National carrier Tunisair will purchase five new aircraft, in a bid to renew its fleet and to improve its flights to Africa and Europe, said Tunisair’s commercial deputy chief officer Karim Guediche.
He was speaking at a press conference held Tuesday in Hammamet to present the 11th congress of the Selectour French network of travel agencies, which will be held from December 2 to 5.
The acquisition of these planes will begin on December 22, 2021, he added, saying three aircraft will be delivered in 2022 (April, July and September 2022) while the fifth aircraft will be delivered in April 2023.
Guediche also stressed that the reinforcement of Tunisair’s fleet with these new planes will help solve the problems of delays and to respect flight schedules due to technical breakdowns, especially since the airline will operate 15 planes as of December 22, 2021.
Sixteen planes will be deployed during the next summer season, against 11 during the previous season, the official said.
Selectour president Laurent Abitbol, for his part, affirmed that Tunisia is the preferred destination of French tourists, saying the success of the tourist season and the continuous flow of French tourists requires a strong national airline to ensure the transport of tourists and earn signficant revenues.
He urged the Tunisian State to help the national company acquire new aircraft, especially as the investment in air transport will generate a high increase in foreign exhange receipts.
Some 600 tourism and travel professionals will take part in the 11th annual congress of the French group Selectour, according to the event organiser.
The Selectour group is the leading network of independent travel agencies in France; 1200 agencies spread throughout the country and the French overseas departments are members.
The group was born from the merger of two historical travel distribution networks in France, namely the Selectour group, created in 1971, and AFAT Voyages, created in 1989
