Case Study
Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA)
OVERVIEW
Period: 2022-Present (Retainer)
Region: Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa
Sector: Airlines, Airports, Borders, Innovation
Plane Talking provides media relations and communications support to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) across English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, reporting to its Corporate Communications department in Geneva and its Africa-Middle East regional office in Amman. Our role is to position IATA as the authoritative advocate for the airline industry on aviation safety, environmental and financial sustainability, African market liberalisation and access, taxes and charges, and blocked funds, while promoting the socio-economic benefits of an efficient, open and dynamic aviation market. In this capacity, Plane Talking also supports the organisation and delivery of events, ranging from intimate media roundtables to large-scale industry conventions, including IATA’s Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit.
Services Provided
Strategy – Developing communications and engagement strategies for SITA across english-speaking African markets. This includes campaign planning, messaging development and execution support aligned to regional business development and marketing priorities.
Executive Counsel – Ongoing advisory support to SITA’s central communications team and regional marketing leadership, including senior executives. This covers strategic guidance on communications linked to the company’s business interests, market realities and sensitivities.
Marketing Intelligence – Daily monitoring and analysis of media coverage, competitor activity, regulatory developments and broader industry trends across Africa. This supports SITA’s understanding of the market, customer activity, and emerging risks and opportunities.
Content Creation – Development of written, visual and presentation materials for external and internal communications. This includes news releases, thought leadership articles, speeches, briefing notes, Q&A documents, backgrounders and social media content tailored for regional audiences.
Crisis Communications – Identification and management of reputational and operational risks across SITA’s African markets, with support to the global crisis communications team during incidents.
Media Relations – Day-to-day engagement with journalists, editors and industry commentators across Anglophone Africa. This includes pitching stories, distributing news releases, arranging interviews for SITA executives, managing media enquiries and securing thought leadership placements.
Event Management – End-to-end planning and delivery of events, including media briefings, summits and SITA marketing activations. This includes programme development, stakeholder coordination, logistics, supplier management and on-the-ground execution.
“Plane Talking has been instrumental in helping SITA expand its presence across Sub-Saharan Africa. Their team possesses extensive knowledge of the complex African aerospace and aviation market. This enables them to provide timely and strategically valuable insights that significantly benefit SITA, its reputation, image and campaigns to grow its business in the region. We rely on Plane Talking’s proven ability to distil technical and niche information into accessible and relevant content to our various target audiences, including government policy makers, regulatory authorities, customers, operators and the end-users who ultimately benefit from our various solutions… Our experiences with Plane Talking have been both positive and productive. We appreciate and rely on their dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm, and look forward to continuing this successful partnership.” — José Valencia, Head of Marketing - Middle East & Africa, SITA
Notable Projects
Borders Summit Africa (2024) – This six-month project required Plane Talking to deliver a three-day turnkey event in Cape Town, South Africa. The summit provided a closed and secure forum for heads and senior officials from border management, immigration and intelligence agencies across multiple countries. The event also aimed to strengthen SITA’s brand presence and raise awareness of its capabilities, solutions and technology, showcasing case studies across air and sea transport, border management and related fields. Plane Talking’s project management responsibilities included researching and securing speakers, developing the event programme, budgeting and financial management, sourcing the venue, and coordinating accommodation, ground transport, security, interpreter services, staging, catering, banqueting and entertainment. The team also produced event content, including invitations, security guidance, keynote presentations and translations in English, French and Portuguese. Delegates and speakers attended from North, West, East and Southern Africa, as well as the UK, Caribbean, United States, Middle East and Europe. The programme focused on challenges and trends in border management and immigration to, from and within Africa, and how modern IT, biometric and digital solutions can support the more efficient movement of people while strengthening security to combat organised crime, illicit trade, human trafficking and terrorism.
Get in touch with our team
Whether you need communications support, have questions or want to explore collaboration opportunities — our team is ready to assist.