Press conference with JohnNewman, the CEO - Algiers, 02.09.2017
Main topic - Competiton and new airlines in Algeria
Introduction - JohnNewman
Welcome to the conference! We organized it here, in the headquarters of algjet, to clear up some points in our work as the flag-carrier of Algeria and announce our future plans.
Q1: Have the new competitors affected the financial results and passenger flow of algjet?
A: I would not say that they affected a lot, and I can say that algjet is still a profitable airline. But we can see some drop in passenger flow, especially on the route between Algiers and Constantine: there is not enough demand to support 2 airlines. When we launched the 4th daily flight with our new CRJ-1000, we saw that there is already more seats offered than there is direct demand. And now there are 25 more weekly departures with A320s, and that's a problem. Flights to Nice, which will be launched tomorrow by algjet, are now served by Sahara Air too, twice daily by A320s, which might cause passenger drop, but we have a reliable partner there, so we have an advantage.
Q2: Is new Oran Air a significant competitor for algjet?
A: No, it isn't. At least, yet. This route has some demand and Oran Air uses small ATRs on it, so both airlines benefit from the route. But still, the establishment of a new airline in Oran has changed our plans.
Q3: Which plans? Could you specify?
A: Of course. Since the launch of algjet, we had negotiations with Algerian government about launching the second hub in Oran to attract developers, but now, we are thinking about cooperating with Oran Air as a representative of algjet in Oran. Also, now we can't launch the 4th daily flight, which could connect Oran to all of our hub waves.
Q4: What will you do (or already have done) to stay the main airline in Algeria?
A: Right now, we are lowering prices on the flights affected by competitors. We will reduce the number of flights on ALG-CZL route from 4 daily to only 2 daily flights. We will launch new flights to the new destinations instead.
Q5: When the new destinations will be revealed?
A: I can say those new destinations of algjet will be revealed today or tomorrow. We planned those flights from the very beginning and we can't wait to present them!
Conclusion - JohnNewman
Thank you for your attention! algjet is here to stay, and those troubles we face aren't crucial for us and with the support of all Algerians and guests of Algeria, we can deal with everything to make you happy. That is the main goal for us.
Algeria starts with algjet!
P.S. I am kinda new to those airline threads, so this "press conference" was an experiment. Don't know if it is very interesting to read, sorry if it isn't :) All advice for algjet of the thread are welcome!
