The programme will optimise its inventory levels and reduce its operational costs for its E190 jets.

The contract will provide support for 13 aircraft. Kenya Airways is an Embraer customer since 2006 and flies to 45 destinations worldwide, 37 of which are in Africa, connecting over 5 million passengers.

“Embraer is honoured by Kenya Airways’ trust on the Collaborative Inventory Planning management system. We are ready to support the airline to keep its E-Jets fleet ready to fly, matching excellent performance and low operational costs. Our solution will provide Kenya Airways access to Embraer’s global logistics network and deepen the partnership between our companies,” said Carlos Naufel, President and CEO, Embraer Services & Support.

Times Aerospace Events is delighted to announce the MRO Association of India as a strategic partner.

“Our association is honoured to be partnering with Times Aerospace Events for the second edition of Aviation India,” said C S Tomar, President of the MRO Association of India. “The MRO sector in India is responding strongly to our country’s need for more home-grown engineering and technical services and promoting these efforts at Aviation India 2025 will play a vital role in this drive.”

The event will be a two-day, high-level networking conference & exhibition bringing together aviation professionals, leaders and C-suite executives from airlines, including cargo and business aviation operators, government, regulators, airports, lessors, OEMs, MROs, training, finance & leasing, insurance, law firms and aviation suppliers and services providers from across the entire supply chain.

Aviation India 2025 is also pleased to announce and welcome back the Business Aircraft Operations Association (BAOA) of India as a supporting partner of Aviation India 2025, to help address the issues that face this growing part of India’s aviation ecosystem to the Summit.

Under the title Aviation India 2025: Shaping the pathway for Indian aviation, the summit will debate and examine how the industry is transforming at pace to unlock growth bringing together leaders from across India and the Subcontinent. “Even at this early stage, we are delighted to confirm Air India as a major supporter of Aviation India 2025, and its CEO, Campbell Wilson as one of the keynote speakers at the Summit,” said Mark Brown, managing director of Times Aerospace Events.

To help shape the content and programme of the 2-day summit, Times Aerospace Events is bringing together a panel of Indian aviation experts to assist in this effort.

This panel features:

• Bharat Malkani, Chairman of Max Aerospace and Aviation Ltd

• Willy Boulter, airline C-suite executive, senior aviation consultant, former Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo

• Sunam Datta, Chief Commercial Officer, Skyplan

• Neelam Mathews, veteran aviation, defence, travel and tourism correspondent

For more information please visit www.aviationindia.aero

 At the World Governments Summit 2025 saw government leaders come together – just as 130km down the Sheikh Zayed highway at the Emirates Hotel in Abu Dhabi, some 180 state representatives were getting into deep debate about regulation, sustainability and innovation at the ICAO Global Implementation Support Symposium (GISS) hosted by the UAE regulator the GCAA.

On the lawn outside the summit, a single-seat eVTOL sat awaiting clearance to take to the skies for a quick demonstration flight.

Soon that will become a familiar sight as the regulators are clearing the way of hurdles.

The Lift Hexa did leave the ties of earth and GCAA’s assistant director general, strategy & international affairs, Yousuf Hashim Al Azizi said that the UAE is expected to be the first country to operate commercial eVOTLs.  Testing will be carried out this year and commercial operations would begin by the end of 2026 or early 2027.

Government representatives travelled between the two major events and the progress in the sector became clear when the UAE was seen to take milestone step  by announcing the start of air corridor mapping and rdetails of the regulatory framework development for piloted and autonomous air taxis and cargo drones.

Through a strategic partnership between the GCAA and the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC) entities—Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and ASPIRE—the UAE is on track to reshape the way people and goods move through urban spaces.

The aerial corridors and regulations are set to be defined within the next 20 months, demonstrating the  UAE’s unwavering commitment to deploying safe, advanced, sustainable transportation solutions that will not only ease congestion but also set a global benchmark for future urban mobility systems.

The plan is that the routes will connect key international airports and iconic places in the UAE, extending further to ensure seamless integration of piloted and autonomous air taxis and cargo drones across the nation’s urban landscapes.

Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, GCAA’s director general said: “Air corridor mapping for piloted and autonomous air taxis and drones is a crucial milestone that will enable the seamless implementation of Advanced Air Mobility into the UAE’s infrastructure. This initiative ensures the safe and efficient adoption of air mobility, delivering transformative solutions to urban transport and paving the way for a smarter, more connected future.”

The government agency is supported by TII’s expertise in airspace management, to ensure the safe integration of piloted and autonomous air taxis and cargo drones into urban environments.

TII said the  new air corridors will offer innovative solutions for passenger and cargo transport, relieving pressure on traditional road networks and improving connectivity.

Dr. Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, said: “This transformative collaboration with GCAA is reshaping the future of urban transportation. By advancing airspace management and integrating piloted and autonomous air taxis and cargo drones, we are not only enhancing urban connectivity but also driving sustainable and accessible mobility solutions that will benefit future generations.”

Stephane Timpano from ASPIRE said: “Addressing real-time urban mobility challenges through innovative solutions like air taxis and drones is a major step forward. This initiative directly supports sustainable economic growth by creating a flexible and diverse transport system that eases pressure on urban infrastructure and fosters smarter, more resilient cities.”

Greater use of AI – a subject matter than was extensively covered during the GISS event – will be key to the success of the pioneer project.

Prof. Enrico Natalizio, chief researcher of the autonomous robotics research center at TII, said: “At TII, we’re developing advanced AI-powered control, vision and communication algorithms for autonomous systems that enable real-time decision-making for air taxis and drones. Having mastered this technology, we are able to propose methodologies for AAM corridors design to optimise routes, ensure collision avoidance, and integrate seamlessly with urban airspace, marking a key step toward efficient and safe autonomous air mobility in complex urban environments.”

The incidents are primarily related to the reliability of refuelling infrastructure, electrical power supply and redundancy systems at O.R. Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport. There remains ongoing uncertainty regarding the management of fuel reserves as well as the security of the Jet fuel supply. Uncertainty directly impacts the ability of airlines to fulfil their schedule integrity. Airlines are still feeling the adverse impact of the very slow pace of restoring the 326 instrument flight procedures countrywide that ATNS withdrew in July 2024. Add to these concerns last weekend’s cyberbreach at the SA Weather Service that has disrupted the provision of aviation weather observations and forecasts which are mission critical for flights.

“Airlines and passengers pay statutory user charges to the various State aviation agencies for the provision of reliable, safe and efficient and affordable services. However, AASA is concerned that ACSA, ATNS and SAWS applied to their respective economic regulators for new tariff increases when they have been unable to provide the full range of the services that they have been paid for. At the same time the airlines are bearing the brunt in terms of ensuring that they meet their commitments to their customers by having to provide alternatives for disrupted operations,” said Aaron Munetsi, CEO of AASA.

Fuel

Fuel availability has been a critical item since 2021 when the Durban refinery was damaged in the unrest, followed by floods that wreaked havoc and rendered the railway line between Durban and the Reef unserviceable. The closure of the Astron refinery in Cape Town (it re-opened last July and is still ramping up production) added to the woes.

“These left the industry heavily reliant on imported jet fuel, for which airlines operating within and from South Africa are forced to pay an exorbitant premium reflecting the additional logistics, duties and other costs applied to the fuel before it gets anywhere near an aircraft fuel tank,” he added.

The recent fire at Natref near Johannesburg, which is the central collection point for jet-fuel before it is pumped via a dedicated pipeline to ACSA’s storage facility at OR Tambo, caused further disruption and heightened concern.

“Earlier this month Natref assured us the repairs will be completed by 21 February, but it has not provided any progress reports so we have no idea if it will meet that self-imposed deadline. In the meantime, AASA is cautiously comforted by ACSA’s assurance that sufficient fuel stock has been secured to 02 Feb, but we are also painfully aware that while ACSA owns the storage and refuelling infrastructure and equipment, it does not procure or own fuel,” explained Munetsi.

Fuel procurement is the responsibility of the fuel companies which have commercial supply agreements with the airlines.

However, since the local aviation industry shocks triggered in March 2020 by the COVID-19 lockdown, the fuel suppliers have taken a very conservative approach in their Jet fuel inventory management, resulting in a more than halving of the average reserves at OR Tambo from 11 days to around four days, which has been sufficient to sustain airline operations.

“AASA is not privy to those individual supply contracts and they are not made public. However, we note that the NOTAM imposing fuel uplift restrictions, including a ban on flights tankering fuel, from OR Tambo remains valid until 1pm on 25 February, unless it is withdrawn before then. This suggests neither the fuel suppliers nor ACSA are able to guarantee the necessary volumes and that, until the shipments arrive at the O.R. Tambo International Airport fuel storage depot, we should remain concerned about potential disruptions to operations.”

Unserviceable and obsolete equipment

In addition, there are still too many instances of unserviceable runway and taxiway lights at major airports. There is equipment such as travellator passenger walkways in terminal buildings which remain unavailable after they were switched off during the COVID restrictions. Similarly, we note the ongoing delays and disruptions to passenger processing for both departures and arrivals due to the limited if not completely unavailable e-gates at our airports. These facilities are required for speedy, seamless and digital processing of passenger identify verification as is being done in most countries and is recommended by the Airports Council International and the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (among other things, ICAO sets worldwide passport and verification standards). The modernisation of the airport management IT system is very slow and was stalled early last year in light of concerns with the tender award.

“While we commend ACSA for its efforts to comply with the Public Finance Management Act, AASA pleads with ACSA, National Treasury and other players in the procurement chain to expedite the processes so that the necessary work is attended to with the urgency it deserves,” said Munetsi.

Suspended Instrument flight procedures, shortage of ATCs

Similarly, in its regular meetings with the Minister of Transport on various aviation related matters, AASA continues to express its members’ frustrations with the delays in processing the approvals to the 326 instrument flight procedures that were withdrawn last July.

“ATNS failed to deliver on its assurances that procedures would be reinstated by the summer peak travel season for priority key airports such as George. As we have seen this week at George, the unavailability of the relevant instrument flight procedure disqualified the use of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) for Runway 11 - the runway in use when the winds are from the East. This resulted in numerous delayed and cancelled flights to and from George, aggravation for travellers and additional operating costs for airlines,” he explained.

In addition to the withdrawn instrument flight procedures many Area Navigation (RNAV) routes and approaches, numerous standard departure routings for flights taking off from the major airports and for several upper and lower airways and routes between South Africa’s major air traffic control zones remain suspended.

Exacerbating this is the shortage of qualified and experienced air traffic controllers and airspace designers worldwide, which has seen aggressive poaching of South African talent away from ATNS. Operationally this has seen ATNS impose “flow control” in the Johannesburg control area, i.e. limiting the number of aircraft it lets into the airspace at any given time by increasing the gaps between departing and arriving flights, so that the controllers are not overwhelmed.

“Instead of improving safety, the situation poses an increased safety risk. However, travellers should take comfort in the fact that their safety and wellbeing is our member airlines’ operational priority and they take every possible measure to eliminate any risk, including diverting, delaying or cancelling flights, as inconvenient as those might be,” added Munetsi.

SA Weather Services, cybersecurity

This past weekend’s double breach of the SA Weather Services IT system, which meant they were unable to provide any aviation weather observations or forecasts on Monday (it is still offline but now posting limited forecasts on its X/Twitter feed) is a further aggravation the industry could do without as it is illegal to dispatch a flight without a weather forecast.

“In this day and age it is imperative that our essential service providers have robust cybersecurity barriers in place, which are tested frequently for gaps, which are then plugged. Fortunately our member airlines have found alternative workarounds so that operations are not disrupted,” explained Munetsi.

All three of these State aviation service providers are applying to their respective economic regulators for tariff increases.

“AASA’s position is that its members and travellers have been paying top dollar for services that have not been fully reliable and in some cases such as ATNS’s failure to maintain the approval of instrument flight procedures, it collected our money but did not do the work. The regulators should insist on full audits of how those user charges were spent before entertaining any applications for increases,” he stated.

AFRAA explained during a webinar this morning that the tax is ‘apparently’ intended to enhance passenger rights protection and improve service quality.

IATA and ANCA are to postpone the tax’s implementation to May to address challenges associated with already sold tickets, to ensure proper filing, and also to facilitate consultation with all stakeholders.

Raphael Kuuchi, IATA Vice President for Africa, said: “Fees, taxes, and charges make up nearly 50%of the total tickets in the sub-region.  They agreed to abolish all taxes on airline tickets and reduce by at least 25% passenger and security charges at airports.  This will become effective from January 1, 2026.”

The ministers also outlined plans to harmonise aviation charges, taxes, and fees through a Regional Supplementary Act, aligning with ICAO’s standards.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew, said: “This achievement underscores our unwavering commitment to excellence in healthcare logistics. With a global network spanning key healthcare logistics hubs, Ethiopian Airlines positions itself as a trusted partner in Pharma and life science logistics. We are dedicated to supporting the healthcare industry by providing reliable and efficient air cargo services that meet the highest international standards. Our goal is to make Addis Ababa the premier Pharma corridor in the global south, leveraging its strategic geographical location to address the logistical challenges of healthcare air transportation.”

This collaboration officially launched in November, with a series of project launch meetings and industry briefings in Riyadh. 

Over the next 14 months, regulatory experts from CAAi will work closely with GACA’s experts to develop updated aviation regulations that continue to meet International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. These new regulations will cover Air Operations, Airworthiness, Personnel Licensing and will be harmonised with European standards while being tailored specifically for Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector. This initiative supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, with the aviation sector positioned as a key driver of economic diversification.

Speaking after the project launch meeting, Captain Sulaiman Almuhaimedi, Executive Vice President of Safety & Aviation Standards at GACA, said: "The cooperation between GACA and CAAi is a continuation of the distinguished and historical relations between the two nations. Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented moment in the history of the kingdom’s aviation safety regulatory framework. This transformation of KSA’s aviation safety regulations aims to secure the highest practicable degree of international uniformity in regulations, standards, process, and procedures to shape the advancements and progress towards reaching the highest level of aviation safety in the Kingdom. The harmonisation fosters an environment that enables a sustainable growth of aviation activities to ultimately help in achieving and exceeding the KSA’s civil aviation strategy objectives.”

Rob Erskine, Head of International Operations at CAAi, added: “We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with GACA and help Saudi Arabia meet its Vision 2030 goals of becoming a global aviation leader. The Kingdom's commitment to advancing its aviation sector is truly commendable. Through this project, we aim to establish a modern updated regulatory framework that will foster sustainable growth in Saudi Arabia’s air transport industry. We welcomed supporting GACA in announcing to the civil aviation industry a new Regulatory Policy towards ICAO compliance, harmonised with EASA Regulations and tailored to KSA national requirements.” 

Neil Crompton, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said: “I am delighted to see the continuing collaboration between GACA and CAAi with the start of this third assignment under the Agreement signed in my presence in 2023. The evolvement of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Framework will support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and ensure sustainable growth with the aviation sector positioned as a key driver of economic diversification. This announcement furthers our cooperation in Civil Aviation and supports our mission to develop and maintain the long-standing relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia.”

Embraer’s passenger-to-freighter conversion and the Cargo Loading System, developed by U.S. Cargo Systems, have received the certification by FAA in September 2024. In July, the E-Freighter was certified by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) and EASA certification is due later this year. The aircraft was developed to fill a gap in the air cargo market and to replace older, less efficient models.

The E190F programme was launched in May 2022 to meet the changing demands of e-commerce and modern trade, which require fast deliveries and decentralized operations driving the demand for faster delivery of shipments to regional markets. The E-Freighter made its debut flight in April and its first public appearance during the Farnborough Airshow in July.

“FAA certification is an important milestone in our passenger-to-freighter conversion programme. We are excited to enter this market, filling a gap that has evolved in the market to meet the growing demand globally for faster deliveries, not just to metro areas, but to all regions. With our E-Jet footprint across the US and worldwide, we are offering optimum cargo solutions to our customers for this connected world”, said Martyn Holmes, Chief Commercial Officer, Embraer Commercial Aviation.

E-Jets converted to freighters will have over 40% more volume capacity, three times the range of large cargo turboprops, and up to 30% lower operating costs than larger narrowbodies. If combining capacity under the floor and main deck, the maximum structural payload is 13,500 kg for the E190F.