Addis Ababa-based flight support, charter and aviation consultancy Krimson Aviation expanded into 38 airports in 20 African countries over the course of 2021, and handled 1,143 flight-related operations and 274 ground-related requirements.

Last year, growth was driven by a shift in geographic requirements, pandemic related movements and intra-regional East African activity, as more than 50 per cent of its business originated from outside of Ethiopia for the first time.

“The increased customer diversity, airport numbers and flight movements have been spurred by the associated requirements driven by COVID, increased business activity and a new set of clients ranging from medevac to military. Our growth certainly indicates customer confidence in the Krimson team and in business aviation in East Africa and beyond,” says CEO and founder Dawit Lemma.

The strength of both the company and its founder's experience in managing flights between Africa and Europe has been recognised by Lemma's selection for the EBAA's Ambassadors programme, where industry leaders join dedicated workshops and forums to address the greatest challenges and opportunities for business aviation in Europe. Lemma's experience managing flight movements between, and within, the two continents will bring valuable insight on best practice and effective flight management linking the two continents.

For 2022 Krimson is eyeing major expansion projects and will continue building on its solid foundations to make real the plans for a series of new FBOs across Eastern Africa.

“There are no FBOs in the region, yet demand is high." adds Lemma. "We have proved that our service is strong enough to increase business steadily, and we now want to turn that service philosophy into a physical presence through dedicated business aviation FBOs and associated maintenance facilities. We have worked tirelessly to build our reputation, clientele and revenue, and now we're beginning to see solid results that will underpin our future plans. Not only are we building our own infrastructure we are contributing to the growth and development of African business aviation by raising the bar for standards, service and business practice. We're also bringing more human resource into this industry at an exciting time.”