Experts Say More U.S.-Africa Flights Needed

Along with Delta Air Lines and Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways is one of the few carriers that has increased the number of flights and seat capacity it offers between the United States and the continent of Africa. However, experts say there are significant opportunities for airlines on U.S.-Africa routes. Credit: Airbus S.A.S. 2005

Despite growing business traffic and a healthy VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market between Africa and the United States, European airlines continue to enjoy a virtual monopoly over traffic between the two continents. Meanwhile, U.S. and African carriers offer very few direct routes.

So thin on the ground are direct services that in 2003 there were only a paltry 21 direct flights a week from the U.S. to Africa, said Miguel Southwell, assistant director, business retention and development at the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.

"This compared with over 800 a week between the U.S. and Asia, over 3,000 U.S.-Latin American flights, and 2,800 weekly flights on U.S.-Caribbean routes," Southwell told Routes News.

The situation has improved slightly in the past three years, with Delta increasing its Africa services significantly and Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways (SAA) providing more direct flights and greater capacity from their respective countries. However, SAA put on hold its four-times-weekly service between Johannesburg and Chicago just four months after announcing it in November 2006, and has not revisited plans for the service since then.

SAA offers 600 seats a day from South Africa on its New York and Washington, D.C. routes and Marc Cavaliere, the airline's head for North America, remains confident there is generally sufficient capacity through the year — though he concedes there is a seat shortage during peak periods.

Cavaliere believes this can be met on a seasonal basis: "The market is growing and SAA or other carriers can add services to meet the increased demand if necessary," he said.

Opportunities are being missed

But Southwell remains convinced there is a real scarcity of direct flights and major economic and tourism rewards — particularly for African economies — are being missed.

"The lack of direct flights makes it unattractive for people to trade between the U.S. and Africa. There are simply not enough flights to meet the continent's needs and many business and leisure travellers are forced to connect through Europe," said Southwell.

Foundation for Democracy in Africa (FDA), a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental organization, has studied the barriers to U.S.-Africa routes for some years, through a cooperative venture it embarked on with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department to assess the viability of direct U.S. flights to Africa and the causes inhibiting development.

According to the studies, the development of services from African airlines is being hampered by the fact that many African countries are 'category two' states under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, so many of their airlines are not permitted to fly to the U.S. Added to this are major economic constraints slowing their realization of category-one status.

The need to improve safety standards in Africa was highlighted by Giovanni Bisignani, the International Air Transport Association's director general and CEO, during a recent visit to Nigeria. He pointed out that Africa's safety record is six times worse than the average for the rest of the world and said the problem is a lack of commitment by some governments on the continent rather than a shortage of money.

U.S. carriers also remain reluctant to fly direct to Africa because they can serve the market through their European codeshare partners.

"Much of this is because of an opinion that African markets are unstable and airlines believe they will face difficulties when doing business in Africa," said Southwell. "This may be because of a lack of understanding of Africa's potential as a market for U.S. carriers."

Nigeria is an excellent example of a market where there are rich opportunities, with British Airways already operating about 18 weekly flights between the UK and Nigeria, and Virgin Nigeria 14 weekly flights.

A Catch 22

Southwell points out the fact there are only limited services between the continents means demand remains stagnant and is not being stimulated. "As people in the US do not have suitable direct air routes, they do not choose to spend their vacations in Africa and the same applies to Africans who might otherwise travel to the U.S.," he said.

Airport infrastructure is a major obstacle to developing the U.S.-Africa market. In other parts of the world, airport revenues are used to develop and maintain airports, but in many African countries airport revenues are paid to respective government coffers and airports are then forced to take their place in the queue when seeking state funding.

To some extent this gap is being filled by third-party airport developers such as Airports Company South Africa, which has been awarded a number of contracts in Africa to develop, construct and operate profitable and sustainable airports. There is also an opportunity for development agencies from around the world to get involved in certain African countries, funding airport infrastructure and reaping the resulting developmental benefits.

If infrastructure and safety could be better addressed, there could be growing interest from U.S. carriers as they seek to expand their international networks. With the legacy carriers under such pressure in the U.S domestic market, they are looking at the development of under-served routes as an increasingly attractive proposition.

"Legacy carriers will seek opportunities in markets where the low-cost airlines are not present and Africa is one of those untapped markets," said Southwell. "This is one reason Delta is taking so much interest in Africa and it is only a matter of time before other carriers follow suit."

The establishment of additional direct flights between the continents would spell good news for both Africa and America, bringing the two continents closer together and delivering new markets to business and tourism on both sides of the Atlantic divide. With Africa’s emerging markets starting to realize some of their potential, the time is ripe for governments now to move towards greater liberalization and infrastructure upgrades, opening the door for airlines to pounce on these under-served and neglected routes.

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