African aviation was born around the same time air transport took off in some other parts of the world.
The first African airline, South African Airways was established in 1934 followed by Ethiopian Airlines in 1946.
But African aviation is clearly lagging behind the rest of the world today, caused mainly by the incapacity of African governments to develop the continent’s aviation industry.
African airlines have a combined commercial fleet of only 740 aircrafts (at the beginning of 2020), which is less than the fleet of American Airlines, the largest US airline, according to aviation publication Airspace Africa.
Their fleet represents only 2.9% of world’s commercial fleet and accounts for only about 3% of the world’s air traffic. Importantly, most of African airlines operate only within African countries, due to the fact that the major part of their fleet is made up of low range regional jets and turboprops.
Only a few airlines in Africa like Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, EgyptAir and Royal Air Maroc ensure a significant connectivity with the rest of the world.
Although Africa makes up 16% of the world’s population, it only caters to 3.1% of the world’s air travellers.
Ironically, Africa accounts for 19% of global incidents and accidents. With such a low record of safety, it is difficult to gain the trust of costumers. It has prompted some countries to even restrict their airspace to certain African airlines!
The African aviation industry like in other parts of the world has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Like most of airlines around, African airlines have also encountered difficulties and made huge losses during the pandemic-induced crisis.
Pre-pandemic, aviation had generated over ten million jobs in the AFI and MID Regions, and close to $700bn in combined GDP.
At a recent symposium focusing on Africa-Middle East and hosted by ICAO, which is a specialised and funding agency of the United Nations, the International Civil Aviation Organisation emphasised the need for a full air transport recovery to support millions of jobs and respective economies across the African continent.
ICAO noted it would help to assure the successful implementation of the African Continental Free trade area, Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the freedom of mobility goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and reopening economically critical tourism markets for affected oceanic and landlocked countries.
A pre-pandemic estimate showed by 2035, Africa may see an extra 192mn passengers a year to make up a total market of 303mn passengers, travelling to and from African destinations.
It also said the continent is set to become one of the fastest growing aviation regions in the next 20 years with an annual expansion of nearly 5%.
While it is evident that aviation has the potential to fuel economic growth in Africa, several barriers still exist.
One major obstacle, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) points out, is the slow pace of implementing the proposed ‘open skies programme’ in Africa.
Open Skies’ trajectory is at the heart of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), a flagship project of the African Union (AU), which was launched in 2018. It was designed to open up Africa’s skies, allowing airlines to fly between any two African cities without having to do so via their home hub airport, boosting intra-Africa trade and tourism as a result.
But progress in realising ‘African open skies’ has been rather tardy, analysts say.
Continent Africa comprises some 54 countries, but IATA says so far only 28 countries have agreed to SAATM.
They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Capo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Cameroon.
However, these countries represent more than 80% of the existing aviation market in Africa.
Obviously, SAATM’s key objective is to create a single unified air transport market for African airlines, which can boost local economies through increased intra-African trading.
Like the European market benefiting the European airlines, African carriers too can tap into a “bigger local market”, keeping them on a similar competitive advantage by reducing what many describe as “protectionist policies”.
Despite its rosy outlook, Africa’s aviation sector still faces enormous challenges. Indeed, protectionist trends have resulted in a rather lacklustre response from many member countries, concerning competition rules, ownership and control, consumer rights, taxes, and commercial viability.
Weak infrastructure, high ticket prices, poor connectivity and lack of proper liberalisation are some of the headwinds on African aviation’s path, albeit the continent currently sees an economic boom with tourism started benefiting from greater prosperity.
As discussed in these columns earlier, airport infrastructure in most African countries remains outdated and cannot effectively serve the growing passengers or cargo volumes.
Airlines and airports are often managed by government entities or regulatory bodies while foreign investment is generally discouraged.
Undoubtedly, Africa’s aviation potential remains massive. SAATM was clearly a bold step towards unlocking Africa’s aviation potential.
But it may end up as another “unfulfilled dream” in African aviation, unless the industry works closely with respective governments to break the barriers that restrict the continent from reaching the levels, it really is capable of.
Source: Civil Aviation Authority – Qatar