Browsing: airlines in africa

• Algeria tops countries holding airlines’ blocked funds in Africa at $261 million followed by countries within the XAF Zone that are trapping $140 million.
• Ethiopia has $115 million in blocked funds for airlines while its neighbour Eritrea is sitting on $75 million.
• Zimbabwe closes the top five countries with blocked funds at $69 million.

Airlines across the world continue to struggle to repatriate their profits, with several African countries accounting for the bulk of blocked funds at $880 million. This amount, which represents 52 percent of the total $1.68 billion blocked funds globally continues to act as a hindrance to the growth of the industry post-Covid-19 fallout.

Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has single out Algeria, the XAF Zone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Zimbabwe as the top five countries in Africa where airlines are struggling to repatriate their profits.

Across Africa, Algeria tops among …

• The top unserved routes identified by Airbus are in Africa’s biggest cities, Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town, Dakar, and Douala.
• Despite significant traffic between certain city pairs, Airbus notes that some of these routes lack regularly scheduled non-stop flights.
• Overall, Airbus forecasts a 4.1% growth in air traffic over the next 20 years, resulting in demand for 1,180 new aircraft by 2043 across Africa.

An analysis by global aviation giant Airbus has revealed several key unserved airline routes in Africa that could provide greater connectivity for travelers, and drive economic growth in the economies while offering fresh income streams for airlines.

Several of the top unserved routes identified in Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast analysis are concentrated in Africa’s biggest cities, including Nairobi in Kenya, Lagos in Nigeria, Cape Town in South Africa, Dakar in Senegal, as well as Douala in Cameroon.

In its review, the aircraft maker also offered strategic …

• Kenya Airways losses for FY2023 have majorly stemmed from FX fluctuations.
• Despite the heightened operating costs, Kenya Airways achieved an operating profit of $79.4 million.
• International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts full recovery of the aviation industry from the Covid-19 crisis in 2024.

Kenya Airways net losses for the trading period ending December 2023 have dropped to $171.6 million (KES22.7 billion) majorly attributed to the forex exchange losses suffered during the review period.

The latest result is a 41 percent reduction from the $289.6million (KES38.3 billion) reported in 2022 in what the airline attributes to continuing efforts aimed at navigating KQ’s back onto the path to profitability.

These losses stemming from fluctuations in currency exchange rates (FX Losses), impacted the airline’s financial position, posting the greatest drawback to its financials with $181.4 million loss.

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Allan Kilavuka said that in the review period the airline increased flight …

Growing competitiveness, a roller coaster of fuel prices, labor unions, and especially the phenomenon of low-cost carriers have made it all the more difficult to reach positive earnings pretty much in every route.

With a number of countries sporting continental distances, Africa has been an exciting promise for air carriers, but not without its challenges. Poor infrastructure and the high cost of maintenance and logistics have plagued the development of an effective air grid in the continent. Nevertheless, a great opportunity remains.

At the beginning of the last decade, South African Airways was a dominant force, carrying some 9 million passengers yearly while Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines combined were just shy of 6 million yearly passengers. However, poor management choices combined with borderline irresponsible behavior from …