DESTINATIONS North Africa


their associated holiday packages. Looking at June schedules for 2015 and 2016 Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways, Condor and Jetairfly have all left the market resulting in the removal of 65,000 monthly seats from the previous year. The market has also been impacted


by the collapse of Syphax Airlines and Russian carrier Transaero Airlines and the suspension of flights to Tunisia by among others, Air Malta, airberlin, Germania, Jet2.com, KLM and Monarch Airlines. Others major brands such as Air France, Emirates Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Transavia France and Turkish Airlines have also cut capacity. The loss of this intercontinental traffic in


Tunisia has been seemingly partly balanced by growth in other markets with airlines such as Afriqiyah Airways, Air Algerie, Libyan Airlines, Saudia and local carriers Nouvelair and Tunisair all boosting capacity in June 2016 versus the same month last year, some at a considerable rate.


Safer ground


The trend is clear and as tourists are shunning the once popular resorts of North Africa there has been a growth in demand for traditional leisure markets as people seek out perceived “safer” destinations for holidays. There have been notable increases in demand for destinations across Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, markets that were beginning to fall out of favour with a more adventurous traveller keen to seek out new opportunities. While this has helped these markets it has caused problems. Lobbying groups are voicing concerns about sustainability within the Balearic Islands as they face additional capacity pressures from increasing visitor arrivals by both air and sea. The Balearics, with a permanent population of 1.1 million, had 13 million visitors last year, according to official tourism data. Palma on the island of Mallorca, is already expanding its airport capacity by around a third to 100 daily flights this season to meet the increased demand. Egypt is working to win back tourists


and has promised a notable investment in improving its security. Tourism minister Hisham Zaazou said earlier this year: “Egypt has a long track record of enhancing security and seeking to ensure that our citizens and tourists visiting our country are safe and secure. These additional measures bring our tourist security to another level. However, we will not stop there. We constantly review our capabilities on a regular basis and will continue to do so. “The security of visitors to Egypt


remains our highest priority. I believe that these new measures will further add to the security of our resorts while not being intrusive to tourists so they can get on with enjoying their holidays,” he added. There is a high level of government


36 ISSUE 4 ROUTES NEWS 2016 routesonline.com


International capacity between Tunisia & Europe


International


January February March April May June July


August


September October


November December Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4


Full year Source: Sabre Market Intelligence


support for the aviation and tourism industries. International airlines are given reduced landing and waiting fees for operating at airports in tourist hotspots. In fact there is a 100% exemption from these fees at Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and Assiut airports, for airlines using these airports as a base. The Egyptian Ministry of Aviation also


pays towards the services provided at Egyptian airports: $20 per passenger on international, regular and charter flights and $4 per passenger on domestic routes. Ministers have also exempted certain airports from loading bridge fees and fire services, and duties have been reduced on aircraft weighing more than 200 tons. The Egyptian government is working


hard to facilitate aviation growth using measures that other nations including Israel and Kenya have also undertaken after terrorist attacks. However, it is unclear if these will bring sustainable growth while uncertainty over safety remains. But with the value of aviation connectivity clear to see, it just could provide the first step on the road to recovery. £


“Egypt is working to win back tourists, which are important for its economy, and has promised a notable investment in improving its security”


capacity (2015) 192,314


164,204 196,157 374,468 280,621 260,291 314,113 352,531 352,531 200,492 163,220 159,750 552,675 915,380


1,019,175 523,462


3,010,692 International


capacity (2016) 167,860


151,842 173,520 202,049 262,343 250,273 310,494 343,798 293,301 285,858 226,599 238,404 493,222 714,665 947,593 750,861


2,906,341 % change


-12.7 -7.5


-11.5 -46.0 -6.5 -3.8 -1.2 -2.5


-16.8 42.6 38.8 49.2


-10.8 -21.9 -7.0 43.4 -3.5


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