African Airlines Association (AFRAA) estimates that passenger traffic carried by African operators in 2024 will be about 98 million, as air travel rebounds past impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The number of seats offered in the region increased by 12.6%, from 14.3 million in March 2019 to 16.1 million in March 2024, thanks to new routes and frequencies added.
- Over the same period, Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) also exceeded the level of March 2019 by 7.7%.
- African carriers accounted for 49.5% of the international capacity and 35.9% of the intercontinental capacity.
“In terms of capacity split between African and non-African operators on both regional and intercontinental routes, AFRAA estimates a 50.7% and 49.3% respectively,” reads the report in part.
A further disaggregation of capacity on only the intercontinental routes reveals a much lower share of 35.7% for Africa as against 64.3% for non-African operators.
Similar to traffic growth, African airlines are also seeing improved revenue performance. AFRAA estimated revenue for January 2024 was US$ 1.83 billion compared to US$1.56 billion in November 2023, indicating a revenue growth of 14.75%.
AFRAA’s Stand on SAATM
Uganda has reaffirmed its commitment to signing the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) solemn commitment. If done, this will bring to 39 the African States that have committed to opening up their markets. Similarly, internal discussions are ongoing in Tanzania on their commitment to SAATM. If the two countries join, EAC will boast a big domestic market for air travel.
“The air transport market in Africa is relatively small, we have seen some protectionism attitudes aiming to protect national carriers. Of course, this is a wrong approach because by nature traffic rights are reciprocal. it is therefore critical to increase the market size and facilitate its access.” AFRAA Secretary General – Mr Abderahmane Berthé said on the challenges impeding the implementation of SAATM.
To achieve this, he highlighted the following need to be addressed:
- Affordability of air transport for African citizens: reduce cost of operations and taxes and charges.
- African economy growth: GDP per capita (only 15% of global GDP per capita).
- Trade and tourism development: Intra-Africa trade is below 20% compared to more than 50% in other regions. Intra-Africa tourism is very small. In Africa when we talk about tourism, we are looking to tourism from non-African regions.
- Facilitation of air travel through visa openness is also critical. 50% of African citizens need a visa to travel within Africa.
- Airlines’ cooperation: commercial agreements and partnerships are essential to improve connectivity. AFRAA Route Network and Cargo Coordination is aimed at creating a forum for airlines to cooperate. Another success factor is airline consolidation. Over the past 18 years, the African continent has had the lowest level of market consolidation compared to the other regions in the globe. The engagement of States, airlines and all the relevant stakeholders is necessary to effectively achieve the required outcomes on airline consolidation in Africa.
The African Airlines Association is a trade association of African airlines, and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. The primary purpose of AFRAA is to establish and facilitate co-operation between African airlines.
50 airlines comprising of all the major intercontinental African operators and the Association’s members represent over 85% of total international traffic carried by all African airlines.
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