AFRAA is committed to equip the African aviators with the knowledge and the expertise that’s sustain the continuous growth of the African aviation. In this regard, highly qualified instructors conduct AFRAA courses. We believe that well-trained people are the most important asset for aviation organizations to ensure continuous development while adapting to the ever changing operating environment.

During this period of the pandemic of COVID-19, AFRAA is pleased to offer virtual courses to enable participants to learn from their own base

Click here to access the AFRAA Virtual Training Programme 

NEC Corporation and SITA today announced a global partnership to develop market-leading solutions that enable a secure walk-through travel experience at airports, leveraging NEC’s I:Delight identity management platform together with SITA Smart Path and SITA Flex. 

The partnership comes as airports and airlines increasingly look to low-touch and automated passenger processing in order to comply with new hygiene requirements following the global COVID-19 pandemic, in line with recommendations from Airports Council International and IATA. 

Through the partnership SITA and NEC will further unlock the potential of seamless next-generation passenger processing solutions, making mobile enabled and touchless airport processes a reality. This will allow passengers to use their digital identity on their mobile phone whenever they travel at each step in the journey. Passengers will use their biometric identity to check-in, make payments, drop their bag, as well as pass through security, immigration and boarding by simply scanning their face at each step. Key touchpoints will automatically recognize you as a passenger, making steps such as bag drop and boarding effortless.   

The two companies will collaborate to develop this ground-breaking solution by utilizing both companies’ global presence in the market and the combination of technology for Common Use Platforms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.

With cutting-edge identification technologies and AI solutions including the most accurate face recognition algorithm (*), NEC’s I:Delight platform (**) allows passengers who have opted to use the service to be identified quickly and with a high-degree of accuracy, even when passengers are on the move. SITA Smart Path and SITA Flex solutions are able to integrate mobile and NEC’s biometric technologies with existing common-use infrastructure and airline applications while delivering a smoother airport journey.

Masakazu Yamashina, Executive Vice President, NEC, said: “NEC is pleased to collaborate with SITA to provide ‘NEC I:Delight,’ which utilizes NEC’s cutting-edge digital identity solutions that capitalize on biometrics technologies to deliver a unified customer experience across a wide range of services.” 

Raffie Beroukhim, Chief Experience Officer, NEC Corporation of America, and head of NEC Global Aviation Center of Excellence said: “We look forward to this partnership with SITA and the opportunity to develop and implement the most advanced platforms at airports throughout the world, thereby contributing to the digitization of the airline industry and making travel safer and more enjoyable.”

Barbara Dalibard, CEO of SITA, said: “In NEC we have another strong partner where together we are able to deliver to our airline and airport customers a more seamless, automated journey through the airport. We know that passengers value the benefit of a truly self-service experience. Leveraging SITA’s common-use footprint in more than 460 airports globally and NEC’s award-winning identity management technology, we are well placed to help our customers deliver a truly unique and efficient experience in the airport, particularly during these challenging times where there is increased focus on the health and safety of passengers.”

Source: SITA

Accelya announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Farelogix. Accelya has a 40-year history providing technology solutions to the global travel industry and has been at the forefront of settlement for IATA. Accelya’s product set – which includes solutions for revenue management, integrity, and accounting – is complementary to the technology solutions offered by Farelogix for airline retailing and NDC-enabled commerce. Together, the companies will be in a position to drive innovation and advance all aspects of airline retailing, from offer through to settlement.

Accelya will also extend the reach of the next-gen retailing and NDC solutions offered by Farelogix to a significantly broader segment of the market, including low-cost carriers which can benefit from Farelogix solutions as they plan their recovery from the current realities of the travel industry. It will also accelerate the Farelogix plan to establish feet on the ground in key regions to better service and support its current client base.

For your reference, the press release is included below. Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to arrange for an interview with Accelya / Farelogix to discuss the acquisition.

Source: Accelya

Rolls-Royce today joins the UN Race to Zero campaign in the run up to COP26 with a bold ambition to play a leading role in pioneering a resilient, inclusive, net zero carbon future.

This will see Rolls-Royce become net zero carbon in its operations by 2030 and, more fundamentally, set an ambition to play a leading role in enabling the sectors in which we operate to reach net zero carbon by 2050 through the development of new products and technologies. Today Rolls-Royce affirms that position in joining the UN Business Ambition for 1.5oC campaign.

As part of this commitment, Rolls-Royce will:
• Align its business to the Paris Agreement goals, to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C;
• Use its technological capabilities to play a leading role in enabling vital parts of the economy to get to net zero carbon by 2050, including aviation, shipping, rail, and power generation;
• Continue to, and seek to accelerate, progress against stated company and industry carbon reduction targets and goals;
• Continue our investment in research & development (R&D) in pursuit of ever more efficient products and novel solutions to the climate challenge;
• Publish a clear roadmap later this year, setting out a pathway to enabling net zero carbon emissions by 2050, including interim milestones.

Rolls-Royce has always pursued clean, safe and competitive solutions to deliver society’s vital power needs. As we emerge from the shadow of this pandemic, this task is now more urgent than ever. To meet the demands of a growing, more connected society, the power that matters must be sustainable, net zero carbon power. We are determined to use our position as a leading industrial technology company to play a significant role in achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Later this year, we will set out the technology pathways through which we can achieve net zero carbon emissions across our operations, and the products we are proud to pioneer.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immediate and obvious pressures to our industry and to us as a company, but the long-term challenges our world faces have not gone away,” said Warren East, CEO, Rolls-Royce. “The world on the other side of this pandemic will need the power that we generate to fuel economic recovery. I absolutely believe the call for that power to be more sustainable and net zero will be stronger than ever. Answering that call is a big, complex challenge and few companies on the planet are better placed than Rolls-Royce to help. We will use our capabilities to play a leading role in enabling the vital sectors in which we operate achieve net zero emissions by 2050. I believe this ambition will drive our competitiveness for the future.”

Rolls-Royce will focus on advancing key technologies, including:
• Driving step changes in the efficiency of engines, as well as working together with the fuels industry to significantly ramp up the availability of lower carbon alternative fuels.
• Leading an ambitious consortium to build small modular nuclear power stations that can provide competitive, clean, low carbon power at scale.
• Accelerating the development of disruptive new technologies and capabilities for future low emission products, including pioneering the electrification of flight.
• Continuing to deploy hybrid electric systems today in the rail and marine markets and to transition those capabilities into aviation.
• Delivering microgrid solutions to provide vital stability and back-up power, expanding the uptake of renewable energy by removing the challenge of volatility.
• Planning to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from our operations and facilities by 2030, by using 100% renewable energy, pioneering closed loop manufacturing techniques on high value metals, and deploying our cutting-edge microgrid capabilities to support our estate.

Nigel Topping, UN High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26 added: “With 2.6 billion people and over half of global GDP now covered by net zero goals, Rolls-Royce is positioning itself to meet huge growth in demand for net zero transport and power. As a company operating in some of the hardest to abate sectors, this a big act of industrial technology leadership.”

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires systemic change across industries and borders. As an industrial technology leader, we believe Rolls-Royce is well placed to work across those parts of the economy and industry that are the hardest to abate.

Our commitment to solving complex problems and continued investment in research and development will ensure that our business is not only compatible with a net zero carbon future, it is essential for it.

Source: Rolls-Royce

By Ignacio González | Financial, Payments Management| Accelya

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought unusual trends in a very short time period. Everything we have known has been turned upside down.

The circumstances have modified priorities for airlines, making cash flow management and revenue protection essential strategies to respond to the industry situation.

At Accelya, we have seen for the first time ever, the amount of refunds processed exceeding the number of charges. On the other hand, chargebacks have increased 800% between January and March this year compared to the same period in 2019.

How can the rise in chargebacks affect airlines?
This increase can put pressure on chargeback management teams, who may not be ready for such a scale of change.

But this is not the only factor to consider. In some cases both a refund and a chargeback take place in the same transaction. This is called double-dipping and has dramatically increased for airlines during month of March, adding up costs and creating an additional burden on cash flow.

What do you need to mitigate this impact?
Alignment: On average, 40% of chargeback claims are successfully defended. To minimize risk, your chargeback, refund and reconciliation teams need to work closely. You also need to consider expanding your team in a timely manner as it takes 3 to 4 months to train a chargeback specialist.

Adherence to deadlines: It is vital to have your teams ready so that your chargebacks can be defended within a set timeframe. Otherwise, you will lose the amount at stake and incur scheme and acquirer costs.

Comprehensive analysis: Your teams will need to use a detailed and highly granular data pool (a transaction level reconciliation of chargeback requests and refunds is required) to ensure that both refunds and chargebacks are not accepted in the same transaction.

What initiatives are airlines putting in place?
Revenue protection is a major challenge to the industry now. To learn how to address this, we have listened to our customers, who have been carrying out different practices during the last couple of weeks. Every airline has its own story, but overall, these are solutions we have seen working best:

Refund proposals: Some airlines are actively proposing refunds to avoid chargeback fees. If you follow this approach, ideally you would not proceed with the refund right away, but would need to also make sure to communicate it to the final customer, so the dispute is not triggered and so you can save the chargeback fee and administrative cost.

Presentment delay: To protect cash and to slow the rate of refunds hitting their respective acquirers, airlines have requested a set time delay between the date of the refund and the presentment to the acquirer. The delay goes anywhere from 30 to 45 days.

Unflown risk monitoring: Understanding unflown risk exposure helps predict cash flow and provides data that enables meaningful discussions with acquirers. According to our Webinar survey, 64% of the airlines do not review their unflown. Reviewing the unflown at this point is vital in refunds cancellations and chargebacks to free up as much cash as possible out of the collateral.

New acquirer set up: 46% of acquirers have changed settlement terms. We have seen airlines looking to open new acquiring connections for credit card billing, since existing agreements are frozen, or the terms of the agreement have trigger clauses that slow the release of cash.

Encouraging signs within the industry
It’s not all bad news. At the beginning of April, we have seen that credit card payments from our global pool of data have started to show an element of recovery.

Now that chargeback and payment dispute ratios have increased, the ability to ensure that only those that are valid are accepted becomes paramount for protecting cash.

According to our last Webinar survey, cash flow is a main priority for airlines, so we strongly recommend contemplating some of these initiatives to ensure its protection.

Source: Accelya