Air Transport in Africa Outlook - 2019-2023

[sn26567]

Military coup in Burkina Faso: Brussels Airlines cancels flight to Ouagadougou.

https://www.aviation24.be/airports/ouag ... agadougou/

[rwandan-flyer]

Few month agoI had talked about the fact that Turkish Airlines since the beginning of the pandemic tended to operate more and more flights in Africa with A330s instead of 737-900ER 737Max.

Here an article of Jeune Afrique which specifies that it is very voluntary due to the demand. But the airline "lacks" of widebodies. It does not plan to open new rotuesor increase frequencies in Africa in the short term. Only increase seating capacity. It still has 17 A350-900s and 10 787-9s on order.


2,800,000 passengers transported in Africa over the January-August 2022 period. 7.8% of the company's traffic (excluding domestic market) and 9% of revenue. 10.9% increase in unit revenues compared to 2019 over the same period, in particular due to the post-crisis price increase.

Lagos, Cairo and Tunis are its most requested routes in terms of pax. For cargo, Dakar, Johannesburg and Lagos are the most requested routes.

It has codeshare agreements with RwandAir: Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Geneva and Zurich are codeshared with RwandAir. While Bangui, Douala, Libreville, Harare, Lusaka and Bujumbura are in code share with Turkish Airlines

Air Seychelles, Air Algerie, Royal Air Maroc and of course the 2 Star Alliance companies: Egypair and Ethiopian, but for the moment has no plans to enter the capital of an African airline. If that's the case, it will come from above (Turkish government?). A few years ago Turkish Airlines was to take part in the Air Senegal project: https://thetimesofafrica.com/senegal-re ... transport/


Air: why Turkish Airlines is betting on wide-body aircraft in Africa

The Turkish company, which claims the largest number of destinations on the continent, wants to continue the interconnection of major cities, and is now considering replacing its 737s with wide-body aircraft in order to optimize the potential of the African sky. https://www-jeuneafrique-com.translate. ... r_pto=wapp
(only for subscribers)

[rwandan-flyer]

Air Cote d'Ivoire will announce an Airbus order. The type of aircaft is not given, but it should be 2 A330Neos and one A321Neo. They will cancel their order for an A319Neo

Official announcement will take place at Toulouse, the next tuesday. The airline plans to open new routes to Casablanca, Cabo Verde and France.

https://www.koaci.com/article/2022/10/2 ... 64115.html

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Air Senegal leaves Central Africa and closes its route Libreville Douala.

Air Senegal carried 172 000 pax on 235 000 seat capcity on this route since the 1st flight with load factor 85% and a market share of 65% to Douala. But the route has a FCfa 10 billion in losses per year and -110% negative margin, despite over 60 000 Senegalese live in Gabon.

https://www-hello--senegal-com.translat ... r_pto=wapp

[rwandan-flyer]

Barbados in "advanced" talks with several airlines to get a route to the African continent. The goal is to have a route within 5 years, targeting the Caribbean-Africa traffic. Airlines selected by Barbados

Etihad Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways and RwandAir.

A lot of marketing work will be done as well as studies to estimate demand

If these flights will be operated, i think there will be a stopover in West Africa: Senegal? Nigeria? Ghana?

In recent years, there has been a desire to improve improve diplomatic & economic relations between the countries of the Caribbean (a majority of the people are descendants of slaves) and African countries. Some Caribbeans try to find their roots (memorial tourism)

https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/09/03/eff ... -barbados/

Barbados to host inaugural AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com ... ent-forum/

I wonder how many pax KLM sees transiting via AMS between Africa and the Caribbean, the same with Air France. I think Cuba, but also "French overseas departments" passing through CDG. At Cdg I see pax going to Panama (ok not in the Caribbean), especially from Luanda, Johannesburg and some destinations in West Africa.

It will be Antigua and Barbuda and not Babados

Destinations

The opening routes will connect Saint John's to Lagos, Accra and Toronto 3 (three) weekly connections between Nigeria, Ghana, and Canada with the Caribbean Island of Antigua as the central hub. Special Visa on Arrival Program for travellers in Antigua Airways is available from operations start.

https://antiguaairways.com/#top

767-300ER leased from Euro Atlantic Airways (Portugal) CS-TSU

https://www.facebook.com/euroatlanticof ... phhTtskJUl

[sn26567]

Libyan Airlines has lost three executives, who were imprisoned on charges of financial and administrative corruption.

[rwandan-flyer]

Comoros' AB Airlines partners Heston Air for France ops

Having touted the plan in the pre-Covid era, AB Aviation (Y6, Moroni Int'l) is set to wet-lease an A330-200 from Heston Airlines (HN, Vilnius) to jointly develop a new route from Moroni Int'l, the capital of Comoros, to Paris CDG to boost tourism to the Indian Ocean archipelago off Africa’s east coast.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... france-ops


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Air Tanzania flags A220 Pratt & Whitney engine problems

Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) will temporarily cancel flights or reduce frequencies to address technical problems with the Pratt & Whitney engines on its A220-300s, the flag carrier has announced. It did not clarify which flights and destinations would be affected.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/121454


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Air Peace suspends flights to Dubai over visa ban

Air Peace airline, yesterday, announced suspension of its Dubai operations indefinitely over inabilty of Nigerians to get visa to the country.

In a press statement by Airpeace management and a copy made available to LEADERSHIP, the airline said their operation will be suspended from Tuesday, 22nd November, 2022.

https://allafrica.com/stories/202211150286.html


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NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 15 — Kenya could soon enjoy direct flights to and from Tokyo, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya Okaniwa Ken has hinted.

The Ambassador indicated that he is exploring possibilities of commencing direct flights from Tokyo to Nairobi during talks with Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula on Monday.

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/20 ... t-flights/


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No easy take-off for Kenya Airways, SAA airline project https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... ct-4017628

Inside plan to make KQ, South African Airways a pan-African carrier https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... er-4017632


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Troubled carrier KQ defaults on $841m aircraft acquisition loan https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... an-4001628


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Treasury seeks KQ sale to foreign strategic investor https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/ ... or-4020250

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[sn26567]

Ethiopian Airlines plans to increase its aircraft fleet from 140 currently to 271 by 2035, as the number of destinations grows from 131 currently to 207.

[sn26567]

The African Civil Aviation Commission, which seeks to create a single unified air transport market in Africa, announces 17 African countries have agreed to test the Single African Air Transport Market initiative.

Interesting initiative, ahead of Europe!

[lumumba]

The African Civil Aviation Commission, which seeks to create a single unified air transport market in Africa, announces 17 African countries have agreed to test the Single African Air Transport Market initiative.

Interesting initiative, ahead of Europe!

Is the EU not a unified air transport market?!

[rwandan-flyer]

Yes in deed it's an upgrade of 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision which has never implemented in Africa.

https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events ... dent-17578


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Air Senegal: heading for profitability at the end of 2023, despite headwinds https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1396928/ec ... ontraires/

After having revised its program downwards, the Senegalese pavilion, currently faced with technical hazards, is waiting for new aircraft to consolidate its hub strategy.

More than six hours late on the Freetown-Banjul-Dakar flight, on November 28, rescheduled, as were the flights between Dakar and Cap Skirring (Casamance), "due to an operational constraint". More than seven, the same day, on the Paris-Dakar, without any explanation being officially given. And even if the flights from Conakry, Abidjan or even Casablanca landed perfectly on time, social networks did not fail to take over from exasperated passengers, a week after the national press echoed a Dakar-New York-Baltimore/Washington flight canceled five times before finally taking off.

Suffice to say that the new management team, which took the helm in July, still has work to do: led by Alioune Badara Fall, she promised herself to "take over the Air Senegal product to make it the champion punctuality in West Africa", as one of its executives told Jeune Afrique.
Fewer routes and flights, but… too many planes?

It must be recognized that Air Senegal is unlucky on the equipment side: the company, which had seen one of its aircraft damaged during handling operations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport in July, experienced the same mishap a few days later at its own international airport, Blaise-Diagne (AIBD), then in September in Barcelona. In addition, its A220, delivered less than a year ago, remained grounded for several weeks due to an engine problem. In November, it could only be used once, on the 19th, on the Dakar-Casablanca line. This aircraft is the first of an order for eight A220s placed by the company in 2019, the next two of which are due to arrive in December, said the new Senegalese Minister of Air Transport, Doudou Ka, during a ceremony in Dakar, November 14.

The fleet is therefore preparing to expand, at the very moment when the company, under the aegis of its new management, is drastically reducing its frequencies. Since the beginning of November, the Air Senegal program has thus gone from three to two weekly flights to Barcelona, ​​Milan or even Marseille and Lyon, or from six to four frequencies for Casablanca.

However, it is above all Central Africa that has borne the brunt of this reduction, described internally as "massive": after having initially announced the outright abolition of the line, the company backtracked to maintain two weekly frequencies to Libreville, via Cotonou and Douala, instead of the five in force a few months ago. But it has increased its prices on this line, the most loss-making on the network after Washington, according to our information. The Dakar-Baltimore/Washington route will be stopped on January 26.

Executives believe well-stocked devices are better than overcapacity

At this rate, will Air Senegal not end up with too many planes? Its leaders are not convinced. Firstly, because putting the company's hub strategy into practice means having the aircraft take off on a tight schedule, in this case in the afternoon, so that passengers arriving by long-haul can continue their route to a regional destination, and vice versa. Then, because this program is intended to be temporary, the time to see what works and can be redeployed again. In the meantime, management believes, it is better to have well-filled aircraft than overcapacity, especially at a time when fuel prices are skyrocketing.
Paris and New York are doing well

Despite these difficulties, Air Senegal still has some strengths. First, its service to Paris, in a constrained market – according to an agreement between France and Senegal, each of the two countries can only authorize one daily round trip between the two capitals – works very well. The company is also pleased with the performance of its Dakar-New York, in competition with the American Delta, which will even see its frequencies increase during the Christmas period, to three flights a week. "Air Senegal has gone from 300,000 passengers and 3 billion CFA francs [4.6 million euros] in turnover in 2019, to more than 800,000 passengers and 110 billion turnover in 2022," Doudou announced. Ka during his speech on November 14.

In addition, the company indicates that it is in the process of finalizing the procedure for obtaining the Iosa safety label, the sesame which will allow it to conclude partnerships with other companies in Africa, North America, Europe, as of 2023, even in Asia – even if the discussions are less advanced there, according to our information. So many elements that must allow the young company, which currently has, according to our sources, a deficit of 60 million euros, to come out of the red for its results for the fourth quarter of 2023.

[rwandan-flyer]

Air Algérie will open routes to Ethiopia and South Africa to increase its presence in sub-Saharan Africa. AH has been planning to open new routes in Africa for several years

https://djalia--dz-com.translate.goog/f ... r_pto=wapp

Before covid, AH was planning flights to Douala and Libreville (I don't know if they were operated) https://www-agenceecofin-com.translate. ... r_pto=wapp

Noted that with the closure of flights between Algeria and Morocco since 2021, a lot of pax go through Paris to flu between Casablanca & Algiers for example:( https://www-france24-com.translate.goog ... r_pto=wapp None of the West African airlines serve both Morocco and Algeria. I m takling about Air Cote d'Ivoire, Air Senegal or Mauritania Airlines. Remains Tunisair and Egyptair for Africa

It would indeed be a good thing for AH to add more routes in Africa. What Royal Air Maroc and Egyptair are doing well in Africa shows that it is possible to have a competitive network when you biggest competitors are majors such as Air France, KLM, Turkish Airlines Emirates or Qatar Airways.

Air Algérie has a very good network. Many secondary cities served in France, Spain or Italy. A good network in the Middle East and service to China and Canada. The USA is in project: https://observalgerie-com.translate.goo ... r_pto=wapp

The Algeria airport which has been modernized with the addition of a new terminal can absorb this traffic. Now, unlike RAM or Egyptair, which have strong point-to-point competition, which forced them to develop an Africa-rest of the world hub. Air Algérie is not in this case. Even if more and more companies are landing in Algeria, there are still many restrictions. Air Algérie is sheltered.

AH should have to improve his product. The Algerians call it Air Couscous or so when an AH plane arrives at an airport. They say the couscous steamer has just arrived. not a nice nickname

The Algerian influence in Africa is weak and very far from that of Morocco or Egypt. Tunisair and Tunisia are in the same situation as Algeria and AH. Even if Tunisair will serve Douala in 2023/2024 https://ecomatin-net.translate.goog/tra ... r_pto=wapp

Below the airport of Algiers and the Air Algérie network

[rwandan-flyer]

Summer 2023: Air France continues to increase service to East Africa


Launch of a new route to Dar Es Salam (Tanzania) as a continuation of the service to Zanzibar;
Increased flights to Zanzibar (Tanzania), Nairobi (Kenya) and Antananarivo (Madagascar).

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/air- ... st-africa/

CDG Dar Es Salaam route closed closed in the 90s. More info here. Since few years AF seems to want to rebuilt irs old network in East Africa, which is rather served by KLM.

Nairobi, Zanzibar, Dar Es Salaam. Who will be the next destination in East Africa for AF? Bujumbura (Burundi)? Entebbe (Uganda)? Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)? Kigali (Rwanda)? On Addis Ababa I don't really believe in it. Ethiopian Airlines locks its market very well. Khartoum in Sudan? I don't believe it either. The presence of companies from the Middle East is very present and Sudan is a difficult destination to make profitable. Even if the economic embargo was lifted in 2020, the Sudanese economy is still suffering and political instability still there with coups (2019 and 2021). About Juba (South Sudan), Asmara (Eritrea) and Mogadishu I think it is not in the map.

Small mistake: Tana is served by B777 and not by B787-9

Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya… Air France, what ambitions for 2023? https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1397702/ec ... s-en-2023/

The French flag, which displays on the continent a level of sales close to that of 2019, plans to strengthen in East Africa, but also in Nigeria, Mali and Benin.

" Resilient ". This is the word used by Olivier Piette, flight program director at Air France, to describe his company's activity in Africa. The area, which had been one of the first to recover in 2020, is, according to him, only "a few points below" its level of activity in 2019, driven by its flagship destinations - first and foremost Abidjan. and Dakar – but also by the opening of the route to Zanzibar, via Kenya, inaugurated in the winter of 2021.

Thus, the Air-France KLM network generated 1.291 billion euros in sales in the Africa Middle East zone in the first half of 2022, compared to 1.357 billion euros in 2019, a decrease of 4.9%, compared to 13 .2% overall.

Better, the company has already planned to offer, from the second half of 2023, more capacity to sub-Saharan Africa than before the crisis, even if, acknowledges Olivier Piette, "the growth potential there is now more limited than 'elsewhere', with Air France already having a strong presence on the continent.

Thus, the Air-France KLM network generated 1.291 billion euros in sales in the Africa Middle East zone in the first half of 2022, compared to 1.357 billion euros in 2019, a decrease of 4.9%, compared to 13 .2% overall.

Better, the company has already planned to offer, from the second half of 2023, more capacity to sub-Saharan Africa than before the crisis, even if, acknowledges Olivier Piette, "the growth potential there is now more limited than 'elsewhere', with Air France already having a strong presence on the continent.

Direction Tanzania, first African destination in 2022 (2023 I would say ^^)

The carrier has nevertheless planned to open, on June 12, the Dar-es-Salam destination, which will be coupled to Zanzibar, in order to serve Kenya on a direct daily line, "which will mechanically increase our capacities towards Kenya, since some of the seats had previously been occupied by passengers traveling to Zanzibar", specifies the program director.

The coupling with Zanzibar will allow Air France to secure its new route, while the Tanzanian capital was recently abandoned by Lufthansa due to lack of profitability. "There is a real complementarity between the two destinations, Zanzibar is very touristy while Dar-es-Salam will meet the demand for cargo transport and bring in business customers", explains Olivier Piette.

For us, Tanzania is a perennial destination

The French company takes all the less risk with Tanzania as the country, which has only 28 international air connections (compared to 40 for Kenya and South Africa), can already present itself, ahead of Egypt, as the number one tourist destination in the Africa/Middle East region in 2022 according to ForwardKeys, which is based on airline ticket sales. Lufthansa had also combined its departure from Dar-es-Salam with an increase in frequencies to Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.

On KLM land

This development of Air France in East Africa, traditionally the preserve of KLM, is being done "in a coordinated and complementary manner" with the Dutch partner of the French company, assures Olivier Piette, specifying that "the days of operation of the two companies will be complementary to offer an almost daily service "of Zanzibar, from Paris or Amsterdam. The exercise is further facilitated by the fact that KLM, still faced with operational difficulties – in particular congestion at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport – is not currently in a position to expand its network itself. But Air France does not see its new route as a simple fallback position until its partner raises its head. "For us, Tanzania is a perennial destination", says Olivier Piette.

Alongside this opening of the line, Air France also aims to switch to daily service to Lagos – against five frequencies per week currently – and to increase its frequencies to Antananarivo, from four to five weekly flights. On this destination, the company has also planned to replace its Boeing 787s with Airbus A350s, "latest generation aircraft that offer more capacity, 25% lower fuel consumption and 40% less noise and the latest travel cabins (Economy, Premium Economy and Business)”, specifies the company. A movement already operated at the beginning of November on the destinations Bamako and Libreville.

In Benin, the wish of the French flag to increase its frequencies from five to seven weekly services concomitantly with the arrival of Corsair having clashed with the local authorities, Air France has so far only added one flight, but is confident about going daily on April 1.
No scheduled coordination with Air Côte d'Ivoire

Asked about the future of the destination Abidjan when Air Côte d'Ivoire, of which Air France is a minority shareholder, will have taken possession of its A330s and will fly to Paris in 2025, Olivier Piette is formal: for him, he is "no way to get out of this market". "We will study the possibilities", he declares, assuring that "it would be logical to open a classic cooperation, of the code-sharing type", but that "two competing companies, even with a commercial partnership, do not 'have no right to coordinate their flight plan'.

A point also highlighted on the question of the increase in capacity between Paris and Nairobi: Kenya Airways, a partner of Air France-KLM via the Skyteam alliance, also operates this route on a daily basis.

Air France's activity in North Africa is more difficult to analyze: in the results, Maghreb destinations are mixed with European cities in the group's medium-haul network. Olivier Piette, however, specifies that the figures for Morocco and Algeria are better than before the crisis: "Our growth in Algeria comes from the fact that, like Transavia, we have recovered part of the rights of Aigle Azur [which went bankrupt in September 2019, Ed]. As for Morocco, we have increased our frequencies there to Marrakech and opened routes between Orly and Casablanca, in addition to those that existed from Roissy, "he explains.

Transavia in Dakar: "no impact" on Air France's results

Move along, nothing to see. Asked about the consequences, in terms of attendance, of the arrival of Transavia, its low-cost subsidiary, in Dakar – with weekly flights from Nantes since May and from Lyon since the beginning of November – Olivier Piette believes that there were none.

“We have complementary products and we target different markets,” he explains. What Nicolas Hénin, deputy general manager of Transavia France, had also assured Jeune Afrique in September.

Above all, the air market between France and Senegal, drastically constrained by bilateral agreements between the two countries, still enjoys greater demand than supply, which makes it particularly comfortable to operate for airlines.

N.F.

[rwandan-flyer]

It seems that Kenya Airways wants to serve Durban. Seen on the South African Official Gazette.

Ethiopian Airlines in 2015 had relaunched its route to Durban 16 years after its closure. The line had been operated year-round before being seasonal and finally closed (https://www-financialafrik-com.translat ... r_pto=wapp) . In the case of Kenya Airways it would make sense since South African Airways and Kenya Airways want to merge. KQ already serves Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa.

This gazette is also available free online at http://www.gpwonline.co.za

STAATSKOERANT, 18 NOVEMbER 2022 No. 47526 409
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT

NOTICE 1430 OF 2022

INTERNATIONAL AIR SERVICE ACT, (ACT NO.60 OF 1993) GRANT /AMENDMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AIR SERVICE LICENSE

KENYA AIRWAYS LTD. (B) P.O BOX 19002-00501, Embakisi, Nairobi, Kenya (C) Class I (D) Type S2 (E) B737-300, Reg. 5Y-KQC; 5Y-KQD; B787-7 5Y-KZB and 5Y-KZA (F) and (G) Pointd in Kenya to Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town international airports (H) Seven flights per week (7)

https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/ ... en1430.pdf

[sn26567]

Kenya Airways and Royal Air Maroc have resumed a codeshare agreement that will see passengers travelling from Marrakech and Casablanca to Nairobi.

[rwandan-flyer]

Brussels Airport and Brussels Airlines no long in the top 3 in West Africa

Turkish Airlines and its Istanbul hub are ranked 3rd in West Africa in terms of connections to and from West Africa ahead of Brussels and Addis Ababa. Amsterdam and CDG still have a lead but the gap is reducing. Qatar Airways and Emirates they are far behind. QR only serves Accra, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abidjan in West Africa. Emirates only serves Conakry, Dakar, Abidjan and Accra. Flights to Nigeria are again suspended due to EK's inability to repatriate its earnings following the currency crisis in Nigeria.

It's also interesting to see that TK has expended to Africa thanks to Turkey's overall strategy in Africa.

The rise of TK is not a surprise when considering Turkey's overall strategy in Africa. We remember the strong media coverage of Erdorgan's first visit to Somalia, 10 years ago. Significant investments, particularly in infrastructure. A less aggressive policy than the Chinese and a less neo-colonialist vision compared to the European countries. Erdogan speech suits to the African elites and to the African youth quite numerous to go to study in Turkey.

In aviation there are some agreements. RwandAir having code shares on routes departing from Istanbul (Paris, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Zurich) and TK has its code on Douala, Bangui, Brazzaville, Libreville, Lusaka, Harare and Bujumbura departing from Kigali. Same with Air Algérie, Royal Air Maroc, Ethiopian, Egytpair or Tunisair. Turkish trains RwandAir crews (pilots and cabin crew) and also trains pilots of the Rwandan army.

It would be interesting to know the O&D between Istanbul and destinations in Africa. Obviously the countries of North Africa must be ahead, but about the countries in the south of the Sahara, the O&Ds have surely increased over the years. years.

© Ayjet: https://www.ayjet.aero/en/atpla-frozen- ... rce-staff/
© Ifran6 (FO on RwandAir A330)
© G Habz (FA for RwandAir)
© Airkule http://www.airkule.com/haber/THY-NIN-ME ... ATTI/27967 (traduction ENG: https://www-airkule-com.translate.goog/ ... r_pto=wapp)



Turkish Airlines supplants Brussels and Ethiopian to West Africa

While Paris CDG and Amsterdam Schiphol airports remain the main hubs for travelers to the sub-region, Istanbul has established itself as a safe and well-connected platform.

Almost three years after the crisis, the air sector is beginning to see a rebound: 68% of international air routes have been restored and African companies have regained 83.9% of their 2019 capacity, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). But two years of virtual shutdown, a chaotic recovery in some of the world's largest airports and the Tigray war have left their mark on the respective positions of players in the sector. This is evidenced by a study by ForwardKeys, a firm that scrutinizes ticketing data issued by airlines in real time, focused on West and Central Africa and made public in early December.

According to this analysis of long-haul tickets issued between January 1 and October 28, 2022, nearly one in ten passengers to West Africa now travel through Istanbul. The Turkish Airlines hub now takes 3rd place on the podium, behind Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam, which consolidate their lead. The Air France hub thus alone concentrates nearly 14% of the transit passenger market for West Africa (compared to 12% in 2019), while Schiphol spent less 9 to 11% market share.

By increasing by 4 percentage points, Istanbul International Airport doubled those of Brussels, which remained stable at 8% market share, and Addis Ababa Bole. The stronghold of Ethiopian Airlines is showing a sharp decline, from 7% market share in 2019 to less than 5% in 2022. The Tigray war has gone through this, weakening the continental champion despite the resilience it has shown during the Covid crisis. “Addis Ababa, which was THE African success story, is experiencing a loss of momentum due to the political situation in Ethiopia,” confirms Olivier Ponti, vice president in charge of studies at ForwardKeys.

Dubai and Doha absent from the list

The analyst explains the success of Istanbul by the dynamism of Turkish Airlines which, supported by the State, very quickly reconstituted its network, as well as by a historically low Turkish lira, "which makes it an attractive option from an economic point of view ". In addition, he comments, the congestion problems encountered by European airports, particularly during the summer, have also played their part.

"If you hear that London or Amsterdam have had mass cancellations or lost luggage, and you hear nothing like that about Istanbul, you'll be tempted to take that detour to the East, even if it's may seem strange geographically. The important thing for the passenger is that his trip actually takes place,” explains Olivier Ponti, while acknowledging that Schiphol has been less affected by this phenomenon.

It should be noted that despite their international power, the Gulf companies (Qatar Airways and Emirates) did not benefit to the same extent from the opportunity, their capacities in West Africa not being for the time being not comparable to those of their European or Turkish competitors.

https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1398997/ec ... 201900ba97

[rwandan-flyer]

The Government of Burundi mulls a new carrier: Burundi Airlines

CH-Aviation discovered that the Government of the Republic of Burundi unveiled plans to launch a new national carrier in 2021 under the brand name Burundi Airline

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/buru ... -airlines/

AKEZA Burundi
@akezanet
Aviation # burundi-ease is transformed and appears under a new image.
Since 02/04/2021, the companies Air Burundi and SOBUGEA have merged to form BURUNDI AIRLINES. The new company has the slogan: "Flying to bridge Africa with the world"
@MinCommerce


https://twitter.com/akezanet/status/1357297994547232775

The @BurundiGov, authorized to participate in the constitution of the share capital of #BurundiAirlines resulting from the merger of Air Burundi and SOBUGEA

Reminder: the shareholders will consist of the State of #Burundi (92%), SOCABU (4%) and bankrupt SABENA (4%)

Decree

The share capital of #BurundiAirlines ~ 15 billion BIF: the @BurundiGov, that is 5,408 shares out of 5,868, or 92% of the shares

More risks for the company in these times of Covid-19? The @MinCommerce: "Even with the pandemic, [commercial] flights continue"

#Burundi

https://twitter.com/JimbereMag/status/1 ... 2372207623

Any info about Burundi Airlines ? They have now a website. They have a booking engine but it shows only flights from others airlines. About destination, they show Paris, USA, Belgium, Dubai, London and UgandaOf course some of these destinations will be not served by Burundi Airlines in short or medium term. Only Uganda & Dubai seems viable. We can see an A321 on their home page. Probably a picture for their website as the A321 seems too big for Burundi market.

https://www.burundiairlines.bi/

There are also pics of Management Team

[rwandan-flyer]

The time is no longer to nationalize Kenya Airways. After the launching of a merger project with SAA, the Kenyan government would like to open the capital of Kenya Airways to American investors.to


We learn that the newly elected president of Kenya Mr Ruto met with executives of Delta Airlines. Delta Airlines and Kenya Airways are in the same alliance. We remember that in 2009, DL wanted to open an Atlanta-Dakar-Nairobi route, but the TSA had said that Kenya was far from having fulfilled all the conditions to obtain the FAA status 1 category.

With the end of the JV between Air France-KLM and Kenya Airways, KLM only owns 7.76% of the shares of KQ against 26.7%.

If Delta Airlines buys shares of Kenya Airways it would probably be the first American airline to invest in an African airline since the TWA done with Ethiopian Airlines in 1945 (https://corporate.ethiopianairlines.com ... -of-africa).



Ruto meets Delta Air, wants to sell all State stake in KQ

https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/ ... q--4059492

[rwandan-flyer]

AFRAA has published its annual report. I have cut some parts so as not to make the post unreadable (not easy there is so much to say) https://www.afraa.org/wp-content/upload ... t-2022.pdf

North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Tunis, Algeria), Southern Africa (Namibia, Magadasacar, Mauritius, Comoros, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Somali, Eritrea, Djibouti, Burundi, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda) are the 3 regions that are most often in the lead. For some reason that I do not know, for the first time RwandAir does not appear in the report in the airlines part. The airline is a member of AFRAA.

The losses are still as important for 2021. Nevertheless for 2022, they should amount to 638M dollars for 2022 and 213M dollars for 2023 https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2 ... m-in-2023/. On était à 13 Mds de dollars en 2020.

We learn that Ethiopian Airlines, Air Madagascar and Overland Airways (Nigeria) posted profits.

Must have be optimistic? Based on the growth rate, Africa will be the continent that will record the second highest growth rate in the world behind Asia over the period 2019-2023. Africa is a resilient continent. In addition, the free trade and open sky zone came into operation. Even if all the African countries are not part of it, this will make it possible to exchange goods and open routes without having to go through a long and painful administrative procedure.

Unfortunately, the volatility of currencies, inflation and the debt crisis nevertheless risk weighing down certain countries. Emirates has again suspended its flights to Nigeria because it is unable to repatriate its income. Ghana has just defaulted on part of its debt. Zambia defaulted last year. Many African countries have borrowed on the markets (Eurobond) or from China during the last decade. The covid crisis has only made things worse.

Abderrahmane Berthé: “Africa cannot have 54 air hubs” https://www-jeuneafrique-com.translate. ... r_pto=wapp

[rwandan-flyer]

Despite its from SkyTeam, China Southern resumes its Guangzhou Nairobi route from 8jan23

China Southern reopens its Guangzhou Nairobi route. Exit the A330-200, switch to the A350-900 https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/221227-czjan23can

This route was inaugurated in 2015 then a few years CE adds a stop via Changsha. Covid has interrupted flights between China and Kenya. CSX resumed but not CAN.

Kenya Airways still operates the CAN-NBO route but via Bangkok.

We could think that there are dozens of lines operated by Chinese companies to Africa. It's not the cas. Nigeria was the first African country to see a Chinese airline land in Africa (China Southern Lagos Beijing in 2006 with the A330).

Air China to Ethiopia, China Southern to Mauritius, Hainan to Angola and Sudan, but most of these routes did not last long. Only South Africa, Egypt and Kenya are served by Chinese airlines. Air China in JNB, Sichuan Airlines in Cairo and China Southern in Nairobi.

[rwandan-flyer]

Openings of Agler-Addis Ababa, Algiers-Libreville and Algiers-Johannesburg routes from March 26 / 29, 2023. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230102-ahns23

ADD-ALG with an A330-200. They are super ambitious, it's not going to be easy to compete with Ethiopian from Europe. Ethiopian serving almost all countries in Europe served by Air Algérie (except Spain and Portugal are not served by ET).

Air Algérie does not serve the USA, a big market for Ethiopia. Only Canada, but this is Montreal

Air Algérie will open routes to Ethiopia and South Africa to increase its presence in sub-Saharan Africa. AH has been planning to open new routes in Africa for several years

https://djalia--dz-com.translate.goog/f ... r_pto=wapp

Before covid, AH was planning flights to Douala and Libreville (I don't know if they were operated) https://www-agenceecofin-com.translate. ... r_pto=wapp

Noted that with the closure of flights between Algeria and Morocco since 2021, a lot of pax go through Paris to flu between Casablanca & Algiers for example:( https://www-france24-com.translate.goog ... r_pto=wapp None of the West African airlines serve both Morocco and Algeria. I m takling about Air Cote d'Ivoire, Air Senegal or Mauritania Airlines. Remains Tunisair and Egyptair for Africa

It would indeed be a good thing for AH to add more routes in Africa. What Royal Air Maroc and Egyptair are doing well in Africa shows that it is possible to have a competitive network when you biggest competitors are majors such as Air France, KLM, Turkish Airlines Emirates or Qatar Airways.

Air Algérie has a very good network. Many secondary cities served in France, Spain or Italy. A good network in the Middle East and service to China and Canada. The USA is in project: https://observalgerie-com.translate.goo ... r_pto=wapp

The Algeria airport which has been modernized with the addition of a new terminal can absorb this traffic. Now, unlike RAM or Egyptair, which have strong point-to-point competition, which forced them to develop an Africa-rest of the world hub. Air Algérie is not in this case. Even if more and more companies are landing in Algeria, there are still many restrictions. Air Algérie is sheltered.

AH should have to improve his product. The Algerians call it Air Couscous or so when an AH plane arrives at an airport. They say the couscous steamer has just arrived. not a nice nickname

The Algerian influence in Africa is weak and very far from that of Morocco or Egypt. Tunisair and Tunisia are in the same situation as Algeria and AH. Even if Tunisair will serve Douala in 2023/2024 https://ecomatin-net.translate.goog/tra ... r_pto=wapp

Below the airport of Algiers and the Air Algérie network