Experts from ForwardKeys analyzed the capacity of Africa's largest international airports, as well as bookings for African resorts, and found out how the continent's destinations are "feeling" in terms of flows, and what awaits them in the next 4 months current year.
So, the study shows that in Lagos (the largest in Nigeria and the most populous city in Africa) is seeing a significant decline in both domestic and international capacity, mainly because national carrier Arik Air is cutting 53% of its capacity for the remainder of 2017.
Thus, over the next five months (August-December 2017), there will be 16% fewer seats on the carrier’s domestic routes, and 9% fewer seats on international routes (to Lagos and back).
Commenting on these data, John Howell, Managing Director, AviaDev, Africa's leading aviation route development company, said: “One of the main reasons for the decline in air travel to Nigeria is that many airlines failed to recover from the currency crisis. As a result, Iberia and United Airlines ceased operations in Nigeria, while Emirates and other foreign carriers severely curtailed their services to the route. Nigerian airlines were also hit, and the void was filled by Ethiopian carriers, which began serving one of Nigeria’s top destinations, Kaduna, and currently hold a major share of the Nigerian market."
Most other airports in Africa are seeing strong growth in passenger traffic, and this applies to a greater extent to international visitors. However, the most notable exception to this trend is Nairobi, which demonstrated 22% internal flow enhancement.
These results are part of a large report on trips to Africa, prepared by ForwardKeys. The study predicts future travel dynamics based on 17 million transactions per day.
According to the analysis, Africa shows double-digit growth in air passenger traffic in the first half of this year.
The report also shows that in the first six months – from January 1 to July 31, 2017 – the total number of flights arriving in African countries from abroad increased by 14.0% compared to the same period in 2016. To a greater extent The increase demonstrates the activity of travel to (and from) the continent than within it.
Flows from Europe, which account for 46% of the market, grew by 13.2%. Arrivals from the Americas increased by 17.6%; from the Middle East by 14.0% and from Asia Pacific by 18.4%. In comparison, intra-African air traffic, which makes up 26% of the market, grew by 12.6%.
If we talk specifically about directions, Tunisia and Egypt began to actively recover from the terrorist attacks and showed plus 33.5% and 24.8% respectively. And after the relaxation of visa formalities in Morocco and Tunisia tourists from China went: respectively, plus 450% and 250% for the Chinese market for each direction.
As already mentioned above, the only African disappointment is Nigeria, which fell by another 0.8% after the decline in 2016. In particular, this decline was caused by the fall in oil prices to a 13-year low.
Giving Forecast for African destinations for the coming months, ForwardKeys analysts emphasize that Bookings for flights to Africa are currently 16.8% ahead of 2016 levels.
Bookings from Europe increased by 17.5%, from the Americas by 26.6%, from Asia Pacific by 11.5%, and from the Middle East by 8.2%. Intra-African bookings increased by 11.0%.
Olivier Jager, CEO of ForwardKeys comments on the study's findings: "The growth of air travel to Africa is impressive. However, it is notable that consumer demand and investment in African airlines is growing from outside the continent, not within it."
Source: trn-news.ru
