Afrijet helps fly the national flag in Gabon
A major milestone has been reached in the history of air transport in the Central African country of Gabon as the new national airline, Fly Gabon, began operations on 31 August.
The Inauguration of Fly Gabon. IMAGE: Presidency of the Republic of Gabon
Privately-owned Afrijet is now flying the national flag in Gabon following last summer’s stake acquisition by the Gabonese Republic, via a new holding company. This decision met strategic objectives and also aimed to pool the country’s commercial aviation know-how and skills to build the new national airline: Fly Gabon.
“Welcoming the State and becoming its standard-bearer means aligning the development strategies of the country and the company. We intend to be able to reduce costs, and therefore prices, without losing the DNA of the private management of the airline,” said Marc Gaffajoli, chairman of the new state company.
Fly Gabon was launched last summer and the new Gabonese company is initially focusing on domestic services to connect the country’s nine provinces with its fleet of two ATRs.
The new airline aims to develop affordable regional mobility across the Atlantic coastal equatorial country and to stimulate the regional economy. To this end, the Gabonese government has undertaken an ambitious plan to modernise its provincial airports.
Last September, Afrijet signed a firm order with ATR for an ATR 42-600 (with an option for another aircraft) that will replace an ATR42-500. The first aircraft will be delivered in 2025 and will join Fly Gabon’s fleet.
“So Fly Gabon is marking a new milestone with a fleet of aircraft adapted to meet the needs of passenger traffic and provincial airport infrastructures,” explained Nyl Moret-Mba, CEO of Afrijet during the signing of the agreement.
“As we strengthen an already successful partnership with Afrijet, we are honoured to support the launch of Fly Gabon. The combination of the ATR42 and ATR72 will provide Fly Gabon with maximum flexibility for efficient operations in the long term,” added Alexis Vidal, commercial director of ATR.
Fly Gabon also hopes to expand its international flights in 2025 with South Africa as its first destination, and to achieve this the Gabonese national airline received its first Airbus A320-232 on lease in October.
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