Babatunde Irukera, CEO, FCCPC has decried the poor state of flight connectivity in Africa, describing it as the worst in the world, saying that of West Africa is the worst on the continent.
He described a particular flight itinerary from Abuja to Banjul, which saw the travellers flying from Abuja to Ghana, Ghana to Lome and Lome to Freetown before finally arriving Banjul.
Mr. Irukera, who spoke at a two-day workshop of the African Competition Forum (ACF) hosted by the FCCPC, in conjunction with @NigerianCAA, in Abuja, urged participants to use the ongoing ACF Airline Study to change the narrative.
See excerpts of his speech below:
“Aviation is inextricably linked to economic development & prosperity… To the extent that we consider Africa’s prosperity, there’s no way to have that conversation outside of aviation, especially commercial aviation.
“In aviation, Africa lags behind the rest of the world significantly… by traffic, number of take offs & landings, load factor, number of passengers…, fleet, just name it…
“African seat capacity is 232M, closest is Middle East with 397M. Commercial fleet capacity is 702,of which wide body is only 204,while MEast is 842, wide body alone. Of our total 702, only one airline has 109 & is only one above 100, yet we are more states & far more people. We must figure it out.
” Intra Africa trade among more countries in same region than anywhere else in the world is only 17%. With more robust aviation industry and AfCFTA, this narrative can change.
“Of the 10 top airlines in Africa, four are foreign, & with other foreign, they carry 40% of regional travel & over 70% of intercontinental. We simply have to do better as a continent.
“… If you give us a good snapshot, we the competition authorities, & hopefully the aviation authorities, can come together & hold our leaders accountable to what needs to change so that our aspirations for trade within Africa will truly come alive & come true.
The workshop was attended by delegates from competition authorities in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Gambia, Angola & the host, Nigeria, including CEOs of FCCPC & NCAA.