The national airline Air Algérie has signed a major sub-contract with a European company. This is indeed what Yacine Benslimane, DG of the national pavilion told the official agency Algeria Press Service (APS).
Two new Air Algérie subsidiaries will soon be created. These are the maintenance subsidiaries in July 2023, followed by the Handling subsidiary, specializing in aircraft assistance, scheduled for 2024, Benslimane said in a recent interview with APS. The two new branches “can attract the attention of international partners to come and invest in these areas and bring more technicality and know-how, but also improve our network”, said the manager.
The General Manager of Air Algérie revealed that the beginnings of the maintenance subsidiary are already palpable, with the signing of a contract with an international customer, namely the French company ASL Airlines, having requested the services of Air Algérie. “It is the first European company assisted by the national company”, he rejoiced, stressing that Air Algérie held a portfolio of potential customers on the African market who can be taken care of and “who will be approached”.
It should be noted that the spin-off of these two activities is part of a “very vast” restructuring project of the company and which will affect several aspects, explained Yacine Benslimane, recalling that to date two subsidiaries have already been created, namely the Catering subsidiary and the Cargo subsidiary.
As for the Handling structure, Air Algérie was able to “seduce” French companies on the local market, particularly in the cities of Sétif and Béjaïa, and talks are underway with other companies. Regarding the cargo activity, Benslimane noted that in addition to a cargo plane dedicated to the transport of goods, the holds of Air Algérie aircraft “are open to all operators to use its daily flights to international destinations”. This would allow them to transport goods, particularly perishable foodstuffs, quickly and safely, and to have very rapid access to markets in Europe, the Far East or North America.
Another project invested recently by the company, that of the rehabilitation of GSE equipment at Algerian airports, he underlined, referring to the launch of a repair and renovation program at stopovers such as Djanet, Tamanrasset, and soon Illizi, Adrar, Oran and Algiers. Other stopovers will be processed as and when.
