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March 28, 2024
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Tuscar’s Aero Clinic is an advisory initiative set up to provide guidance and support to the African aviation industry. 

AirInsight spoke with David Aher, Managing Director of Tuscar.

What is Tuscar Aero Clinic all about?

Simply put, it’s a disruptive initiative designed to provide the African aviation community free access to both African and International Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) who are available to offer guidance and support to help the Aviation industry rebuild, develop, and prosper.

Historically, Africa’s track record in Aviation has not been as successful as other jurisdictions. The more successful a sector is, the more it develops its knowledge base. Unfortunately, the African aviation sector lags behind other continents in this regard and it will look to its leadership for guidance and direction during these difficult times.

The clinic is a confidential based platform that enables the Aviation community to engage with Tuscar’s experts. Through a collaborative process, it enables us to support the development and implementation of strategies designed to assist the community initially rebuild and in time prosper.

What sets Tuscar apart in its services?

From the onset, Tuscar is both an innovative and disruptive company. As an example, how many aviation Advisory or Consulting firms can you list who are providing a confidential based Free Clinic offering support to the African Aviation community?

Tuscar’s SME’s are Industry veterans, we do not believe in the “knowledge is power” concept, we do not endorse a “one size fits all” philosophy nor employ “plug and play” solutions. We are acutely aware of the community’s past experiences of “Aviation Consultants” which left a lot to be desired. In particular, no apparent relationship between the fees being charged and the value proposition promised. 

Our primary objective is to guide our clients in their decision-making process. By leveraging our extensive first-hand experience, we enable their in-house teams take ownership, shape, and develop the strategies designed to successfully meet their objectives.

What do you see as the market for Tuscar Aero Clinic and how do you plan to address this market?

The clinic is a precursor to the services we will be offering to the whole African aviation industry. Our objective is to ensure that the entire aviation ecosystem is given access to the much-needed expertise and experience of our African and International SME’s who make up our team. 

The ecosystem comprises the Airlines, regulatory authorities such as the Civil Aviation Authorities, Airports, Ground handling agents, MROs (Maintenance, Repairs, and Overhaul) facilities amongst others.

Our support of the industry will be through active engagement and collaboration. As this pandemic continues, now more than ever, the stakeholders need to collaborate and engage so as to aid in the development of achievable solutions. Due to the symbiotic nature of the aviation ecosystem, the action of one stakeholder has an impact on another.

Unfortunately whilst we find ourselves in this position, an opportunity does present itself for all the stakeholders across the spectrum from the Airlines to the CAA’s, to re-examine their respective business strategies. This is where Tuscar’s SME’s are on hand to offer guidance and support to help rebuild the sector in a “realistic and sustainable” manner.

Who are the team members behind Tuscar Aero Clinic?

Due to the symbiotic nature of the Aviation ecosystem, it was decided to develop a team comprising six experts, each a subject matter expert in their respective fields. 

Critical to the process was identifying a number of African-based experts familiar with the local aviation environment. They needed to have extensive localized knowledge of the sector, but more importantly, understand the challenges of the past.

Whilst our team bios outlining their specific expertise and backgrounds can be viewed on our website www.tuscar.ie, our teams make up is as follows:

  • David Aher – Leasing and Business Development
  • Aaron Munetsi – Business Strategies and Route Development
  • Clive Snook – IATA Instructor and Aerodrome Operations Management
  • Dikko Nwachukwu – Airline Operations and Commercial Strategies
  • Brian Skehan – Aviation Regulation and Regulatory Affairs
  • Dr. Gerry Conroy – Aviation Engineering and Green Based Initiatives

African aviation as well as other markets have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, what are your thoughts about the recovery of the aviation industry in general and African aviation? 

The global aviation industry has been adversely impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic, possibly more than any other sector or industry. There will be an obvious reduction in Airline operations resulting in fewer routes, an initial level of anxiety surrounding air travel due to new health and safety protocols, which needs to be carefully managed, and the demand for air travel predicated on the duration of travel ban restrictions.

We strongly believe that the African aviation industry has the opportunity to emerge from this pandemic much stronger and more resilient with growth expectations surpassing those predicted prior to COVID-19. 

However, what will determine if Africa becomes the aviation success story that it has the potential to be, depends on the strategic decisions made now during this phase by the leadership of the entire aviation ecosystem. 

A key element of this process will require closer co-operation and co-ordination between and among all stakeholders, now more than ever before. Whilst it will take much longer for global aviation to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, the African aviation sector may lag behind, due to previous challenges and also having to come from a historically low base. 

The recovery process will require a robust and pragmatic approach to circumvent the challenges of the past in order to capitalize on the opportunities of the future.

Although, the current climate does present opportunities for new entrants to the market who will fill the void left by Airlines who do not survive this pandemic.  If we take Nigeria as a case in point, Ibom Air continues to grow its fleet size and expand its network. United Nigeria plans to launch at the end of the year and Green Airways Africa is scheduled to commence operations in early 2021.

In South Africa, a new Airline has entered the market and is scheduled to commence operations at the end of the year. Its name is to be chosen by the public with the Airline’s founder actively engaging with the public from the onset with the name selection process.

The current climate requires innovation and opportunities exist for Airlines to emerge with the ability to acquire assets such as aircraft, facilities, and staff at affordable prices. 

If managed correctly, the recovery and subsequent growth of the Aviation sector and the contribution it can make to the African continent could be unprecedented. However, strategic and pragmatic decisions made now will be key to its success or failure. 

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