Monday 24 February 2025 
✏️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Algiers, Algeria | June 2nd, 2024 — In this exclusive interview with TSA, Hamza Benhamouda, CEO of Air Algérie, elaborates on his vision and plans for the national airline. He discusses the evaluation of the Osra offer, addresses ticket price criticisms, talks about fleet renewal, and more.
Question: You were appointed as the CEO of Air Algérie on February 7th. What was your initial assessment of the company?
Answer: As anticipated, Air Algérie presents numerous challenges but also significant potential. Our journey to fulfill our ambitions and meet our standards for the national airline is just beginning, but we have already started making strides.
We immediately dove into the core issues with clear objectives in sight. My experience and deep understanding of the company and its environment—gained from my 15 years at Air Algérie from 2004 to 2018 in various roles, as well as my recent position leading the National Civil Aviation Agency—have been invaluable in this process.
Predictably, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted global air transport. For Air Algérie, it wasn’t until the second half of 2022 that regular traffic began to gradually recover. Although we achieved notable milestones in 2023, these accomplishments alone cannot make up for the previous years’ losses or provide full confidence for the current and future fiscal periods.
For instance, we approached 2024 with a reduced fleet, as many aircraft had to be grounded for significant maintenance or repairs. This situation has been exacerbated by the global strain on the aviation maintenance and spare parts market.
The company’s overall organization, including our foreign operations, has undergone restructuring. However, these changes lacked coherence and support on the ground, resulting in outcomes contrary to our expectations.
That said, our management and staff are dedicated to steering the company forward and proudly representing our national flag in the competitive landscape of global aviation. It’s important to remember that many of our competitors are members of the three major international alliances that dominate the world’s air transport industry. Personally, I see this competition as a driving force for our development.
Question: What are your projects and strategic objectives for the medium and long term? What is your vision for Air Algérie?
Answer: Air Algérie will undoubtedly continue to fulfill its role as the national flag carrier. This is a demanding and rigorous task that requires significant daily mobilization of human and material resources to ensure over 200 flights per day across four continents.
Our short and medium-term projects revolve around key strategic directions aimed at elevating our service quality and aviation safety standards to the highest levels of international civil aviation, all while pursuing sustainable development.
We aim to strengthen our market share, expand our network, and enhance customer satisfaction. This will involve engaging all staff, optimizing our organization and operations, and allocating the necessary resources.
While these goals might seem straightforward, they represent monumental challenges that will require the involvement of all our executives and staff to successfully meet.
My strategy focuses on improving governance, fostering a strong corporate culture, and deploying the necessary resources. To give you a few concrete examples: we plan to intensify and expand training, particularly in areas such as customer relations and satisfaction, as well as mastering information and operational systems.
We will reorient our commercial policy to prioritize customer satisfaction. Quality of service encompasses all aspects, from agency interactions to airport experiences and onboard services, where cleanliness must be a constant priority. In essence, the entire customer journey must be satisfactory from start to finish.
In the long term, we aim to renew and expand our fleet while systematically growing our network.
You ask what I want to make of Air Algérie? I don’t claim to have the authority to shape Air Algérie entirely according to my vision. However, I can share my objective: to transform Air Algérie into a modern, efficient, and socially responsible airline. A benchmark for the African continent.
Question: You have increased the number of flights to the south of the country despite the fact that domestic routes are not profitable. Shouldn’t a subsidiary dedicated to the domestic network be created?
Answer: The expansion of our domestic network adheres to public service obligations set by the authorities. In this context, economic profitability does not drive our decisions.
We operate under specific mandates from the relevant ministries, outlined in a public service agreement. In return, we receive necessary support from the government to fulfill this noble mission of transporting Algerians, regardless of their location within our vast territory.
It is well understood that, due to specific needs related to accessibility, economic development, and tourism, the southern regions of the country receive particular attention from the public authorities, led by the President of the Republic.
Regarding the idea of creating a dedicated subsidiary, it might seem like a miraculous solution. However, while there are no taboos when it comes to achieving our objectives, the creation of a new subsidiary is not currently under consideration. Such a decision requires caution, as it could potentially lead to even more challenges.
Question: What is your plan to accelerate the digitization of Air Algérie’s services?
Answer: The digitization of our services actually began in 2008 with the introduction of electronic tickets. The company’s commercial website was launched in 2009, initially allowing payments only with foreign cards due to restrictions from the monetary authority.
Key business processes, such as programming and sales, are already digitized. For our customers, we offer online services that include booking and purchasing tickets, changing travel dates for a given itinerary, selecting seats, purchasing additional baggage allowances, reserving wheelchairs for passengers with reduced mobility, and managing loyalty accounts and the benefits they offer.
Looking ahead, our plan to accelerate digitization involves several key initiatives. We aim to enhance the performance and user-friendliness of our website, develop a new version for smartphones, and continuously add new services. These new services will include options like maintaining a reservation, travel insurance, and onboard WiFi for our new aircraft.
Additionally, we plan to launch a call for projects to startups to leverage the potential of artificial intelligence in developing services that benefit both our customers and staff. This comprehensive approach will ensure that we stay at the forefront of digital innovation in the aviation industry.
Question: What is the numerical assessment of Air Algérie’s Osra promotion? Are there still seats available?
Answer: When we launched this promotional fare in April, we made all available capacities, totaling 1,160,000 seats on the France network, available for sale across all scheduled flights for the peak season, without any restrictions.
As of now, there remains a significant stock of unsold seats—571,600 seats on the same network. These are for periods or dates that may not align with the preferences of our customers.
To summarize, while this very competitive and affordable fare is still available, it is primarily for less in-demand dates. For other peak summer periods, all available seats have already been sold. Those looking to take advantage of this fare now will need to choose travel dates where there is still availability.
Question: Will there be new promotions this summer?
Answer: It’s not out of the question, but it’s not solely up to Air Algérie. I can inform you that we have taken the necessary steps with the relevant authorities in the concerned countries, requesting permission to operate additional flights. We are hopeful for favorable responses in the coming days.
Question: For those not eligible for the Osra promotion, ticket prices are soaring for the summer, starting at €800 for a round-trip from Algiers to Paris, according to a member of parliament representing the diaspora. Why such high prices?
Answer: The fare you mention corresponds to the highest level for that particular route, covering a round-trip, valid for one year, fully refundable, and changeable without fees or conditions. You can verify this on our website.
Although Air Algérie is generally less expensive than its competitors, it is often, and unfairly, criticized on this point, including by your media.
It is important to note that nowadays, airfares are not static. In other words, the price of a ticket bought in January is vastly different from one purchased in July-August. This is true for all airlines worldwide.
I would like to mention the Osra fare. To meet the expectations of our customers, whether residents or non-residents, we have made a significant effort to offer, for example, a Paris-Algiers-Paris ticket at €265 including taxes, which is only €194 excluding taxes.
On the Marseille route, the fare drops to €163 excluding taxes. Such fares, in the peak season, are unprecedented and clearly demonstrate the company’s commitment to satisfying its customers.
Question: You have set up a commission to review ticket prices. Has it completed its work?
Answer: This commission, whose work is still ongoing, is not tasked with “revising prices” per se. Rather, its objective is to study the mechanisms for developing fare structures to optimize them for the benefit of the customer, while maintaining the financial balance of commercial operations.
Question: Air Algérie has leased aircraft. How many in total and what is their capacity?
Answer: We have leased a total of three wide-body aircraft, each with 269 seats, and one narrow-body aircraft with 150 seats. Over the planned leasing period, this represents a minimum capacity offer of 471,000 seats.
Question: Where does Air Algérie stand in the acquisition process of 15 new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus? How many planes does Air Algérie need?
Answer: The acquisition process is progressing, and we expect to receive the first aircraft in 2025. This investment in new planes is closely tied to the development of our market and the imperative need to replace aging aircraft, which incur high operating and maintenance costs.
For replacement alone, we are looking at an additional twenty planes over the next five years. In the longer term, to meet the company’s ambitions and solidify our presence in Africa, we will need to acquire many more aircraft. However, it’s too early to provide further specifics.
Question: Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft, which Air Algérie has ordered, have experienced several issues in recent months. Will you reconsider your decision, or have you received assurances about their quality?
Answer: Firstly, a clarification: Air Algérie has not exclusively operated Boeing aircraft for many years. Our fleet includes Boeing, Airbus, and ATR aircraft.
The primary issues with the 737 MAX were related to design and certification flaws in the MCAS system (which automatically corrects the aircraft’s maneuverability characteristics) and gaps in pilot training. These problems have now been resolved. The incidents reported in the press are often more about maintenance issues than anything else.
Boeing is currently under close scrutiny by the U.S. regulator (FAA). The history of aviation is marked by “teething problems” with new aircraft entering the market.
We are confident in the reliability of these planes and have no serious reason at this time to reconsider our decision.
Question: Air Algérie has frozen certain international routes. Why?
Answer: Some routes have indeed been suspended due to the issues mentioned earlier regarding fleet availability.
We have made decisions to prioritize destinations with strong commercial potential and those that traditionally serve both resident and non-resident customers.
However, most of the suspended destinations will be rescheduled for the summer season.
Link to the original article:
https://www.tsa-algerie.dz/entretien-le-pdg-dair-algerie-hamza-benhamouda-nous-dit-tout/
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