Chris Mburu
6 April 2004
Nairobi — Aviation meetings aimed at showing support for tourism industry
Two major African aviation conferences will be held in Nairobi in May and June this year in what players in the industry say is intended to show support for Kenya's tourist industry.
"We plan to put the spotlight on Kenya. Despite recent travel warnings, we feel Kenya is the ideal place to hold these important regional events," says Dr Peter Chikumba, International Air Transport Association's (Iata) regional director for Africa.
Iata, the Nairobi-based African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and Sabre Holdings International, will be co-hosting a free Airline Profit Strategies Symposium from May 10 to 12 at Hilton Hotel.
The objective of the meeting is to help African airlines increase profitability, and to provide the premier airline networking opportunity in Africa this year.
According to AFRAA secretary general Christian Folly-Kossi, the symposium is timely and African airlines should take full advantage of the opportunity to sharpen their cost-cutting and revenue-generating tools.
While the first day of the symposium will focus on interlining - an arrangement that allows passengers to purchase a single ticket in a single currency to any destination on two or more airlines (it is cheaper than purchasing separate tickets), the second day will focus on airfare distribution, which accounts for 14 per cent of airline costs.
Iata represents more than 270 airlines comprising 98 per cent of scheduled international traffic. AFRAA began in 1963 and has 42 member airlines representing 31 African states.
Sabre Holdings Corporation is a world leader in travel commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry.
Meanwhile, Nairobi will host eminent leaders of the global air transport industry at the 10th (2004) editions of the Aviation and Allied Business Leadership Conference between June 28 and 30 at Inter-Continental Hotel.
Dubbed Air Transport in Africa: Transform to Win, the fair will offer a rallying point for leaders in the air transport industry and its affiliate to deliberate on issues of policy and social-economic consequences to Africa's air transport.
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