• Air Algérie begins legal restructuring and spins off maintenance operations
  
• New ground services and training subsidiaries planned to launch January 2026
  
• Government increases 2026 subsidies and supports fleet expansion with new aircraft

Air Algérie is undergoing a legal and organizational restructuring designed to turn the carrier into a holding company, according to recent statements from CEO Hamza Benhamouda. The reform includes spinning off the airline’s maintenance department into an independent subsidiary and launching a new unit focused on tourism-related services.

To reinforce its existing subsidiaries, including Air Catering, Air Cargo, Amadeus Algeria and Domestic Airlines, the company has created two new entities dedicated to ground services and training. These entities are Air Algérie Ground Operation and the Aviation Academy. Both are expected to begin operations in January 2026. According to the CEO, the restructuring is intended to strengthen operational efficiency and provide tax advantages linked to the company’s new legal status.

The initiative is part of a broader effort to make the national carrier, which remains heavily reliant on state subsidies, more financially self-sufficient. According to comments reported by local media in October and attributed to the Minister of the Interior, Local Authorities and Transport, Saïd Sayoud, Air Algérie and its subsidiary Domestic Airlines will receive nearly 20 billion dinars (about 154 million dollars) in subsidies for 2026. This is an increase from the 12.6 billion dinars allocated in 2025.

In addition to governance reforms, the government is supporting the airline’s fleet and network expansion plan. The program includes the purchase of nearly 18 aircraft in order to improve service quality and expand the carrier’s route network. As part of this effort, Air Algérie took delivery on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, of an Airbus A330-900neo that has been assigned to its long-haul operations.

These developments come as regional competition intensifies, particularly from Royal Air Maroc, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines and long-haul low-cost carriers from the Gulf. Algeria aims to position Algiers as a transit hub between Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia by taking advantage of its geographic location and the large Algerian diaspora in Europe and Canada.

Henoc Dossa