In cooperation with GARS, Bergamo University, Bremen University of Applied Sciences and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Huddersfield Business School Behavioural Research Centre will host the 4th Workshop on “Aviation in Africa” to be held online on Thursday 18th November 2021.

The objectives of the workshop are to:

Discuss the current state of commercial aviation in the region;
Identify key factors that help shape the current air transport environment;
Contribute towards a deeper understanding of air transport in Africa
Assess the role of air transport in a modal transport perspective
Discuss the role of air transport as part of the trade, tourism and economic integration

The keynote speaker and panel members for the workshop have been confirmed and we are proud to present them.

Keynote speaker - Professor Kenneth J. Button - Georges Mason University

Panel members:

Dr Megersa Abate, Transport Economist – The World Bank
Dr Panayotis Christidis, Senior Researcher – European Commission, JRC
Mr Charles Ngwalla, Key Account & Alliances Manager – Astral Aviation Limited
Professor Gianmaria Martini – University of Bergamo
Prof. Dr Eyden Samunderu – Managing Partner at AMENA Africa Ltd International School of Management
Jon Howell – CEO and Founder, AviaDev
Moderator: Gavin Eccles – Consultant and Professor / GE Consulting – Aviation and Tourism

The topic of this year’s workshop is ‘The African aviation industry a year after the covid-19 pandemic’.

It is well-documented that the aviation and hospitality industries have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic; this is no different in the African context. The continent is characterised, with few exceptions, by inefficient state-owned carriers which have been unable to complete prior to the crisis. On the other hand, the majority of capacity across the continent is provided by state-owned carriers. While there have been substantial amounts of cash injection into the airline industry in advanced economies, little support has been mobilised for airlines in Africa. The uneven support witnessed so far in the sector has the potential to distort the level playing field. At the domestic and regional level, while the recent years have witnessed the emergence of privately owned airlines, the operating environment remains arguably uncompetitive for these airlines, owing to high operating costs. This raises the question of the long-term viability of the African aviation industry. Thus, the potential structure of the industry post-Covid-19 and the impact of the Covid-19-induced aviation crisis on the African economies have hitherto been the subject of limited research.

Potential topics include:

African air transport network contraction during the Covid-19 pandemic and its wider economic implications
Impact of the Covid-19-induced tourism crisis on African economies
Potential structure of the African aviation market post-Covid-19
African’s aero politics in a post-Covid world
Domestic and regional air transport in Africa and their potential to relieve the tourism industry
Impact of Covid-19 on airports and ATC
Airline competition in Africa

Ahmed AL-Shuaili - Air Traffic Controller, a student and a researcher in Air Transport Sector.

Adedotun Joseph Adenigbo (PhD.)

Adedotun holds a PhD in Transport Management Technology with an option in Air Transport Management at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. His thesis focused on Air Cargo Traffic in Nigeria and Ghana. TETFund Nigeria sponsored his research in Ghana while he served as a Research Affiliate student at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, in 2017. He is a Lecturer at the Department of Logistics and Transport Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Currently, Adedotun is researching the Logistics of air cargo distribution in South Africa as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg. His primary research interests include air transport management, air cargo logistics, and air traffic demand analysis.

Qualifications:

PhD. Transport Management Technology (Option in Air Transport Management) Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria - 2019

M.Sc in Transport Management (Air Transport option), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria - 2013

B.Tech. Transport Management, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.

Gavin Eccles - Working more than More 25 years in Aviation, Airports and Tourism Development

Gavin has worked across the world to make the link between Aviation and Tourism development, and, has been associated with airlines, hotels, airports and tour operators. Previous roles have included development in British Airways, as well as consultancy projects for United Airlines, American Airlines, Qantas, as well as supporting the development of low-cost carriers to tourist destinations. In Portugal, Gavin has been the advisor to the Board of Visit Portugal on aviation development, and, former CCO of Portugal’s oldest airline - SATA Azores Airlines.

Jon Howell - CEO and Founder, AviaDev

Jon has worked within the African aviation events industry since 2012. Jon created AviaDev, a content platform and annual route planning conference for Africa. It is now established as the largest event of its kind on the continent having been held in Kigali 2016 and 2017 and then Cape Town in 2018 and 2019 with a future edition planned for Madagascar.

Additionally, Jon established AviaDev Insight Africa, the only podcast dedicated to African aviation in 2018. This boasts an audience in over 170 countries globally and over 50,000 listeners.

Jon became a key person of influence during the coronavirus pandemic, by delivering content and insight using digital means, including delivering Africa’s first virtual event for Aviation, Tourism and Hospitality, Africa Tomorrow in July 2020.

Jon is passionate about empowering the next generation of aviators. He co-founded Aviators Africa Academy in 2018, which has delivered outreach events across the continent and a new series of webinars for the next generation launch in September 2021. He was also appointed a Global Ambassador for Gorilla Conservation for his fundraising efforts which include climbing the three largest mountains in the UK in a single weekend wearing a gorilla suit.

Andrea Gualini is a PhD student of Applied Economics at the University of Bergamo (Italy)

His research interest is connected to Transportation Economics with a focus on cooperation and competition mechanisms which he investigates through the application of econometric methods to assist regulators and policymakers.

He graduated in Management Engineering at the University of Bergamo with a thesis on airline competition in the North Atlantic market. While working on it he spent three months in the U.S. under the co-supervision of Professor Martin Dresner. In January 2022 he will spend his visiting period at the Toulouse School of Economics where he will focus his research on empirical industrial organization and entry games applied to the airline industry.

Other than some working papers, Andrea has already published scientific contributions to the journal of Research in Transport Economics and the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy.

His research activities include being a referee for the Journal of Air Transport Management and for the journal of Transportation Research Part A. For further information and the CV visit: https://sites.google.com/unibg.it/andreagualini/home-page

Dr Panayotis (Panos) Christidis is the coordinator of transport research in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Seville, Spain

His work addresses policy, economics and modelling for all modes of transport, at the European and international levels. In the field of aviation, his interests include airline and airport competition, connectivity, network development and international aviation agreements. Particularly for Africa, he has carried out several studies on the drivers and impacts of aviation across the continent, ranging from identifying infrastructure investment needs to evaluating the impacts of market liberalization.

Peter Forbes, Director, Alan Stratford and Associates Ltd

Peter Forbes is an air transport economist with over 35 years of experience in air transport planning and consultancy both in the UK and overseas. His studies have included aviation policy and strategy, regulation, air traffic forecasting, new route evaluation, and the financial and economic appraisal of a variety of airport, airline and ATC infrastructure developments. His consultancy work has included detailed analysis of airport and airline planning, operations, finance and environmental impact at airports and smaller general aviation airfields in the UK and overseas. In addition to his consultancy work, Mr Forbes has also worked on secondment to the European Commission in Brussels, where he acted as an air transport advisor to the EC’s programme of technical assistance to Russia and the CIS. He has also acted as an Expert Witness on airport development at Public Inquiries, written a number of published articles on air transport issues and has contributed to several BBC and independent TV and radio programmes.

Mr Forbes is an Economics graduate and started his career at British Caledonian Airways before joining the UK Civil Aviation Authority. In 1990 he joined Alan Stratford and Associates Ltd, a specialist air transport planning and economics consultancy, based in the UK but undertaking projects throughout the world. He has a particular interest in the air transport sector in developing countries and he had undertaken a wide range of assignments in Africa, the Middle East and SE Asia. From 2006-2008, he was Team Leader for the preparation of a business plan for the establishment of ASKY in Togo, now 40% owned by Ethiopian Airlines and one of Africa’s most successful regional carriers. He has provided input for the air transport component of a White Paper on the development of transport policy in Africa prepared for the African Union Commission, NEPAD and AFDB for PIDA (Program Infrastructure Development for Africa. He was responsible for preparing a financial plan for the development of an Implementation Agency for the Yamoussoukro Decision within the African States in the COMESA, EAC and SADC regions. In 2018, he carried out a study for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to evaluate the future development of aviation in Zambia, including the re-establishment of a new national airline. Other assignments in Africa include a due diligence study, including the preparation of a business plan, for a potential investor in Air Senegal, a feasibility study for the establishment of a new corporate aviation operator in Togo, advice on PPP contracts at Abidjan International Airport on behalf of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire, assistance to the Ghanian Civil Aviation Authority in relation to concession income at Kotoka International Airport in Accra and an evaluation of humanitarian air services in sub-Saharan Africa, on behalf of the European Commission.

Linkedin Profile - www.linkedin.com/in/peter-forbes-a7301514/

Tassew Tolcha is a PhD candidate in Logistics – specialising in air transport economics at Molde University College, Norway

Tassew’s research interest focuses on transport modelling and connectivity analysis, transport demand analysis and forecasting, and dynamics of air transport networks. Tassew has published some articles in top journals such as the Journal of Transport Geography and Transport Policy.

Gianmaria Martini - Full Professor of Applied Economics at the Università degli Studi di Bergamo – Italy

Research activity focuses on parametric and non – parametric methods to estimate technical and economic efficiency, with many applications to the air transportation sector (airport efficiency). He has published several papers in international journals and presented his research results in many international conferences.

Traditional efficiency analysis has been extended to environmental issues, presenting results regarding the determinants of pollution and noise in the aviation sector. Recent research activities have extended to regional development and aviation, with a specific focus on African countries, and airlines pricing.

Contributions are both methodological and empirical, with policy implications that may be included in the aviation regulation settings. He is currently Associate Editor of the Journal of Air Transport Management and has been the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 2013 ATRS Conference in Bergamo.

He has been nominated Vice President for Publications of the Air Transport Research Society.

Kenneth Button is a University Professor at George Mason University

He has held a variety of positions including Professor Applied Economics and Transport (Loughborough University), VSB Professor of Transport and the Environment (Tinbergen Institute) and MBP Visiting Professor in Economics, National University of Singapore, and has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Porto, Ihna, Bologna, Bergamo, British Columbia and California, Berkeley.