Aviation Africa: Business aviation is invaluable

“AfBAA is delighted to be a partner the Aviation Africa summit and the exhibition this year, and to have the opportunity over the next two days to have a voice and to debate about the industry,” said Pereira.

“While commercial aviation plays a huge part in the industry, business aviation should not be overlooked,” she said. “I hope that I can assure you that the executive aviation plays a cultural role in Africa, both in terms of connectivity and the economy development of the region. Executive aviation provides a fast and efficient way to travel between countries and regions on our continent. This is especially in this diverse continent, where land transportation options may be very limited. We only have to look at the continent connectivity maps to see for yourself the gaps.

“As an example, we have a mining investor - a corporation in Durban, South Africa - that would like to fly and to visit and do business in a potential site in the Copper Belt in Zambia.

The fastest way commercially can be between 18 to 35 hours! It is actually just a two/three-hour flight.  This is a good example how a business jet can step in and bridge that gap,” said Pereira.

“We can transport everyone from A to B in a few hours, people. That makes the difference. The distance is just 1000 nautical miles, and a mid-sized jet like the Challenger 3500 will be a very good option. You can literally be back to loved ones, or back to doing business the same day, whereas the commercial route is the longest way. We need to stop looking at a business jet as a luxury, but as a tool that gets you from A to B.”

Pereira, co-founder of Angola’s successful Bestfly, went on to say African governments needs to work together.

“As the AfBAA campaign says, no plane, no game, and this is the message to African governments too. We would like to see all 54 countries in Africa to come together with a plan. We need to plan for new infrastructures at the airports, new facilities, which we are already starting to see – this is so important, especially within the business aviation section.”

“BestFly has an FBO with a full service for 12 years now -I mean a VIP terminal with all the services with customs, immigration and police. This is a full service that is very difficult to find in Africa, but we managed to do it in Angola because we had the support of our government, which is very important,” said Pereira.

“As every speaker so far has said at the summit, without the support of governments and the stakeholders of our industry, we cannot do anything. So, I would like you to bear that in mind today, because we talk a lot about commercial aviation, but I would like for all of your going home after the event, that business aviation contributes a lot for this industry and can grow in Africa.”