Fly in times of climate change ok? In Germany, there is a hot debate raging about it. In Africa, more and more people fly, however, and many governments set up their own airlines. Not without risk.
Not flying to the moon, but in a busy seven regional goals: Uganda’s national airline
The sky in Nairobi was cloudy, as the Bombardier-machine “Uganda Airlines” landed. With your first flight on the national airline has taken the end of August, the operating again – after almost twenty years of stagnation.
In Uganda, it is mighty proud of this national project, says the Analyst Angelo Izama from the capital, Kampala: “It feels almost as if we would send this airline, someone on the moon, if you look at the reactions on the Internet. “
Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda hopes that by the revived airline and more capital remains in the country: Ugandans spend 450 million US dollars for air travel by foreign companies, he said at the Ceremony to mark the restart of the Airline.
With her two small Kurzstreckenjets of the type Bombardier CRJ-900 Uganda Airlines flies to “” currently there are seven regional targets, in the autumn flights to come to southern Africa to do so. Two long-haul Airbus A330-appointed Neo already. Within two years Uganda Airlines want to write black Numbers.
Start-up boom in the African sky
Uganda is only one example of this is that more and more African governments to start up state-owned airlines – a Boom, similar to that in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, many countries became independent and formed part of a huge state lines.
“Malawi Airlines” is now part of the majority of the Malawian government. Ghana is planning a new pan-African airline, and also Tanzania and Senegal to try their flight lines to revive. South Africa, the state maintains its own “South African Airways” with generous cash injections on life.
Africa is on the rise: On the continent until 2036, approximately 274 million passengers will be added
Because many passengers choose not to African airlines, because the prices are high. Izama says: “There must be something to do, because flying is for many people still too expensive. Most of the flying to Uganda are business people. If even short distances such as a 50-minute flight from Entebbe to Nairobi costs almost 300 Dollar, then that is a lot of money. “
Difficulties for African Airlines
For Andrew Wasike, correspondent of “Deutsche Welle” in Kenya, it is often cumbersome to fly with African Airlines: “An example I already experienced: If you are traveling from Kenya in a Central African country, you have to fly first to West Africa and then back to Central Africa. And North Africa one has to fly, even on a different continent.”
He also remembers the many cases of corruption around the largest airline in the country, “Kenya Airways”. The Kenyan Parliament has decided to nationalize the bankrupt Airline, after “Kenya Airways” has made in previous years, high losses: “If the state hadn’t stepped in, we would have lost our airline, as also, some time ago in Nigeria happened.”
On the one hand, the prospects are fantastic that more and more Africans pick up the African market to grow in the next twenty years to around five percent annually. According to estimates by the international Airline Association IATA will be added on the continent until 2036, approximately 274 million passengers. Because flying is much safer than in the past, what was one reason, says Wasike:
“The human fly, of course, for the tourism, but also to get education or medical treatment. And it turns a lot of business,” says Wasike. Because the economy in some African countries is growing strongly.
Passengers wait at the international airport in Johannesburg
Many seats remain empty
Nevertheless, Africa is the Region in which the aircraft are the least busy. According to IATA, 2018 were used in the case of African airlines, 71 percent of the seats. Worldwide the average is around 82 percent. While global air travel gains enough once, to retract the African airlines, according to projections by IATA this year, 100 million Dollar losses.
That the African Airlines are not able to in spite of the increase in flight readiness, the right start, is due to the fact that air travel is highly taxed. In addition, high fuel prices and a lack of single African airspace.
Ethiopian Airlines as a success story
As the only successful African state line Ethiopian Airlines is “”. It flies to over a hundred destinations on all five continents and transported 2017 eleven million passengers. Their success is due primarily to the fact that Ethiopia has already been completed in the 1970s, bilateral agreements with almost all African countries. This is necessary, because an agreement on a common airspace for the whole of Africa has brought little progress. 28 countries have signed but only ten to put the agreements actually.
Uganda’s former state line was started in 1977. Around the turn of the Millennium, the government wanted to privatize them – but no buyer was found. In 2001, the Airline eventually went bankrupt. Nevertheless, the Analyst Izama, this is an important project. Also “Kenya Airways” fly in the right direction, finds Wasike. Progress there is not only in the fight against corruption, but also by the new machinery and the Expansion of the airport in Nairobi. It remains to be seen whether such investments pay off, or if it comes again, a crash landing, for which the state would have to pay.