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African Airlines Suffer Major Blows in 2015

BY · August 4, 2015 09:08 am

Last year, growth for African airlines was weak due to factors like Ebola, insecurity and geopolitical problems disrupting tourism and businesses.

These factors have greatly affected African airlines and have contributed to the financial tribulations that are now facing majority of the airlines in Africa.

The outbreak of the Ebola menace in West African countries for instance hampered international business activities in affected countries. People shunned away from travelling to such countries and people from such countries could not travel. Businesses became at a standstill and the aviation industry was the one that was hard hit.

Insecurity has always posed a huge problem to the aviation industry in Africa and Kenya is a perfect example here. In the recent past, Kenya has been attacked by Al-Shabaab militants. These attacks have greatly affected the tourism sector. These attacks have led to Western countries issuing travel advisories and this means that people could not fly into the country, the recurring case in other countries that have faced insecurity challenges.

Political unrest in African countries has affected airlines operations in Africa. There is political unrest in South Sudan, in Sudan, in Libya, in Egypt, in Burundi and in other parts of the African continent. Political unrest has affected international businesses in affected countries seeing how people do not travel to such countries for fear of riots breaking out.  Airlines have been hit the hardest.

Currencies in Africa have also weakened which has negatively impacted African airlines. This means the benefits of lower fuel prices have been limited in this region. It is estimated that African airlines are expected to see the slowest growth among developing markets with capacity and demand expansion of 3.3% and 3.2% respectively this year because of this.

There has been stiff competition from foreign airlines operating in Africa that have been offering lower travelling rates, compared to what African airlines offer. This means that most travelers have abandoned local airlines and embraced foreign ones that offer affordable travelling rates. African airlines have to realize that the business world is about competition and they should wake up and compete.

There have been complaints that African airlines have lacked good public relations practices and this has not helped their revenue streams. Unhappy customers always leave to look for better alternatives. It is said that most African air stewards are rude and unwelcoming as compared to foreign ones. Tell me, where will one go? To those who make you feel unwelcome or to those who treat you with respect and respond to your problems on time?

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