Can you share with us your journey from the Start, What is the story behind Safari Aviation Services?
Throughout my employment as a Licenced Aircraft Engineer in various airlines between 1995 and 2003, one of the main challenges we faced for getting the aircraft back in the air was finding the parts and getting them as fast as possible to minimise the down time.
Of course, back then internet was in its infancy so you couldn’t just Google what you needed. You had to know who the suppliers were and had to find what you needed by calling everyone you knew or send faxes and wait hours and sometimes days to get a response and if you were in luck and found what you needed, you then had to have them shipped and wait a few more days to get your part, since the majority of the suppliers were in Europe and North America and sometimes you would end up receiving the wrong part and had to start the process all over again.
This led to the idea of establishing Safari Aviation in January 2004, as a reliable source within the region to cater to needs of the operators and MROs by providing quality parts in a cost-effective way and January 2004.
What are the key Products & solutions provided by Safari Aviation Services for the Aviation industry?
We have a vast range in our capability list ranging from small hardware items such as cotter pins, nuts, bolts etc. to LRUs, wheels, brakes and other rotables and everything else in between, but our core strength lies in our distribution lines, such as Dunlop and Goodyear Aircraft Tyres, Essex Industries Protective Breathing Equipment (Smoke Hoods), Nitto Tapes, Oshino Lamps, Aplix Hook and Loop fasteners, ZEP Chem cleaners to name a few. The fact that we maintain large stock of these items at all times ensures that our customers can get what they need in the shortest possible time.
One of the unique services that we provide is the “Retreading Service” of aircraft tyres, where our contracted customers would benefit from savings of up to 80% on their cost depending on their tyre sizes. This service, topped with the 7000+ tyres that we stock makes us the ultimate source of aircraft tyres in the region.
What do you see as the biggest challenges & opportunities in Aviation Industry in MENA Region?
I can’t think of any challenges that are specific to the MENA region and I think the challenges in the aviation industry are more or less the same worldwide. The global shortage of supply is primarily the main challenge that we have had to deal with for the past couple of years, but we see improvements in that and expect things to be somewhat normalised by 2nd half of 2024. Perhaps the only challenge that would be more appropriate to the MENA region, is the shortage of MROs and repair centres in this region compared to Europe and North Americas.
On the other hand, the abundance of opportunities in this region is something that you don’t see elsewhere. Aviation industry in the MENA region is growing at a mesmerising rate. We already have some of the best performing airlines of the world in this region and continue to see more airlines and MROs starting up, so the opportunities are endless.
What more do you want to achieve in the aviation Industry?
At the moment we are concentrating our efforts in expanding our capabilities and market share.
Perhaps we would look into setting up a components repair shop down the line.
If there was one thing you could change about aviation in general, what would it be and why?
The one thing that I would change in Aviation would be the certification process of aviation products. I believe we could do with a more robust system that would streamline and standardise this process globally, make it easier to verify the authenticity of the certificates and in turn eliminate ambiguity and reduce risks of fraudulent certification and increase the safety standards.
