The Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) will host the AVI Afrique Africa Innovation Summit on 25-26 October 2017, at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria. Recognised as the leading aviation event in South Africa, the summit is now in its 6th year and has been growing, year on year, since its inception.
ATNS is proud to announce that the following industry leaders are sponsoring the summit; Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), ADB SAFEGATE, Tellumat and Thales.
“Airports Company South Africa is committed to enhancing aviation sustainability in the African aviation market within an increasingly competitive global aviation space. This core value of sustainability aligns with the mandate of the 2017 Africa AVI Summit and we believe this is the right partnership for ACSA,” explains ACSA CEO, Bongani Maseko.
“In addition, as the leading airport operator on the African continent, ACSA believes it is important to share insights, workshop best practice and network with those attending this leading aviation summit in Africa and those who are committed to innovation and infrastructure development to enhance the continent’s aviation industry.”
Aviation sustainability for the continent
“The AVI Afrique 2017 theme, ‘In Africa. For Africa. By Africa’, echoes ACSA’s strategy of enhancing aviation sustainability of the African market within the global space. Air transport infrastructure in South Africa outperforms all other transport infrastructures and is therefore critical to enhancing the effectiveness of the economy, ensuring businesses get their goods to market in a timely and secure manner and facilitates the vital movement of human capital,” continues Maseko.
“The company’s extensive expansion and investment programmes over the last two decades have enabled the physical transformation of the country’s airport infrastructure. Moreover, the company’s focus on sustainable infrastructure development has been reflected in every stage, from the phases of planning, community consultation and environmental impact assessment through to construction practices and use of material inputs. We have also worked to ensure social and economic sustainability by improving our skills base through ongoing training for all employees and enhancing transformation by creating opportunities for new entrants to enter the aviation sector.
“ACSA’s world-class infrastructure helps facilitate economic growth and job creation, and remains a vital contributor to the tourism value chain. This has facilitated annual passenger handling capacity of nearly 40 million across its nine airports and a contributor of 0.13% to the country’s GDP.
“Aviation is a key facilitator of the African growth story, therefore it is critical that all African countries develop their aviation industries and accelerate development of their air infrastructure assets. Key to realising these countries’ growth potential is air infrastructure, along with the development of the skills needed to service the continent’s aviation evolution if it can take advantage of the projected growth and entrench the continent’s competitive position in the global aviation market.
Projected growth in airline traffic to Africa points to a meteoric rise, with figures from the International Aviation Transport Authority (IATA) predicting passenger numbers of 7 billion by 2034. We are currently witnessing Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana develop hubs and gateways into their regions where in some instances Airports Company South Africa has been retained to advise or provide technical expertise to the various development interventions. These developments are facilitating trade routes that create economies of scale, as well as clusters and flourishing value chains,” concludes Maseko.
Over the years, AVI Afrique has become a knowledge platform for aviation professionals, as well as an environment that facilitates networking and consulting. This event offers those organisations wishing to engage with global and African air navigation service providers, civil aviation personnel, researchers and thought leaders, an opportunity to exhibit or sponsor an event and make valuable connections, as Africa’s air traffic industry continues to grow.