(Agence Ecofin) – The Ivorian government has injected $ 24 million into Air Côte d’Ivoire, which has been in deficit since 2012, when it was strongly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. After resuming its domestic operations on June 26, the company plans to go international as of July 1.
Air Côte d’Ivoire has what it takes to mitigate the financial shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with Reuters Friday, June 26, 2020, René Decurey (photo) the general manager of the company revealed that the state has allocated an envelope of 14 billion FCFA ($ 24 million) to the public enterprise, to keep it afloat.
The carrier had suspended air operations since mid-March due to the Covid-19. This health crisis situation has considerably eroded its already fragile treasury. Air Côte d’Ivoire has been in deficit since its launch in 2012 and is still awaiting its first positive results. At the end of 2017, it posted cumulative losses over five years of FCFA 65.5 billion ($ 112 million).
After three months of suspension of activities, the company resumed its domestic flights last Friday; it should relaunch its international lines on July 1 thanks to the reopening of national borders. “We think that if we can start in July, we will, if all goes well, recover 80% of our passengers by the end of the year”, explained René Decurey.
As part of the densification of its fleet, Air Côte d’Ivoire, which transported more than 750,000 passengers last year, was to receive from the second quarter of 2020 the first copy of the two Airbus A319neo and the A320neo. According to René Decurey, the A320neo will be delivered next October, bringing the fleet to eleven aircraft. It currently operates four A319ceo, two A320ceo and four Dash8-400.
Romuald Ngueyap
Also read: 02/27/2020 – Air Côte d’Ivoire to introduce in-flight telephone and Internet services on its new A320neo fleet
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