50 | http://www.nomadafricamag.com | ...Celebrating the world’s richest continent | Issue 11r Hassan El-
Houry, an ex-
pert on the
aviation indus-
try, spoke at
the World Eco-
nomic Forum in
Durban recently, where he shed light on
the opportunities for aviation develop-
ment in Africa.NAM: How is the aviation sector in Africa
performing now?
Hassan:Aviation in Africa is one of the
fastest growing sectors perhaps in the
world. The IASA, which is the regulatory
body that regulates aviation around the
world, said that Africa will grow about 5%
over the next twenty years. Therefore,
we are very optimistic about the future of
aviation in Africa, although there are chal-
lenges, but we are very confident that the
development of the region’s economies,
the rate of urbanisation, the growth of
tourism, the growth of business travel, ...all of these factors are driving a huge de-
mand for air travel.NAM: Will the local economies benefit
from that?
Hassan: Absolutely! Aviation is the
backbone of the economy, and there are
reasons for that. I mean if you want to
travel to do business between two coun-
tries or two cities, the best way for you to
travel is by air. Aviation drives tourism,
the medicine that people use is normally
imported by air, the mobile phone we are
using to speak right now is imported by
air, a lot of jewellery and clothing, laptops,
so many things that we use on a day-to-
day basis, are all transported by air. The
growth in an economy is underpinned by
aviation, and then you have to think of
aviation also as a facilitator. Besides, the
interesting thing about aviation is that it
needs skilled and some unskilled labour,
and so the growth of aviation can address
some of the employment issues that the
region is facing.NAM: In one of your articles you sug-
gested the need for a “single air transport
market” in Africa, would you please clarify
this point?
Hassan:That’s right! I would say there
are several challenges that are hampering
the growth of aviation in Africa. The bar-
riers for airlines to travel between Africa
are tremendous. The air ticket prices trav-
elling between African countries are some
of the most expensive in the world. Just
compare travelling, let’s say, from Algeria
to Cameroon or from Tanzania to South
Africa, if you compare the distance and
the ticket price and then you compare any
two cities in Europe, you will find that the
prices in Africa are three, four, even five
times higher than the ticket prices in a
similar distance in Europe or North Amer-
ica. That’s really hampering the growth in
the continent.
There is also another problem, which is
the lack of liberalisation of these air mar-
kets. Essentially, what is happening is that
it is very difficult for African airlines to getm
Solving The Challenges Of
Aviation In Africa
Aviation in Africa remains one of the fastest growing sectors
today. With a noticeable increase in the number of passengers,
the continent is becoming a destination of worldwide airlines,
and a major market for business aviation.