‘Africa is an enigma’: The challenges the continent poses for UAE carriers

Africa is an important market for Gulf airlines, but they face some security, safety and infrastructure challenges Flydubai launched one of its first flights to Africa ten years ago when it touched down in Alexandria on June 9, 2009. It now operates 12 flights to the continent. Earlier this month, a delegation from the Arab Civil Aviation Organisation (ACAO) met with their African counterparts from the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) during a meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The gathering was attended by Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and, according to the WAM state news agency, the discussion focused on ways to help “create new air routes, expand airline networks, and establish an open-air policy between African and Arab countries”.

The meeting demonstrates that both sides are keen to deepen connectivity between the two regions and while UAE carriers, especially Emirates airline and Flydubai, have expanded their networks into Africa, they face some major challenges in their bid to exploit the full potential of this underserved and “important” market. Healthy seat factors

“We currently operate to 23 destinations across 20 countries in Africa, along with additional freighter destinations, and we have seen consistent growth across the region. Emirates has maintained healthy seat factors on our African routes this year, even as we added capacity to serve demand,” Orhan Abbas, senior vice president – Commercial Operations (Africa) at Emirates, told Arabian Business .

“We have also expanded our codeshare with South African Airways to enable even greater connectivity, and we have a longstanding codeshare with Air Mauritius. As a region, Africa presents us with a lot of opportunities and huge growth potential which remains underserved,” he added.

However, despite plans to boost capacity on its existing routes, Abbas conceded that, despite the carrier being “always open to new opportunities”, it has “no immediate plans to operate to new destinations in Africa”. Security concerns

Like many international airlines, Emirates faces important obstacles in its bid to expand its operations in Africa. Issues such as constrained airport infrastructures at some airports and concerns over safety and security have arisen.

Only this month British Airways and German carrier Lufthansa temporarily suspended flights to Cairo over safety concerns.

The issue of a lack of availability of hard currency, currency devaluations and sudden changes in financial policies in some African countries also make it difficult for airlines to formulate long-term investment strategies […]

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