AFRICA
I
MMAPPANCY – MEANING INSUFFICIENT geographical knowledge – is something that can hit any corporate traveller or travel buyer like a slap in the face when they try to negotiate routes in Africa. In 2010, German computer
graphics guru Kai Krause pointed out a global misjudgement: that traditional rectangular maps show Africa about 14 times smaller than it actually is. Krause’s work has since been refined and
it’s now generally agreed Africa is three times the size of the US and that the US, China, India, Eastern and Western Europe, Mexico and India could fit within its borders. All of those regions have better interna- tional and domestic air links than Africa. While there are numerous indirect connec- tions from the UK to Africa, (Air France/KLM and Lufthansa each serve 40 African cities, Turkish Airlines 52 and Emirates more than 30), there is a lack of direct capacity on key routes and within the continent. Adrian Woodward, BCD Travel’s vice-president, partner network, EMEA, says: “The first issue is capacity from the UK, mainly to Johannesburg and Nairobi, which is a huge challenge.” Woodward welcomes British Airways’ new Durban service but says: “It’s not so much about new destinations, but adding more ca- pacity on those cities that drive economies.” He names these drivers as being in Nigeria
(especially now oil prices are rising), South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and the Cote d’Ivoire. Without direct services from the UK, joining the dots in Africa is often down to its own airlines, but there are few network carriers serving this vast continent and only Ethiopian Airlines is profitable enough to
WORDS GARY NOAKES
harbour ambitions to serve all 54 African nations. Its network already extends to 60-plus destinations on the continent, but only one, Cairo, is in North Africa. Among Ethiopian’s competitors, Kenya
Airways is a major network carrier and is re- suming routes, including Malindi, this year, but has reported heavy losses. South African Airways, meanwhile, is launching Johannes- burg-Guangzhou from 18 September, giving customers “access to the heart of China’s export-led manufacturing industries”, while EgyptAir reported its first interim profit for a decade in February and is beginning to contemplate expansion. A leading secondary player, Royal Air
Maroc, is expected to join Oneworld in mid- 2020 and plans to add 27 unspecified desti- nations, but for the moment, its strength is in West Africa where it has 24 routes.
NEW CONNECTIONS
Mexico China
Eastern and Western Europe India
The United States Japan
buyingbusinesstravel.com
There are many examples of how it’s quicker to fly from Europe to one African country and then back to Europe to fly to another because of the lack of intra-African connections. However, there are slow improvements. A few low-cost carriers and better airport infrastructure have boosted intra-African airline connectivity by 5 per cent in 2018 with 70 new routes, according to Ciaran Kelly, FCM Travel Solutions managing director, Middle East and Africa, who adds: “A lot more could still be done. It is, for example, just 476 miles from Entebbe in Uganda to Bujumbura in Burundi. Yet to fly between the two, trav- ellers often need to fly via Nairobi, or connect half-way in Kigali, making what should be an hour or so flight take three to four hours.” Lack of capacity also means high fares;
FCM estimates a Johannesburg-New York flight costs 3p per kilometre, whereas Johan- nesburg-Gaborone costs eight times this. The absence of open skies is a big hurdle when coupled with lack of demand from local passengers. Consequently, flying between
2019 JULY/AUGUST 85
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
