Carriers investing more

This expansion is also fueling investments by carriers. According to an analysis by the Seabury Group, a leading global advisory and professional services firm headquartered in the United States, African airlines made 39 orders for commercial aircraft in 2016, either to Boeing or Airbus. A third of them were ordered by Ethiopian Airlines. As only four major airlines (Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, South African Airways and Egyptair) are involved in global alliances, the group predicts more joint ventures in aviation transport especially between the big and small operators.

“The need for more and modern airport facilities is stronger now than before. Africa is growing and people need to move faster to do their business regardless of where they are coming from,” Alexandre Mbiam, Strategic and Financial Advisor at consulting firm Ashdown Advisory, told Chinafrica.

“Such growth demands that investing in infrastructure, for African nations, is no longer an option, but a requirement,” he added.

Mbiam, an economist from Cameroon, says rapid urbanization on the continent means more people will travel by air in the future. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says 70 million people traveled through African airports in 2015, creating about 7 million jobs both directly and indirectly and sustaining an annual aviation growth of 5 percent per year.

These investments, he says, are needed to replace archaic facilities common in Africa as well as improve on the safety of transportation in Africa, which is considered the worst in the world.

Africa already has some of the busiest airports. South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, and Tunisia all carry a combined passenger total of more than 100 million annually according to IATA. For cargo, the main airports in Nairobi, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Lagos transport a combined weight of 1.24 million tons.

These are the countries that were among the early signatories to the Yamoussoukro Declaration in 1991 to liberalize the skies as a way of developing the aviation industry. Known as the Single Aviation Market, 44 countries in Africa signed the treaty to remove barriers to air transport and have common standards for air safety. progress.

“If you look at the situation now, each country has focused on its own infrastructure growth, be it in energy, transportation or technology. This has led to other countries advancing while others lag behind,” she said.

“I think we will have to invest in transnational projects even as we strengthen national infrastructure,” she said.

According to data from the World Bank, the intra-africa air transport market remains largely underserved. At 32 percent, Africa trails Europe (51 percent), North America (66 percent) and Asia (68 percent).

In fact, five African carriers from Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Kenya carry two thirds of Africa passenger numbers from 54 countries, according to an analysis from financial group Ascend.

This in turn makes air transport expensive compared to other regions.

“We still lack sufficient modern facilities in Africa. Air transport is still underdeveloped. Throughout Africa, there is a persistent problem of lack of specialized facilities to move sensitive goods for example. In other places, there isn’t even enough parking for travelers,” lamented Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation Ltd., a cargo carrier based at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

In fact, Africa’s airlines were projected to make a combined loss of $500 million in 2016, according to IATA. Kenya Airways, for example, has made consistent losses since 2014. In 2016, it announced a $258 million loss, according to its company records.

Gadhia thinks the current sustained improvements in infrastructure will see Africa’s air transport take off. But he also recommends sufficient training for staff at airports, privatepublic partnerships to alleviate costs, as well as what he called an “interface” between aviation transport and other forms of transportation.

“Investment in air cargo infrastructure should be a priority. Customer focus is essential, especially now that we expect competition among regional airports to rise. Flexible, smart terminals, for example, are the way for the future,” he said.

“If we have a proper interface between air and other forms of transport, we remove delays from airports, for example, something that has been common in Africa.” (Reporting from Kenya)