Almost every African country has聽a聽national full-service carrier, which is carefully protected. But the same cannot be聽said about the continent精东影业 low-cost carrier (LCC) market.
Low-cost carriers are a relatively recent addition to the air travel market in Africa. In comparison to the region精东影业聽well-established聽full-service carriers (FSC),听including聽Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir聽and聽Kenya Airways, its budget airlines were all聽launched聽in the early聽2000s.
What do we know about Africa精东影业 LCC market today? What are the main challenges in running a budget airline in Africa?聽And why have so many failed? Here,听精东影业聽investigates the LCC market to assess the situation.
History of low-cost carriers in Africa
The LCC business model requires a聽liberalized聽market to be able to operate flexibly and at low cost.听So聽the reason聽why African LCCs聽were late starters聽was the absence of air service聽liberalization聽and聽a聽lack of deregulated regulatory frameworks.
After independence, the continent精东影业 governments established their own flag聽carriers, which have been supported and protected from competition and have prevented new companies, including low-cost carriers, from joining the air travel market.
鈥淭he expansion and improvement of air transport on the continent has been hampered by a restrictive and protectionist intra-African regulatory regime,鈥澛according to聽the International Air Transport Association精东影业 (IATA)聽.听
Thing聽started to change after聽1999聽when 迟丑别听聽(YD) was set in motion to聽liberalize聽African air services. Previously, they had聽operated under bilateral agreements on a country-by-country basis.
The implementation of YD,听and later聽the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM),听have alleviated restrictions on airspace聽and聽lessened tariffs and red tape. However, while some African states have relaxed bilateral agreements to allow more flights and frequencies, full聽liberalization聽was,听and still is,听far from聽being a reality.
鈥淢any African countries restrict their air service markets to protect the share held by state-owned air carriers,鈥聽independent aviation analyst聽Phuthego聽Mojapele聽told聽精东影业.
Despite 迟丑别听slow聽process, low-cost airlines聽have been聽launched in聽in Africa. Since the early 2000s, several airline ventures聽have entered the market聽but almost half of them聽have not succeeded.
The LCC聽sector聽is still dominated by South African carriers
In 2020, there were only聽around 10聽LCCs based in Africa with scheduled traffic, IATA confirmed to聽精东影业聽in a聽statement. It is worth noting that this number may exclude LCCs that operate charter flights.
To this day, most of the low-cost carriers in Africa remain relatively small. The biggest players are concentrated in southern and northern Africa, where the network is more complex and accessible.
However, most of Africa精东影业 low-cost carriers聽are South African.听The country is home聽to聽Kulula.com, Mango Airlines,听Fastjet,听FlySafair, and market newcomer Lift.
,听the LCC penetration rate in South Africa was 60% in 2019, while the penetration rate for the overall intra-Africa market was approximately 13%.
The country is home聽to聽Africa精东影业 first budget airline,听Kulula.com, which has been operating for 20 years. The airline currently serves six cities across South Africa: Cape Town, Laseria, East London, Johannesburg, Durbs, and George.
The airline boasts one of the youngest and largest fleets across the continent. It has a total of eight Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet with an average age of 13.2 years, according to Planespotters.net.听
Africa精东影业 LCC fleet remains聽modest
Only one budget airline has a fleet of聽more than聽20 aircraft.听FlySafair聽is聽a relatively young low-cost聽carrier,听and聽is one聽of the fastest growing LCCs in Africa.听The Johannesburg-based airline was established in 2014 and became profitable in its second year of operation.
, the airline精东影业 fleet consists of 21 Boeing 737 aircraft, namely 15 Boeing 737-800s and six 737-400s. The average aircraft age currently stands at 22.3 years.听
翱迟丑别谤听African聽budget airlines, such as聽Kulula.com,听FlyEgypt,听Jambojet,听AirArabia聽Maroc,听and聽Fly540,听have less than 10 aircraft in聽their respective聽fleets, according to聽Planespotters.net data.
Meanwhile,听Fastjet,听AirArabia聽Egypt, Mango Airlines, Lift, and Green Africa Airways聽have less than six aircraft in聽their respective聽fleets.
It is worth noting that there are no wide-body aircraft operated by LCCs in Africa.听Africa精东影业 LCCs聽usually聽operate聽popular聽narrow-body聽planes – 迟丑别听Airbus A320 or Boeing 737.听But there are also budget airlines which operate Embraer or ATR 42/72 turboprop jets.
Obstacles in setting up LCCs in Africa
Africa may seem a聽like聽good place to set up the low-cost carrier聽due to its聽growing aviation market and unexploited growth opportunities.
叠耻迟听many LCCs have failed, including聽Velvet Sky, 1Time聽and聽Air Leisure. A lack聽of a regulatory framework and聽the absence of a聽liberalized market聽made it difficult for them to survive. As a result, regional and trans-continental air services are, for the most part,听uncompetitive, inefficient and expensive.
Therefore, Africa聽is one of the last frontiers in the LCC聽sector聽with its聽poor infrastructure, logistics, maintenance challenges, and inadequate skilled human resources聽鈥斅vital components for the LCC business model.
“The challenge with low-cost carriers in Africa is that they don’t seem to be really low-cost carriers despite enjoying privileges like no free in-flight meal, charges聽for carry-on baggage, and non-flexible tickets, which are often non-exchangeable and non-refundable,” the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA)聽director General Hamza Johari told聽.听
According to the, African airport charges per passenger have been much higher than in other regions across the globe.听
叠测听comparison, the airport in the United Kingdom聽with the highest charges聽is almost two times cheaper than Africa精东影业 highest charged airport, making the continent one of the most expensive places to operate an airline.
“This [LCC model] doesn’t work in Africa due to the operating environment and if it did, every airline would opt for it,” Air Tanzania聽CEO Ladislaus聽惭补迟颈苍诲颈听迟辞濒诲听, adding that operating costs need to be minimized as much as possible
In an聽emailed聽statement to聽精东影业,听Mojapele聽said聽that intra-African routes are underserved because most countries have yet to fully implement the Yamoussoukro Decision, which aims to聽unify skies聽in Africa.
鈥淭here精东影业 a good indication that the continent remains in desperate need of improved and affordable aviation connectivity if you were to compare Africa with Asia, Europe, or North America,鈥澛惭辞箩补辫别濒别听蝉补颈诲.
So聽it精东影业 no surprise that,听since the beginning of the LCC era in Africa, only three airlines have operated international low-cost services within Africa:聽Fly540, Mango Airlines and聽Fastjet. In 2021, the low-cost carrier聽FlySafair聽joined the team of airlines serving international destinations in Africa.
鈥淚n just about聽seven聽years we鈥檝e managed to gain a fairly strong footprint in the South African domestic market. Finally breaking beyond local borders is an exciting milestone for us,鈥澛燙EO of聽FlySafair, Elmar Conradie,听announced in a聽聽dated September 2021.听
