AFRAA: Secretary General outlines targets for African airlines growth

Africa has the potential to be a significant force in aviation on the back of robust economic growth forecasts, said the secretary general of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) but the continent's airlines are facing challenges from outside with unfair advantages being offered by African governments to foreign airlines.

In his opening address to the AFRAA annual assembly being held near Mombasa, Kenya, the secretary general Elijah Chingoshu said Africa has among the fastest growing economies worldwide with North African economies also rebounding after disruptions arising from revolutions in 2011.
“Africa attracted 52 million visitors and receipts from tourism for 2012 amounted to over US$36 billion,” Chingoshu said. “Sub-Sahara Africa is outpacing other regions in tourism growth. Africa’s tourism revenues are rising fast and are set to contribute more and more to world activity.” But Chingoshu warned, African airlines were not getting their share of the market.
“The performance of the African aviation industry is lagging behind those of the rest of the world at less than 3% of global RPKs, Chingoshu said. “The growth is heavily constrained by the high industry costs, inadequate infrastructure at several airports, slow implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD), lack of a single traffic rights negotiating body with respect to third parties like the EU. Nonetheless, demand for air transport has increased steadily over the past years with passenger numbers and freight traffic growing significantly.”
From less than 40 million passengers carried in 2004 by African airlines, passenger numbers have increased to 62.9 million in 2012; a cumulative growth of 61.5% (average annual growth 7.8%), up from the 2011 figure of 56.4 million, Chingoshu said.
Chingoshu said that the introduction of low cost carriers had led to a growth in passenger numbers – particularly reaching people who had never flown before.
“Domestic passenger numbers increased by over 8% to 19.4 million,” Chingoshu said. “Low cost airlines, particularly in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Kingdom of Morocco and lately Tanzania continue to aggressively promote and attract more passengers” he said.
According to the AFRAA report, intra-Africa passenger numbers went up 12.75% to 16.8 million, up from 14.9 million in 2011. Chingoshu said this growth was driven largely by the rapidly growing business and trade between African countries and the growing middle class, some of whom now prefer air travel.”
A major problem for the African airlines is increased competition by foreign airlines – particularly from the Middle East – and almost 80% of intercontinental flights are with non-African airlines.
Resolving this issue is one of the key strands of AFRAA strategy.
“It is necessary to ensure that African aviation plays its part in ensuring the economic, social and political integration of African States,” Chingoshu said. “It is critical that the African Union puts in place policies that facilitates the development of African aviation such as ensuring full implementation of YD, negotiating as a block and not as individual countries, ensuring an even playing field and avoid favouring non-African carriers that are given more frequencies of services by some States that are denied their African counterparts, ensuring that costs of doing business in Africa are competitive and helping in ensuring the establishment of a major African hub in West and Central Africa,” he said.