Major US aerospace group Boeing is continuing to strengthen its cooperation with South African companies and institutions. “We already have strong relationships with Aerosud, with Cobham Aviation (WiFi antennas) and with 43 Air School,” points out Boeing Commercial Airplanes director: international sales for Africa Miguel Santos. “We are also re-establishing a strong relationship with Denel.” (Aerosud manufactures aerostructures and internal aircraft fittings, Cobham makes antennas for aircraft, 43 Air School is a large flying school and Denel is the State-owned defence and aerospace group.)

These existing links could be further strengthened and deepened to help meet any industrial participation obligations Boeing could incur if South Africa should choose to buy any of its aircraft – for example, the Boeing 787 is under consideration for South African Airways’ (SAA) fleet renewal project.

Regarding the SAA group, the Boeing Commercial Aircraft is exploring a partnership with SAA Technical to establish a regional maintenance, repair and overhaul centre for Boeing airliners. Meanwhile, Boeing Defense now has a Memorandum of Collaboration with South African private-sector defence group Paramount. The US group is also looking at using 43 Air School to train pilots from African airlines that buy Boeing airliners.

The American enterprise is also supporting research and development projects in South Africa. “In 2012, we signed a very strong MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] with 32 partners to develop titanium powder,” he highlights. “Currently, we import a lot of titanium for Boeing from Russia.” The Ukrainian crisis has made this awkward.

Titanium powder can be used in additive manufacturing – popularly called 3D printing – to produce complex parts for aircraft at significantly reduced cost, significantly faster, and with very little waste. “We want to be able to go from [heavy mineral] sands to a finished product in just three steps. Currently, nine steps are needed. The aim is to develop local technology to an industrial scale and produce titanium parts.” The key local partner in this endeavour is the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Last year Boeing signed an MoU with South African forestry companies to develop biofuels from city waste and pulp waste (the latter from Mozambique). This year saw the signature of another MoU, with SAA, to modify tobacco plants to produce biofuels (a Dutch company is also involved.) “It is proprietary Boeing technology,” reports Santos.

“We already have an established presence in the aerospace ecosystem in South Africa,” he observes. “We need to enhance it and expand it.”

Regarding Africa in general (excluding Egypt, which is grouped by Boeing with the Middle East), “Southern Africa has already got a commercial aviation base,” he notes. “Great regulation, great airports, great air traffic management and a good local aviation industry. It’s a fantastic market. For the economy to grow, a country needs a strong commercial aviation environment and this country [South Africa] has a strong aviation environment.”

North Africa is also a well established market, although much of the region is suffering from greater or lesser levels of turmoil at the moment. But the most dynamic aviation market in Africa today is East Africa. As for West Africa, that region has high-growth potential.

“Infrastructure in commercial aviation is a three-legged stool: airlines, airports and air traffic management, with a good regulatory system on top,” observes Santos. “All these need to be good to have a good commercial aviation environment.”

In terms of meeting the needs of African airlines, Boeing sees it 737 MAX single-aisle and its new generation 787 wide-body airliners as probably being its best sellers in the continent over the coming years. For example, Ethiopian Airlines and South Africa’s Comair have already placed orders for the 737 MAX, while the 787 is already operated by Ethiopian Airlines and by Kenya Airways and has been ordered by Arik Air (Nigeria) and Royal Air Maroc (Morocco).