Direct flights to, from and within Africa are severely lacking, with several key routes still unserved.
Airbus Market Intelligence and Consulting Director Geert Lemaire , speaking at the AviaDev Conference in Windhoek, Namibia, told delegates there were several reasons for this.
Referring to Airbuss report on commercial aviation in Africa, Exploring the horizons: A study of unserved air routes to, from and within Africa, Lemaire said factors such as restrictive bilateral air service agreements, economic variables, plus challenges in capacity, frequency and operating cost-efficiency contributed to these routes remaining unserved.
Of the 15 Top Tier unserved direct routes to and from, or within Africa, 11 previously had had direct flights, of which four routes were still being operated up until 2022. Of the 15, ten were intercontinental routes in and out of Africa, (three of these were to and from South Africa Johannesburg-Mumbai, Cape Town-Brussels, Durban-London). Five were international routes within Africa, (Cape Town-Lagos) and 10 were intercontinental routes.
The report points out the following unserved destination which could make a considerable difference to the aviation requirementsof the South African economy.
