Can low-cost, long-haul open the door to Africa’s potential?

By Richard Maslen Jul 07, 2016
The anticipated arrival of the first AirAsia X long-haul, low-cost flights at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on the island of Mauritius in October this year is just one good example of the leisure potential that Africa holds for future air service connectivity.
Airports & Networks

ACI’s Airport Excellence security review aims to help put Africa’s airports on global route map

Jul 05, 2016
A new – and free – security review for airports provided by the Airports Council International looks set to help drive best practice across long-suffering destinations in Africa.
Airports & Networks

Tenerife in talks to secure two new based airlines

By Richard Maslen Jun 28, 2016
The Tenerife Government hopes its favourable tax regime will attract additional airlines to open new bases on the island in the coming years. The island’s Tenerife South Airport has recently welcomed new operational bases from LCCs Norwegian, Iberia Express and Vueling and revealed talks will shortly take place with two other operators.
Airports & Networks

Egyptian airports in new security programme

Jun 28, 2016
A partnership between British security firm Restrata and Egyptian security company Falcon Group International has already won the approval of both the British Ambassador to Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen travel links between the two countries.
Airports & Networks

Open skies in Africa will not be fully realised next year

Jun 28, 2016
Despite a long wait and numerous promises, Dr Elijah Chingosho, secretary general of African airline group, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), revealed during Routes Africa that he personally believed that the latest timescale of an at least partial liberalisation of African skies remained an unrealistic target.
Airports & Networks

Cape Town wins Routes Africa Marketing Award

By Richard Maslen Jun 28, 2016
Cape Town International Airport in South Africa has been rewarded for its network development initiatives after being announced as the overall winner of the Routes Africa edition of the Routes 2016 Marketing Awards which were formally announced last night during the Networking Evening event which took place at Finca Punta del Lomo, a rural complex built on a banana plantation in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Airports & Networks

WhyTenerife? consortium are building on their already successful island

Jun 27, 2016
The Canary Islands are one of the largest exporters to Africa, a market worth €227.42 million in 2014. The island is only a 45 minute flight away from Morocco, compared to a two and a half hour flight time to reach Madrid. At present, routes to Marrakech, Agadir, and Dakar are being served from Tenerife twice a week, and a route to Casablanca three times weekly.
Airports & Networks

The indirect opportunity for connectivity in Africa

Jun 27, 2016
The number of international passengers making indirect flights to African destinations is as big as the international markets of five of the world’s key airports. Speaking at the Routes Africa 2016 event in Tenerife, Canary Islands on the importance of data in winning new routes, ASM senior vice president Tony Griffin said about 90 million international passengers flew to the continent in 2015.
Airports & Networks

Understanding the lack of data in Africa

Jun 27, 2016
Cost, quality and skills are three of the key factors ensuring the effective use of data for business success. Presenting a Routes Talk entitled 'The Lack of Data in Africa' at Routes Africa in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Sabre senior management consultant Gad Wavomba said while good data does cost money, the return on investment makes it worthwhile.
Airports & Networks

Victoria Falls targets tourism traffic to help build long-haul links

By Richard Maslen Jun 27, 2016
Since Zimbabwe hosted delegates at Routes Africa in June 2014, what was then a building site at Victoria Falls International Airport has now turned into a brand new modern facility ready to host global visitors.
Airports & Networks

Inside the Strategy Summit - Key Quotes

By Richard Maslen Jun 27, 2016
Yesterday’s Routes Africa Strategy Summit highlighted some of the most interesting aspects of aviation in Africa today. More than a dozen high-profile speakers debated some of the key topics impacting the aviation business across the region.
Airports & Networks

Binter Canarias to launch domestic operations in Cape Verde

By Richard Maslen Jun 27, 2016
Binter made its debut in Cape Verde in 2012 and its planned expansion will mark its first intra-African operation. The growth is being facilitated by the arrival of new regional turboprop equipment in its Canary Islands based fleet freeing up older aircraft to be redeployed into Cape Verde.
Airports & Networks

Uganda gives green light to new national carrier launch

By Richard Maslen Jun 27, 2016
The launch of a new national carrier for Uganda has been on the table for the last few years and was first reported by Routesonline back in July 2013 after a senior Ugandan Government Minister revealed at that year’s Routes Africa forum in Kampala that discussions have once again taken place over the resurrection of Uganda Airlines as an at least partially state-controlled national carrier to boost trade and tourism into the East African country.
Airports & Networks

Nile Air launches into Egypt’s domestic market

By Richard Maslen Jun 27, 2016
Nile Air will become the first private Egyptian carrier to introduce domestic services within the country when it launches the new three times weekly Cairo – Hurghada and four times weekly Cairo – Sharm el Sheikh starting from July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016, respectively but it is still expanding its international reach, especially into Saudi Arabia, which remains its main focus market.
Airports & Networks

African carriers are “getting cheated” by codeshare agreements

By Richard Maslen Jun 26, 2016
In a presentation during the Routes Africa Strategy Summit in Tenerife, Canary Islands on the subject of how African carriers can capitalise on travel growth, Gad Wavomba, senior consultant, Sabre Airline Solutions warned that many airlines are failing to benchmark against industry standards and as a result are failing to fulfil their potential.
Airports & Networks

African Governments urged to stop using airlines as personal play things

Jun 26, 2016
An open skies arrangement is unlikely to be introduced in Africa until governments on the continent see their airlines as businesses, not personal play things. Speaking at the Routes Africa Strategy Summit in Tenerife, Raphael Kuuchi, the vice president of Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the failure of countries to accept the need for liberalisation was endemic across the continent.
Airports & Networks

Small is not beautiful for Africa's airlines

Jun 26, 2016
African airlines are too small to survive alone and need to work together more if they are to continue doing business in an increasingly global world. In fact it was suggested that unless a small airline could evolve, grow, and develop partnerships with others, it would simply fail.
Airports & Networks

SibNIA pitches An-2 turboprop conversion for African missions

By Richard Maslen Jun 26, 2016
The Siberian Aeronautical Research Institute, named after S. A. Chaplygin (SibNIA), believes its TVS-2MS turboprop conversion of the classic Antonov An-2 piston airliner could prolong the life of the venerable aircraft into a ninth decade, with Africa a strong potential market for the modernised aeroplane.
Airports & Networks

Perspectives on the continent of Africa have to change

Jun 26, 2016
The second panel session of the Routes Africa Strategy Summit saw esteemed professionals from the aviation industry discuss the impact of tourism within Africa. The panel was moderated by Edward Robertson, editor of Routes News, and featured Richard Bodin, chief commercial officer of fastjet; Fernando Estrada, chief strategy officer of Vueling; Stephanie Wear, director of economic and air service development Tenerife Tourism Corporation and Yolanta Strikista, director of Strikista Consulting.
Airports & Networks

Plans in place to get Africa online

Jun 24, 2016
According to 2011 estimates, about 12.5 percent of the African population has internet access. While Africa accounts for 15.0 percent of the population, only 6.2 percent of the world’s internet subscribers are African. But, as the internet becomes more available, Africans are using it in their millions.
Airports & Networks

The future is bright for Africa’s young population

Jun 24, 2016
The ten youngest populations in the world all reside on the African continent – the median age in Niger is just 14.8 years. An increasing working-age population could be detrimental to Africa’s continuing growth, and if dealt with correctly, opportunities could be endless for the Africa of tomorrow.
Airports & Networks

PRESS RELEASE: Tenerife welcomes the aviation industry for Routes Africa 2016

Jun 22, 2016
The international aviation industry will gather in Tenerife this weekend for the 11th annual Routes Africa air service development forum (26-28 June).
Airports & Networks

Routes Africa: All you need to know

Jun 16, 2016
Just over one week to go until the start of Routes Africa in Tenerife.
Airports & Networks

Routes Africa airline list continues to grow

Jun 09, 2016
Over 25 airlines have now confirmed their attendance at the event.
Airports & Networks

IATA seeks to solve problem of repatriation of airline funds

By Richard Maslen Jun 03, 2016
IATA reports that more than $5 billion in total is owed to the world’s airlines, $3.8 billion by long-term offender Venezuela, but African nations make up the rest of the top five list of countries with Nigeria blocking $591 million, Sudan $360 million, Egypt $291 million and Angola at $237 million.
Airports & Networks