Friday May 22, 2020
CEO AIR DJIBOUTI Abdourahman Ali Abdillah
Having re-started commercial services in 2015, after more than a dozen years in the airline wilderness, Air Djibouti is embarking on ambitious plans to expand both freight and passenger services regionally and internationally.
Based at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, the airline is a member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and it is now aiming for International Air Transport Association (IATA) operational safety audit (IOSA) certification.
The tiny Red Sea coastal country of Djibouti, with a population of fewer than a million, is strategically located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its privileged geographical position places it at the centre of trade between Europe, Asia, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Currently serving Somalia (Mogadishu, Garoowe), Somaliland (Hargeisa), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), Yemen (Aden), and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the airline’s general manager (GM), Abdourahman Ali Abdillahi, says it hopes soon to open routes to Dubai in the UAE and Cairo in Egypt.
The company is also eying code-share agreements to Paris and London in conjunction with carriers like KLM and Kenya Airways.
The GM claims these goals are achievable, saying: “The market opportunity is there, so now it’s up to us to deliver.”
This year Air Djibouti aims to carry 240,000 passengers and is targeting a load factor of 85-90% – impressive figures when compared to 74% in 2019 and 40% the previous year.
The airline currently operates two Embraer E145s, a Boeing 737-500, and a recently leased Airbus A320-200. There are plans to acquire a second A320 by the year end.