LONDON – Krimson Aviation, based in Ethiopia is an aviation flight – support company, giving consultancy, charter flights, dispatch, MRO, and hangarage.
The company is resilient amidst the current situation in Ethiopia, namely in the northernmost province of Tigray.
A civil war in the Tigray did not undermine the growth of the company and has continued to march on in providing support service to the aviation community in Ethiopia, especially Business and General aviation.
Data from Wing X Advance shows that activities in the business and general aviation in Ethiopia have continued to advance well beyond 2020 levels.
Figures show that East Africa is resilient and has been growing (aircraft movements) up to 44% year on year.
Krimson Aviation’s CEO Dawit Lemma stated: “We are now the largest African flight-support company in terms of geographic footprint and number of airports serviced for business aviation,” Lemma said.
“The hostilities have not had an effect on other countries in East Africa, which represents more than 50 per cent of our business. There has also been increased demand for humanitarian and military flights into the north of the region, which has contributed to a portion of our business over the last year.”
The optimism forces Krimson to expand even further. The company is now studying the possibilities of opening and developing an FBO in Addis Ababa, with further considerations in East Africa. Lemma further added:
“The African FBO network is limited; those that exist are comparable with international offerings, although they remain few and far between, which is why we’re focusing on this sector,” Lemma told AIN.
“We are currently confirming investment and will be able to add more detail once this is in place. Our plan to have three facilities built and operational in Africa by end of the first quarter of 2023 remains on track.”
Krimson’s move points to the growing number of business aviation traffic in Africa.
Moreover, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) has invited Krimson to join its Ambassadors program.
This is seen as crucial as this initiative recognizes good governance and leadership in the business, and also allows Krimson’s representative to join in workshops and forums organized by EBAA.
Lemma further said: Our experience managing flight movements between, and within, the two continents deliver valuable insight on best practice and effective flight management linking the two continents,” Lemma added.
Krimson remains optimistic and resilient as business and general aviation continue on a positive and steep trajectory in Africa. The company is committed to providing flight support services to customers in Africa and worldwide.
A business unit such as a medevac business is seeing a rapid rise along with the need to expand ground infrastructure like the MRO and FBO as have been mentioned above.
The company also launched a $100,000 scholarship to fund a new endowment at the aviation department at U.S.-based Purdue University to support minority students’ education.
Lemma added: “This year is going to be an extremely dynamic one for Krimson Aviation. At Krimson, we have made a point of doing the ordinary extraordinarily, and this has supported year-on-year growth for the last five years.”
