Strong growth predictions for African commercial aviation were mixed with cautious optimism over the recent milestone achieved with the launch of the Single African Air Traffic Market (SAATM).

Nearly a thousand attendees – an event record – gathered in Cairo, Egypt, for the third instalment of the Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition, being held just a few months after the African Union launched SAATM, to which 24 countries have now subscribed. The SAATM is de-regulated airspace, created to open up Africa’s skies and grow the regional aviation market, as well as to cut air transportation costs by up to a quarter.

With air traffic forecast by Boeing to grow 5.9% annually between 2017 and 2036, African carriers will need 1,220 new aircraft to meet demand.

The event is being held under the auspices of Egypt’s Ministry of Aviation, while national flag carrier EgyptAir is the host airline and aerospace group.

Aviation Minister, H.E. Sherif Fathi, highlighted some of the country’s recent initiatives including investing US$76 million in enhanced airport security equipment. He also flagged up two new Cairo airports that will become operational by mid-2019 – Sphinx International Airport and the New Capital Airport – to help ease the burden on Cairo International, which itself recently expanded its Terminal 2.

 

EgyptAir growth

The minister also stressed the continued growth plans of EgyptAir, which earlier this month resumed flights to and from the Russian capital Moscow after a two and a half year hiatus, with Aeroflot also now flying to Cairo. A decision has not yet been made by the Russian government on the resumption of flights to other tourist destinations in Egypt, after it suspended flights in October 2015 after a Russian plane exploded after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, with ISIS claiming responsibility for the bomb onboard.

EgyptAir has plans to increase services and routes as it continues to refresh its existing 54-aircraft fleet, he said, with 45 new aircraft from existing firm orders due to be received from Boeing. That includes six B787-9 Dreamliners, an unspecified number of Airbus A320neos, and also from the now Airbus-owned Bombardier a dozen of its CS300s (with options for 12 more).

However, at this stage EgyptAir’s planned growth does not include increasing frequencies of flights from Egypt to sub-Saharan Africa, he added in response to a specific question.

He also went on to confirm that EgyptAir has been in talks with Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi (about potential orders for the SSJ-100 regional jet), but that it was doing so “as a commercial company that takes decisions on the viability and operational aspects of an aircraft.” He stressed that it would “welcome talks with any manufacturer in the world,” and that nobody should expect the airline would buy any aircraft based on national friendships or for political reasons.

 

African open skies

Abderahmane Berthe, secretary general at the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), highlighted to the packed audience that the continent’s aviation growth was linked not only to the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) open skies agreement launched earlier this year by the African Union with 24 countries signed up so far, but also to the recent deal to form the African Continental Free Trade Area, to which 44 governments – but not all – have currently committed.

“African airlines should grab their share of the growth ahead,” he urged, but they need to reduce their operating costs “and develop better co-operation with each other to improve connectivity.”

IATA’s regional head of external relations, Adefunke Adeyemi, flagged up several key areas for continued focus, including Africa’s major improvement in recent years of its safety record (with no hull losses for three years in a row now), the need to further improve aviation infrastructure to reduce average flight delays, and in particular the increasing burden of rising taxes and costs.

Governments continue to impose taxes and charges on an industry that cannot afford it, she said. Over the last two years, taxes and charges on airlines in Africa have risen by US$1.6 billion but those carriers last year made a substantial net loss of approximately $700 million.

Lower taxes on the industry would be of far more benefit to governments in terms of overall income from increased business that would result from a less-burdened African commercial aviation sector. “Governments need to recognise aviation as a strategic asset. Those that have done that are reaping the benefits,” she said.

Another session heard EgyptAir’s chairman, Captain Sherif Ezzat Badrous, also highlight that the sudden application of taxes on already-existing destinations was a burden that had forced it out of some of those markets. A strong set of rules was required, he said, so that airlines can plan for the next five years at least.

He pointed out that for airlines, “most of the problems are out of our hands.” More real co-operation between African nations “would solve maybe 80% of the problems,” said Badrous. “The other 20% we are dealing with.”