Shootings and successes - a week for airlines

The scandal of airline shootdowns and the prospects of regional aviationThis week’s programme for Africa and Middle East aerospace and defence markets has a mix of good news and bad news. In the programme, brought with the support of Collins Aerospace, we talk to Raul Villeron, the regional VP from Embraer about how the OEM is expanding its fleet in Africa and how right-sized aircraft will lead the recovery.He explains how the E2 Profit Hunter now ordered by airlines like Congo Airways and Air Peace will be using the aircraft to open new routes – without the problems of middle seats.Raul also talks about the challenge for the Brazilian manufacturer after being jilted at the altar by Boeing, and how it is facing up to being single again.Then the bad news. We welcome esteemed aviation journalist Martin Rivers to the programme to talk about the rising number of attacks on civil aircraft including the recent incidents in Iran and, just a couple of weeks back, the fatal shooting down of a Kenyan-registered Embraer 120 in Somalia.Martin has been researching the subject and outlines the challenges that airlines have in the absence of an independent authoritative intelligence-sharing system.We also get all the news headlines for the industry from across the wider region.