Universal Weather and Aviation’s ground-support division, Universal Aviation (Booth W073), has expanded its capabilities in northern Africa, with new dedicated resources located in Morocco and Ethiopia. “We’ve seen a great upsurge of demand in Africa,” said Judith Milne, Universal’s regional vice president Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Africa in general is a big opportunity for business aviation.”
The new Morocco services will operate under a supervision license and will have five local Universal employees based at airports in Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat. Services at these facilities begin in June. “We’re starting training of the new employees in the next couple of weeks,” Milne said. At Casablanca, a business aviation terminal is available for non-commercial traffic, while Marrakech and Rabat offer a VIP lounge in their main terminals. On-request services will be available at Fes, Agadir and Tangiers.
“This is just one of the places where business in Africa is developing,” Milne said. Universal Aviation has also added supervision services at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where more business aviation traffic is now flying. “Ethiopian Airlines is the only service [available],” she added, “and we’re working in cooperation with them but helping with our own staff on the ground to help our customers transit the airport and navigate through what is quite a complex airport.”
Universal has a base in Tanzania that offers trip support services, and this team can also support operators flying into east and central Africa. “We’re looking at a lot of destinations around the African continent,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re in the right places,” and customers appreciate arriving and recognizing a handler wearing a familiar Universal Aviation uniform.
“There have been business jets in Africa for a long time,” she said, “but the volume of traffic is increasing. Companies are flying farther afield. It is a big place and it’s very challenging, diverse and frustrating, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes not. It can never be a one-size-fits-all approach. Universal is good at adapting to the local situation. We’re very keen to offer services with local expertise.”