Nairobi sees 22pc boost in domestic air travel capacity

Nairobi is the only city in Africa whose airports are recording higher growth for domestic capacity than that of international capacity, with a 22 percent boost.

This is according to a new report by ForwardKeys, which compares Nairobi’s trend to most of the other top 10 African Airports ranked by total scheduled capacity for August to December 2017, which are seeing more growth in international than in domestic capacity.

The report, whose special focus is on the East African Community (EAC), further indicates that Nairobi’s airports have a total scheduled capacity (August to December 2017) of 18 percent in domestic seats, 31 percent in long-haul international seats, and a 51percent capacity in intra-Africa international seats. Of these, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport’s scheduled capacity is 13 percent  and 5 percent  long-haul and intra-Africa international seats respectively within the same period under review.

“The trend is encouraging for aviation players; as a travel agent, we anticipate a surge in flight bookings in the last half of 2017. Most inspiring is the contribution of Kenyans and other members of the East African Community to domestic travel. It reflects our confidence in our own tourism products with Kenya’s tourism domestic spending recording 59 percent against 41 percent foreign visitor spending,” says Cyrus Onyiego, Jumia Travel Kenya Country Manager.

Generally, the wider analysis of the report on travel to Africa shows EAC destinations received a strong growth of 14.3 percent for 2017 year to date. According to Travel and Tourism Expert Carmen Nibigira, “The future of tourism in East Africa is embedded in the vision of One Destination with multiple cultures and products. After all, with a population of 160 million and 10 percent of which is a potential market, it makes sense to invest on inter and intra-regional tourism.”

Collectively, the entire African continent continues to record positive performance, welcoming an increase in international arrivals of 14 percent in 2017 year to date. In a parallel report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global passenger traffic data for June shows that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometers) increased by 7.8 percent  compared to 2016, and from May’s record of 7.7percent growth. All regions, according to IATA, reported growth.