…Says Connectivity Fundamental To Continent’s Aviation
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has projected that 28 million passengers will fly to and from Africa in the year 2034.
This is just as the international airline body put the average passenger growth in Africa in the next 20 years at 4.4 per cent.
The Regional Head External Relations, Africa and Middle, IATA, Adefunke Adeyemi made this known today while speaking on the intra –Africa connectivity at the AKWAABA African Travel Market Eko Hotel and Suite, Lagos.
Adeyemi, who spoke during the Aviation Day of AKWAABA, stated that presently aviation carries 3.5 billion passengers worldwide and that this figure would continue to grow.
On passenger traffic in the continent, she stated that presently 80 per cent of Africa passengers are carried by non African carriers.
Adeyemi posited that for Africa to enjoy rapid growth there must be intra- Africa connectivity, lamenting that is it easier to connect flight from Lagos to other European countries than connecting flight from one Africa country.
Speaking further, the IATA Regional Head posited that connectivity was fundamental to the growth, as it would lead to the transformation of Africa aviation and that connectivity in continent is not robust.
To buttress her point, she stated that there is no direct flight from Nigeria to Congo and that for anybody to fly to Congo, the person had to fly Ethiopian Airlines to either Addisa Abbaba or Kenya Airways to Nairobi to connect a flight to Brazzaville.
She further explained that in her own case, she had to fly to first of all fly to Dubai, where the flight was delayed and then connect to Brazzaville.
Adeyemi stated that the ticket from Dakar to Senegal to Nairobi in Kenya cost about $5, 000, adding that this amount is 45 per cent higher than that used in buying ticket any region in the world.
Nigeria ,she said is not connected to other Africa, adding that it is only Ethiopia and Kenya have direct connection to more than half of the other countries in Africa.
Apart from the fact that there are no intra –Africa connectivity with Africa, she also stated that getting visas from one Africa country to another is very difficult, adding that this is not good for the continent.