Airline executives believe that African airlines must work together to increase their long-term competitiveness and achieve sustainability.
The global aviation industry is in a slump, and African countries understand that regional cooperation is the need of the hour to withstand oil price volatility, trade upheavals and, in extreme cases, travel suspension. At the 14th Aviation Stakeholders Convention held in Johannesburg in May, African airlines called for greater cooperation to address rising operational costs, the lack of standardised regulations, and other challenges facing the continent’s aviation industry.
The convention platformed various airlines, regulators, airport authorities, financiers, and aviation solution providers from across 50 countries. Africa’s aviation industry is a victim of multiple regulatory frameworks and restrictive bilateral air services agreements. This creates additional strain on existing infrastructural gaps and cost pressures. Therefore, a standardised framework across the continent must be worked out, making regional collaboration not only advisable, but also mandatory.
Airline executives believe that African airlines must work together to increase their long-term competitiveness and achieve sustainability. More investments to develop aviation infrastructure and more liberalised air transport can also help the industry build resilience against unexpected or uncontrollable geopolitical shocks.
As pressures mount, South Africa has renewed calls for the implementation of the long-discussed Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). Johannesburg officials are targeting the movement of 42 million passengers through its airports by 2029, reducing red tapism in air services licences and foreign operator permits and expanding regional connectivity.
However, this has come amidst the backdrop of a severe economic downturn. Africa’s airlines are expected to generate a collective net profit of $200 million in 2026. This means the industry records a mere profit margin of $1,30 per passenger, compared with a global average of $7,90. While executives understand that safe and affordable air travel, which improves connectivity across the continent, is necessary, they are concerned with profitability.
To that end, South Africa and Kenya serve as a commendable example. South African Airways and Kenya Airways have been in a partnership since 2021, and this arrangement has helped both carriers share customers travelling between their hubs in Johannesburg and Nairobi. The South African government has also made travel visa-free for Kenyans, thereby increasing travel from Kenya to South Africa, proving the importance of policy coordination to support regional air travel.
An African airline alliance can be instrumental in supporting coordinated schedules, aligned hubs, codeshares, cargo integration, knowledge transfer, and training. It can also serve as a bridge between global airlines and African hubs, instead of the fragmented access points which are presently dominated by international carriers.
In recent years, surging oil prices, the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, global protectionist policies, aircraft and engine shortages, rising insurance costs, and currency pressures have hit the African aviation industry hard. The recent flare-up of the crisis in the Middle East only further exposed the vulnerability of global aviation networks.
Over the next 20 years, analysts predict that Africa’s fleet size will grow from 700 aircraft to more than 1,700. However, the lack of integration is a major hurdle to the industry reaching its optimal potential. Even with a population of over 1.4 billion, Africa still suffers from weak intercontinental connectivity. More often than not, passengers find it easier to transit through Europe or the Gulf than through another African hub. Only 28% of intra-African routes are direct, an alarming low figure, highlighting the importance of regional, rather than bilateral air transit agreements.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is pushing African governments to prioritise aviation as a socio-economic enabler, owing to the consistent growth in passenger and cargo traffic across the continent. IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, Kamil Alawadhi, explained that Africa must come up with a robust aviation strategy which is centred around safety, cost-competitiveness and sustainability. This will help generate employment, enable trade and support tourism.
Countries like Ethiopia and Somalia are also on track to become African aviation hubs in the forthcoming decades. The number of passengers travelling to and from Ethiopia is expected to grow three times over the next 20 years. The government has recognised the role of the aviation sector in contributing to economic development. Similarly, the Billing & Settlement Plan was launched by the IATA in Somalia to help the government in its aim to expand the domestic aviation industry by improving infrastructure and global connectivity.
Ghana is also strategising to transform itself into a preferred aviation and travel destination in West Africa. The country’s Transport Minister, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, said that there have been efforts to re-establish a national airline, and that Ghana is well-equipped with the expertise and aviation safety standards required to maintain an airline carrier.
IATA’s data revealed that Africa’s airlines saw a 19.2% year-on-year increase in demand in March. However, with the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, airlines’ profit margins have crunched significantly. Ethiopian Airlines, the largest carrier in Africa, reported weekly revenue losses of over $137 million during heightened tensions, leading to service disruptions across the Gulf and the Middle East.
The Association has also said that there is much room for opportunity, pointing out that the continent’s aviation industry must focus more on sustainability and energy security. Sub-Saharan Africa alone holds the key to solving the sustainability in aviation problem, with its potential to supply up to 106 million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)- suitable feedstock by 2050. SAF can be extracted from the region’s agricultural residues, forestry waste and municipal solid waste.
In conclusion, African aviation’s survival depends on a seamless shift from dispersed, bilateral constraints to cohesive regional cooperation. Rapid institutional restructuring is necessary due to shrinking profit margins and unpredictable geopolitical concerns. Initiatives like the SAATM, production of SAF and the promotion of international airline partnerships are now business necessities rather than merely strategies promoting pan-Africanism. African countries may turn their aviation industry into a powerful force for socioeconomic progress throughout the continent by standardising rules, modernising infrastructure, and placing a heavy emphasis on connectivity.
