Tunisair's Recovery The Urgency of Implementation

2026: A Pivotal Year for the National Carrier

Everyone is expecting a real awareness of the challenges facing our national carrier and a concrete and serious shift towards recovery, which has been slow to materialize.

Indeed, the Head of State has repeatedly emphasized the urgent need to implement the agreed-upon rescue plan. This urgency is entirely legitimate, especially since Tunisair represents one of the symbols of national sovereignty.

A Complex and Difficult Takeoff

The takeoff of our national carrier has proven to be complex and difficult to achieve. Although the commitment to recovery was made a long time ago, specifically in April 2014, and has been refined and relaunched several times, each time a new obstacle to implementation has arisen. This is perhaps due to a lack of planning and rigor.

It wasn't until 2019, a year after celebrating the 170th anniversary of the company, that the recovery plan was relaunched once again, mainly due to a worrying decline and a high-risk financial situation.

Let's not forget that, since its creation and until 2010, the national carrier had an average annual profit of 30 million dinars, not to mention financial reserves of 500 million dinars. This significant wealth was unfortunately quickly consumed between 2011 and 2017, due to a combination of unfavorable factors, including:

A significant decline in activity
Widespread dysfunction
New competitive requirements due to the volatility of European tourist markets and the evolution of their trends
A substantial payroll, following a massive recruitment drive (involving 1,200 new hires)

A Question of Implementation

The recovery plan aimed to gradually put an end to this financial hemorrhage and equip the company with new competitiveness tools. In addition to cost control and expense rationalization, the plan relied on new financial injections to allow the company to invest in modernizing its infrastructure, consolidating and renewing its fleet.

These provisions were essential to address evolving demand, expand operational capacity, and better position the company internationally.

However, despite a good start, the plan has not fully succeeded, which justifies the Head of State's decision to launch a new recovery and restructuring program in 2025, with the determination to ensure the national carrier's takeoff.

This program has focused on, among other things, valorizing the company's assets, particularly its real estate, to expand its margin of maneuver, divesting other assets to reduce costs, controlling payroll through rigorous human requalification, engaging in strategic partnerships, and modernizing the fleet and surrounding infrastructure.

At the second level, the plan aims to develop a genuine non-aeronautical activity with a focus on improving the customer experience.

This is an ambitious plan that can guarantee Tunisair's takeoff, especially if it is implemented rigorously.

Indeed, at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, analysts began to talk about several positive signals, particularly with regard to "revenue stabilization and improved operational efficiency, including better punctuality."

However, the challenges remain complex, and it is essential to persevere.