“TEN Airways was designated as the national airline company of Guinea Bissau. We’ll make the connection to Europe and then South America,” the businessman said.
The airline will offer three flights per week from Guinea Bissau (a former Portuguese colony with 1.6 million inhabitants) to Lisbon and may add flights to Senegal, Nigeria and Angola later.
TEN Airways ended 2013 with revenue of around EUR8 million, compared with EUR1.3 million in 2012, according to the company’s officials. The airline has a fleet of nine aircraft of its own.
The community of African countries and the European Union have an agreement by which underdeveloped countries can name a “national” airline without their government holding stock in it, according to Catalin Butu, TEN Airways boss. He also specified the company he runs was in talks to become a shareholder in an airline in Senegal.
TEN Airways operates in a charter system and an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance – leasing the aircraft with crew and all the other services included to operate under the name of the lessee) system in countries of Europe, Asia and Africa.
Customers in Africa include Air Senegal, Rwanda Air, Air Ivoire, while some of its European customers are Blue Air, Aegean Airlines and Dubrovnik Airline.
Ovidiu Tender is one of the most dynamic Romanian entrepreneurs on foreign markets.
“This year appears to be a very good one (…). I expect revenue to rise by 20% for the entire group,” Tender says.
He also said expectations are positive this year. “We want to go to South America for natural resources, and not only there. By being present on several markets we are dispersing risk,” says Tender.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)