User:Benk1342/Air transport in Africa

Air transport in Africa has enjoyed steady expansion in recent years, with international traffic within Sub-Saharan Africa growing 6.5 percent a year between 2004 and 2007, and domestic traffic growing 12 percent per year over the same period. But the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) revealed several key concerns that are hindering development: regional disparities, high cost due in part to poor competition and a domination by three large carriers, a poor safety record, a lack of liberalization, and inadequate air traffic control. By addressing these problems, the continent can move toward a sustainable air-transport industry.

Regional disparities
The growth in air traffic that the continent as a whole has enjoyed in recent years has affected some regions and countries more than others. For example, Nigeria experienced 67 percent annual growth in domestic air traffic between 2004 and 2007, while the rest of the continent, excluding Mozambique and South Africa, averaged a 1 percent annual decline.

Nigeria's domestic growth notwithstanding, air-transport development in western and  central Africa lags behind that of  southern and  eastern Africa, where air travel is relatively well established. While hubs in Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi have seeded growth in the south and east, western and central Africa lack a strong hub. According to the AICD, tensions in Côte d'Ivoire and the demise of several regional airlines (notably Air Afrique) left a vacuum in West Africa that remains unfilled, leaving the market stagnant.

Cost, competition, and domination by three large airlines
In addition to regional disparities, the African air-transport industry suffers from a gap between three large, efficient carriers—South African Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and Kenya Airways—and a collection weak national flag carriers based in other nations. The three major carriers provide 57 percent of international capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways have increased concentration by establishing new routes on which they are the sole carriers. At the other end of the spectrum, 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have abandoned their flag carriers and rely exclusively on private operators, while 17 countries have retained struggling flag carriers that the AICD found survive only due to substantial government subsidies that are a considerable drain on public resources. The three remaining Sub-Saharan nations—Central African Republic, Lesotho, and Niger—have neither state-owned nor private domestic operators, and are dependent on service from other countries' carriers.

As weaker carriers have folded, and the remaining carriers have been left as the sole operator on certain routes, prices have increased: according to the AICD, "air travel within Africa is considerably more expensive per mile flown than is intercontinental travel, especially on routes of less than 2,000 nautical miles." The high cost reflects not only low density in the air-travel market, but also a lack of competition—many domestic routes are served exclusively by the national flag carrier. In fact, only 54 of the 286 Sub-Saharan routes in 2007 had more than one carrier. Exacerbating the high cost of flying are high landing charges at African airports due to a lack of other sources of revenue, such as concessions.

Safety
In 2004, Africa was the site of more than one fifth of the world's air accidents with only 4.5 percent of its flights, and in 2006, African airlines lost aircraft 6.63 times more frequently than the world as a whole. While fleets have undergone substantial renewal in the years since, the AICD found that the continent continues to have substantial air-traffic safety issues. Small carriers operate a large number of aircraft despite the dominance of South African Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and Kenya Airways, and the AICD found that pilots from "small, poorly regulated fringe carriers . . . are poorly trained and regularly work long hours in a dangerous operating environment—a formula for pilot error resulting in crashes." The AICD also attributes Africa's air-safety issues to poor regulatory oversight and inadequate safety-management systems, which it found to be "highly correlated with accident rates." According to the AICD, developing independent and well-staffed regional civil-aviation authorities could help correct these problems.

Liberalization
In 1999, African nations signed the Yamoussoukro Decision, which was intended to liberalize the air-transport industry. The agreement called for the establishment of monitoring and executive bodies to supervise and implement the decision, but the AICD found that the continent has made little progress in getting these institutions off the ground. Governments and airlines have succeeded in implementing some of the agreed changes, which has allowed greater efficiency in routes and aircraft sizes. But progress has been uneven, with some regions succeeding more than others.

Notably, although West Africa lags behind southern and eastern Africa in many facets of air transport, the AICD found that it leads the continent in liberalization of air-transport regulation. The region's Banjul Accord Group of countries—comprising Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone—have succeeded in liberalizing fares, capacity, and frequency. In southern Africa, however, the AICD found that "domestic and intercontinental markets often remain protected, often as part of an effort to bolster nonviable national flag carriers at the expense of potential users of air transport." According to the AICD, full liberalization in the region could result in 18–40 percent lower fares, which could bolster economic growth by as much as half a percent.

Air traffic control
According to the AICD, a lack of physical airport facilities is not Africa's primary air-transport infrastructure problem. Although the AICD found that a few large airports showed evidence of overcrowded terminals, overall, it found that existing airports and runways are sufficient given improved scheduling and "modest investments . . . in parallel taxiways and terminal facilities." The airports that handle the majority of traffic have excellent runways, and most of the remaining runways are adequate given their traffic levels.

However, the AICD found that air traffic control is inadequate in most of Africa. According to the AICD, only two countries in Africa have adequate systems—South Africa and Kenya. Even Addis Ababa, the hub for Ethiopian Airlines, lacks civilian radar, requiring pilots and air traffic controllers to leave greater distance and time between aircraft than would otherwise be required. Surface-to-air communication is also deficient in much of Africa; according to the AICD, "[t]here are areas in Africa where an airliner could fly for more than an hour and not be able to make contact with the ground." The AICD found that while revenues from airports and air traffic are sufficient to improve communications and air traffic control, political and organizational obstacles have hindered progress.