Africa’s aviation industry continues to perform strongly, with increased passenger traffic and improved operational efficiency. Key drivers include expanded routes, better connectivity, and rising domestic and international travel demand.
On the state of the airline industry, Mr Berthé reported that AFRAA estimates a 15% growth in passenger traffic for African airlines in 2024 compared to 2023. AFRAA predicts a capacity split of 50.1% on international routes for African carriers and 49.9% for non-African airlines. Africa holds 37.1% of the capacity on intercontinental routes, and non-African carriers dominate with 62.9%.
On intra-African connectivity, Mr Berthé stated: “Connectivity within Africa continues to expand, with major hubs like Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Lusaka and Lomé experiencing significant increases in connections.”
With regards to financial performance, Mr Berthé indicated that African airlines are reporting improved passenger revenue, reflecting the overall traffic growth. AFRAA data indicates that passenger revenue in May 2024 reached US$1.66 billion, up by 4% from US$1.59 billion in April 2023.
On cargo, the average market share of African Airlines per cargo origin is 31.2% Year to date. The East African region performs best at 40.4%, followed by Central and Southern Africa. The growth of cargo volume is estimated at 13.6% Year on Year. “The potential for Air Cargo development on the continent is important and should be supported by adequate infrastructure development and regulatory policy.” he added.
Among the challenges hindering the performance and development of the airline industry, Mr Berthé highlighted the high cost environment, blocked funds, capacity development gaps, SAF production, availability and cost and limited collaboration among airlines as some of the key challenges. “Resolving these challenges is critical for the future and remains an essential topic for the African aviation industry. It is worth noting that the air transport market in Africa is growing and will double in the next 20 years.” Mr Berthé constated.
“Africa is a high-cost region for airlines. Fuel costs, service provider charges.Taxes and fees generally represent more than 40% of airlines’ most affordable base fares and more than 20% of ticket prices. For a given average trip length, taxes excluded, ticket fares are more expensive in Africa. On average, ticket fares are twice and thrice higher than in Europe and Asia. Consequently, air transport is not affordable for African citizens, with the lowest GDP per capita.” he stated.
On blocked funds, Mr Berthé reported that the industry’s blocked funds have decreased significantly. “As of April 2024, Nigeria released 98% of the blocked funds. The remaining $19 million is due to the Central Bank’s ongoing verification of outstanding forward claims filed by the commercial banks.” he said.
AFRAA has collected data from the African Airlines and has since undertaken the following steps towards unlocking the funds:
- Establishment of an AFRAA Blocked Funds Task Force that has member airline representatives.
- Meeting with central banks in countries with blocked funds.
On training, Mr Berthé said: “The training of skilled aviation professionals is critical. As air traffic is growing, the need for qualified human resources has challenged Air Transport sustainability on the continent.” Through Human Capital development, it is critical to upgrade management staff on the industry best practices to improve African air operators’ profitability and to keep abreast of operational staff to secure safety, security, maintenance program, airworthiness, and efficiency in the operations of African airlines.
“Under the auspices of the AFRAA Partnership Programme, we are working with our Partners on capacity development and awareness creation initiatives to support our airlines through conduction of workshops/seminars. Examples of recent subjects covered are on aircraft financing, NDC implementation, network & fleet planning.” he added.
As airlines face economic challenges, they should consider consolidation to remain competitive. The consolidation enables African carriers to increase their market share, reduce costs, grow revenue, enhance safety, and promote the training of skilled human resources. Consolidation will create an economics of scale, which with traffic volume opportunity, will facilitate new route development and, therefore enhance intra-Africa connectivity.
With regards to environmental sustainability, Mr Berthé reported that, in 2021, aviation accounted for over 2% of global CO2 emissions. Aviation-related emissions have grown faster than road, rail, or shipping in recent decades.
“Carbon emissions from commercial flights are set to triple by 2050 amid surging travel and freight demand. Nonetheless, emissions could be slashed through aircraft technology, operations efficiency, and alternative fuels. AFRAA members are committed to the global industry’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate aviation’s impact on the climate. As the global Aviation industry focuses on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), concerns are raised about the volume of SAF production, airport availability, and current high cost.” he remarked.
AFRAA is working with stakeholders on actions towards the 2050 Net Zero emissions goal: EASA, AFCAC, ENVISA, IATA. Key areas on capacity building, awareness creation, policy and advocacy. Details on forthcoming workshops, seminars and trainings on environmental sustainability can be accessed via the AFRAA website: www.afraa.org.
In collaboration with stakeholders (IATA, CANSO, ANSPs, ICAO), a step-by-step project on Free Route Airspace (FRA) trials is underway to accelerate the implementation of FRA in the entire AFI Airspace and reduce flight operation costs.
“Implementing the FRA trials facilitates data collection supporting the continental project while reducing fuel burnt and CO2 emissions for the trial flights, demonstrating FRA’s positive impact on flight operation cost reduction.” Mr Berthé stated.
During the first quarter of 2024, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways operated 9 and 11 trial flights, respectively. From 24 to 30 April 2024, they performed 14 and 6 trial flights, respectively.
Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways have avoided burning 1,258 KGS of fuel and prevented the emission of 3,975 KGS of CO2 per day. Projecting on the yearly schedule, they could collectively avoid 459 Tons of fuel, prevent the emission of 1,450 Tons of CO2, and save USD 856,290 on flights that provide air services to the retained trial-city pairs.
Additional volunteer airlines for the trials are Royal Air Maroc, EgyptAir, RwandAir and Airlink to ensure comprehensive coverage of the African continent for the trials.
A successful and viable African aviation industry requires concerted efforts and close collaboration among all stakeholders, from governments, regulatory authorities, airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, suppliers of a wide range of aviation products and services, and customers. At AFRAA, we are willing and ready to collaborate to transform African Aviation into a vibrant logistic service that sustains economic development in Africa.
“This year’s AFRAA Annual General Assembly & Summit theme: “Transform and Develop the Airline Industry in Africa” is very much aligned towards this end. I look forward to meet you at the forthcoming AFRAA AGA in Cairo – Egypt in November, hosted by EgyptAir under the patronage of the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation.” he concluded.
The 2024 Edition of the African Aviation Summit was hosted under the patronage of the government of South Africa with the theme “Bridging Skies and Leveraging Growth.”