15 per cent.
The airline’s capital base has steadily grown from FCFA25 billion (about US$40 million) from inception to FCFA65 billion (about US$107 million) at the end of last year.
A new investor, the West Africa Development Bank, is expected to inject FCFA35 billion to increase total capitalisation to FCFA100 billion (about US$165 million) at the end of this year.
Although the company has not seen profit yet until 2018, it has been recording impressive revenue inflows with the FCFA76.01 billion (approx. US$125.61 million) recorded at the end of last year representing 24 per cent growth over the 2013 figure of FCFA France 26.98 billion (approximately US$44.55 million).
Airline CEO
The Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Mr Rene Decurey, said Air Cote d’Ivoire had projected to transport more than 700,000 passengers this year, about 16 per cent growth over the 2015 figure and grow its turnover to FCFA89 billion.
With its revenues heading in the upwards trajectory, Mr Decurey said the company had been ploughing back into the company to strengthen the business, with the hope of recording profit in 2018.
Mr Decurey said the new aircraft, which was faster, comfortable, fuel efficient and rugged in the air, would enable the airline (which is expanding its domestic and regional routes in 2016) to strengthen services to existing and new destinations.
"This is a necessary step to support the network of Air Côte d'Ivoire and also help us in our future expansion," Mr Decurey stated.
Airport expansion
The Minister of Transport, Mr Gaoussou Toure, said the aviation authority and the government was investing in airport and ancillary infrastructure to improve the convenience and comfort of passengers.
Besides a facelift of the airport infrastructure, the Ivorian government is also establishing a maintenance hunger for aircraft, training more technical staff and pilots, while encouraging investments in hotels and convention centres around the airport area as a grand strategy to create services around aviation, boost prospects of the national carrier as well as create jobs for the youth.
