African airlines are missing out on revenue due to lack of service in potential routes within and outside the region, aerospace manufacturer Airbus found in a study.
Airbus says the uppermost segment of Africa’s presently unserved routes are long-haul intercontinental flights to North America, Europe and the Indian Subcontinent.It sees unserved opportunity for a direct flight between Nairobi-Washington and Nairobi-Abuja.9 out of the top 15 unserved routes identified in the study start or end in West-Africa.“With the region’s booming population, with its cultural and economic diversity, with the role it plays in international trade and especially when considering the growth forecast for the subregion, the potential to turn the unserved routes into actual ones is substantial,” notes Airbus in the study released in Windhoek, Namibia, “The value of cargo traffic to and from the subregion is another key factor to consider in truly understanding the potential.”
According to the study, a new non-stop service between Nairobi and Washington would only be a further improvement of the connectivity between East Africa and North America and the success of such service appears at least promising.
“The route experiences seasonal traffic variations, with the peak period from June to August averaging around 4 600 non-directional origin and destination (O&D) passengers per month. Many routes to or from Africa that do not reach this level of O&D traffic are in operation today,” the researchers said in the study.
The third intra-African regional route with the potential to achieve and sustain a non-stop service in the future is Abuja (Nigeria) – Nairobi (Kenya).
Back in April 2023, Kenya and Nigeria formally announced their commitment to deepen diplomatic and trade ties. Kenya and Nigeria already have a long-standing trade relationship. Both countries are members of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and they agreed to further enhance their mutual relationship towards economic development and trade.
“A non-stop air service between Abuja and Nairobi aligns perfectly with that plan, and would also reinforce the already existing direct links between West and East Africa,” Airbus notes.
Some of the unserved routes include Durban-London, Lagos-Manchester, Entebbe-London, Abidjan-Douala, Dakar-Libreville, Cape town-Brussels, Lagos-North America, Johannesburb-Mumbai, Harare-London among others.
Meanwhile, the continued growth of the aviation sector in Africa is expected to result in 3.3 per cent real GDP growth on the continent, well above the 2.6 per cent global average. This growth is ratified by data from Airbus’ Global Services Forecast, which estimates that Africa will need to introduce 15 000 more pilots, 20 000 technicians and 24 000 cabin crew to meet the surge in air travel demand.
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