Just a month after Jambojet was awarded the coveted IATA Operational Safety Audit Certification, the regional low-cost carrier has been ranked top airline in Africa with the youngest fleet in a report by global aviation intelligence provider, ch-aviation.
The report shows that Jambojet’s average aircraft age is 4.3 years compared to the continent’s average of 16 years, the oldest globally. It is followed by Royal Air Maroc Express of Morocco and Air Austral in Reunion at 6.03 and 6.05 years respectively.
Ethiopian Airlines and RwandAir come in fourth and fifth respectively at 6.11 and 6.17 years respectively.
“This recognition is yet another validation of our commitment to keeping customer safety at the core of our business. We remain committed to matching our words with action which is why we made a business decision to only acquire brand new aircrafts,” said Allan Kilavuka, CEO, Jambojet.
Globally, the average age of aircrafts flying is 12 years. The youngest airline fleets is in Asia which averages 8.5 years.
“This year, we also looked at the youngest fleets for larger airlines separately, because fleet renewal for these airlines is more complex and requires more capital than for small start-ups,” said Thomas Jaeger, CEO, ch-aviation.
“Our data clearly shows that Asian airlines continue to see tremendous growth, especially the low-cost carriers. This coupled with good access to capital for new aircraft leads to the youngest fleets being in this part of the world,” he said.
The report analysed more than 30,000 active commercial passenger and cargo aircrafts.
Last month, Jambojet has added another feather to its cap after it was awarded the IATA IOSA registration. The IOSA programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the safety, operational management and control systems of an airline.
The regional low cost airline, is the only operator after Kenya Airways to get IOSA registration in Kenya, reinforcing its commitment to maintain global safety standards in its operations.
“Safety is a principal requisite in our industry. Our customers need the assurance that they can travel comfortably, affordably and securely to any of our destinations. This registration is a testament to the effort we have put into ensuring the best operational and efficiency standards as a growing regional airline,” said Kilavuka at the time
Jambojet has successfully completed the meticulous audit which involves approximately 900 standards and recommended practise.
The audit covers an exhaustive assessment of eight functional and operational areas which include organisation and management systems, flight operations, operational control, flight dispatch, aircraft engineering and maintenance, cabin operations, ground handling operations, and security management.
“The IOSA audit involves a great deal of hard work and requires a significant commitment of people, time and resources. I would like to congratulate Jambojet team for this achievement. As we expand our operations into the region, we are keen to offer value beyond convenience and affordability. Our core promise to our customers and partners is reliability and safety and undergoing the IOSA audit adds to this commitment, across the region,” said Kilavuka.
IOSA uses internationally recognised audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardized and consistent manner. Airlines are re-evaluated every two years to ensure consistent innovation and observance to operational management, efficiency, air-worthiness and safety in the aviation industry.
This achievement comes after the airline was recently awarded the 2018 Bombardier Reliability Award for outstanding performance in dispatch reliability.
