Air Côte d’Ivoire has new pilot
At the head of Air Côte d’Ivoire since its foundation in 2012, René Decurey leaves his position today, 25 February 2021. Laurent Loukou is to succeed him.
As deputy director general since September 2012, Loukou has a good knowledge of the airline. Prior to that, he was sales & marketing manager at Nouvelle Air Ivoire from 2002 to 2011, and from 2011 to 2012 sales & ground operations manager at ASKY Airlines.
Because of the pandemic, borders were closed and Air Côte d’Ivoire’s planes had to stay on the ground from 23 March to 15 July 2020, which generated a loss of income of CFA 48 billion (USD 86 million). However, with the CFA 14 billion (USD 25 million) state subsidy, the company’s 2020 turnover reached 65% of the level in 2019 (CFA 83 billion).
Loukou will pursue the company’s strategic network expansion goal, which includes about twenty domestic and regional connections, the opening of a connection to Johannesburg (South Africa) in April 2021 and the launching of its first long-distance routes in 2022. (amh)