Airlines in the Growing African Market

Africa has recently posted a significant increase in the listings of destinations served by both local carriers and foreign airlines. In the past two years, nonstop air traffic between African cities and major overseas markets grow nearly 12%. 

Delta Airlines, the first U.S. international airline to serve Africa, launched new flights to Senegal and South Africa in 2006 and now wants to add four new destinations in Africa this summer. United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Brussels Airlines all recently announced new service to Accra, Ghana. To accommodate this growth, Senegal is building a new airport near Dakar; Republic of congo has added runways and terminals at Brazzaville and Pointe Noir; and South Africa has installed a state-of-the-art air traffic control system.

African airlines are also growing. Intra-African flights are up 30% over the past five years. Kenya Airways, South African Airways, Egyptair, and Royal Air Maroc have improved their service, and Ethiopian Airlines has opened a second hub in Lome, Togo. African carriers have even expanded into many secondary cities such as Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Ndola, Zambia, recently.

European airlines are also increasing their service to African cities. Air France-KLM has 42 destinations in 33 African countries. Now German Deutsche Lufthansa is adding flights of its own, along with subsidiary Swiss International and Brussels Airlines.  The Luftansa group now serves 36 cities in 31 African countries. And fast-growing Middle East airlines have sought Africa destinations also, boosting their frequency to Africa by 31% just in the past two years. Dubai Emirates Airlines has now added its 19th African destination, Dakar.

If you are from an African country and look forward to flying for an African airline, come to Phoenix East Aviation for the very best in pilot training.  Phoenix East students come from many different countries in Africa — such as Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Egypt and others too numerous to name here.  To learn more, see www.pea.com.