Boeing backs Africa’s first aviation hub by Kenya Airways

November 22, 2021: Boeing has announced a partnership with Kenya Airways to support its recently launched, Fahari Innovation Hub.

The announcement ceremony took place at the Dubai Airshow 2021, with Kuljit Ghata-Aura, President of Boeing Middle East, Turkey and Africa, and Allan Kilavuka, group managing director and CEO of Kenya Airways, in attendance. 

Launched in July 2021, the Kenya Airways’ Fahari Innovation Hub is a platform that brings together entrepreneurs and innovators to help accelerate the development of the aviation industry and tackle some of its current and future challenges.

“We are very proud of our partnership with Kenya Airways to support their new startup hub. We share a common objective to discover and empower new talent that will accelerate the growth of our industry. The industry has been through a tough two years, but it is resilient and promises to become even more competitive and complex. We have the opportunity to enable new entrants that think outside of our norm and consider new approaches to our business, ” said Kuljit Ghata-Aura, president of Boeing Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

Group CEO and MD, Kenya Airways, Allan Kilavuka said, "While the pandemic came with extreme challenges for the aviation industry, it also brought along opportunities for reflection initiatives, one of them being the Fahari Innovation Hub. This not only enabled the presentation of new world class ideas that became part of the solutions to the challenges we faced but also brought together partners with whom we have worked together across the value chain in a bid to revive operations."

The Fahari Innovation Hub is an autonomous and agile business unit, created within Kenya Airways. Boeing will support the hub through equipping the center with software, hardware, furnishing, and other essential requirements.

Focused on being an epicenter for strategic innovation management, the center will offer opportunities for co-creation, collaboration, networking, research, and learning. It aims to stimulate innovation by providing expertise, resources, services, mediation, and support to other business functions and partner organizations.