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There has been a big rise in the number of airlines serving Africa in recent years but, as Nick Easen reports, agents should do their homework before choosing which African carriers to use

Europe is not the only continent to have seen a stellar growth in scheduled flights in the past 10 years – Africa has too.

Investment firm Lonrho is one company that has recognised the continent’s potential.

It launched Fly540, a Kenya-based airline, in 2006, initially flying between Nairobi and Mombasa. Now it claims to carry more passengers than national carrier Kenya Airways. “We are trying to roll out Fly540 in Angola,” adds chief executive David Leningras. “We see a huge potential for low-cost airlines in Africa.” Make Moroccan friends

Last year, Kenya’s civil aviation authority issued more than 20 new licences for airline operators – the highest number for two decades.

South Africa and Nigeria have growing industries, especially in the budget sectors, while in Morocco the low-fare arm of Royal Air Maroc, Atlas Blue, is also benefiting from an open-skies agreement with the EU.

By 2011 total international passenger airlines numbers in Africa are expected to rise by 18 million a year, according to Iata.


Airlines’ reputations

Many who travel across the vast continent will tell you that there is a lot of north-south flying, including trips to and from Europe, in order to travel east-west. Make Moroccan friends

It is well known that Africa’s internal connectivity is still relatively poor compared with other global regions. Added to these connectivity issues is the fact that some African airlines are hampered by a combination of losses and poor safety records.

According to the African Airlines Association, these issues are compounded by poor maintenance, ageing charter fleets and untrained crews on some airlines.

The advice from experts is to choose your airline carefully. Picking one of the profitable – and therefore well-run – airlines is a good start. These include well-known names such as Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Mauritius Airways, EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc and South African Airways (SAA).

Some are members of global airline alliances, which set operational standards. SAA and EgyptAir are part of Star Alliance, while Kenya Airways is now an associate member of Skyteam. These airlines are also increasingly complying with Iata’s 100% e-ticketing target, which is a bonus for operators.

Looking east

One of the strongest and most reliable players in the market is Kenya Airways, which is 26% owned by KLM. It has strong services from the UK but also offers agents onward options across Africa.

Its network is particularly strong in East Africa with overnight London flights into the capital Nairobi, one of the continent’s main hubs, so customers can make connections to 30 other African destinations the next day.

Both Entebbe in Uganda, and Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, are increasingly popular stops for the carrier. “A total of 70% of all tickets that we sell into Nairobi go beyond the capital,” explains Bruce Watson, UK & Ireland sales manager. “A lot of the flights onwards are also sold with only a small mark-up.”

On UK routes to Nairobi, Kenya Airways competes with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. Virgin has been commended for its service levels on this route.

It is also liked by the travel trade because of its “favourable business attitude”, says Nigel Vere Nicoll, chief executive of the African Travel and Tourism Association.

Ethiopian Airways is another up and coming player in Africa. It flies to 30 destinations across the continent from Addis Ababa, offers a good-quality service and was even the second airline in the world to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Flying west and south

Although connections from the UK to east Africa are relatively plentiful, there can be less of a choice to west Africa, aside from charter flights to Gambia and Senegal.

Air France-KLM is still strong with the French-speaking market. It flies from Paris to destinations such as Benin and Burkina Faso.

Virgin Nigeria also serves Lagos from Gatwick, and has been nominated as “Best airline based in Africa” in the OAG awards. Further down into the continent, liberalisation of the South African market has already boosted domestic air travel by 70% in the past four years.

No-frills players are at the fore, with 1Time seeing passenger growth in excess of 30% for 2007, according to chief executive, Rodney James. It competes domestically with Mango and kulula.com, as well as with SAA.

In addition to SAA, carriers flying from the UK to South Africa include Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, and all will be hoping for a boost from the 2010 World Cup, to be held in South Africa.

Finally, agents researching flights for customers heading to Africa should not overlook routes via the Middle East. Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways have all boosted their networks into Africa via their respective hubs of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi and could offer a convenient alternative.

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