Air Transport Capacity in Central & Western Africa – A Market Snapshot

What are the largest aviation systems, airlines and airports in this part of Africa? In our special capacity analysis reports this week to support the forthcoming Routes Africa forum in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, we look in greater detail at aviation within Central and Western Africa and from the region to the rest of the world.

On scheduled air services within Central and Western Africa, air capacity is dominated by the Nigerian market and its internal fluctuations within its air transport business have a significant impact on air travel within this part of Africa. Data shows that air capacity with Central and Western Africa declined by 6.3 per cent in 2013 after annual growth of 13.7 per cent, 9.1 per cent and 8.6 per cent in the previous three years. A major reason for this capacity short-fall was the collapse of Air Nigeria which had offered over two million annual seats in this market at its height.

The dominance of Nigeria in this market is clear in the airport analysis, above, and airline analysis, below. However, these graphs also show how other markets are in growth such as Accra Kotoka International Airport in Ghana and Abidjan Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport in Côte d'Ivoire on the airport side and operators such as ASKY Airlines (backed by Ethiopian Airlines) and Trans Air Congo on the airline side.

Looking at schedule data for the past two years shows that seat capacity on flights within and from Central and Western Africa declined 4.0 per cent in 2013, versus 2012, with departures down by a higher rate of 6.8 per cent. In the tables, below, we highlight the largest airlines and airports in this market by seat capacity in 2013 and compare this with the previous year.

The data is all supplied by OAG Aviation using its OAG Schedules Analyser tool.

SCHEDULED AIR CAPACITY WITHIN AND FROM CENTRAL AND WESTERN AFRICA (non-stop departures; 2013)

Rank

Airline

Available Seats

% Share

% Change v 2012

1

Arik Air (W3)

4,595,345

16.5 %

1.9 %

2

Aerocontractors (NIG)

2,927,810

10.5 %

3.0 %

3

Air France (AF)

1,843,343

6.6 %

(-3.1) %

4

Ethiopian Airlines (ET)

1,219,611

4.4 %

21.2 %

5

Brussels Airlines (SN)

1,099,440

3.9 %

30.6 %

6

Royal Air Maroc (AT)

1,052,729

3.8 %

5.4 %

7

ASKY Airlines (KP)

1,009,022

3.6 %

16.0 %

8

Senegal Airlines (DN)

767,310

2.8 %

(-9.0) %

9

Camair-Co (QC)

694,850

2.5 %

19.1 %

10

Emirates Airline (EK)

687,139

2.5 %

22.2 %

11

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines (VR)

683,323

2.5 %

(-18.7) %

12

Kenya Airways (KQ)

664,020

2.4 %

(-15.2) %

13

Trans Air Congo (Q8)

584,253

2.1 %

(-7.0) %

14

South African Airways (SA)

577,209

2.1 %

9.5 %

15

Air Cote d'Ivoire (HF)

517,712

1.9 %

950.1 %

TOTAL

27,874,665

-

(-4.0) %

SCHEDULED AIR CAPACITY WITHIN AND FROM CENTRAL AND WESTERN AFRICA (non-stop departures; 2013)

Rank

Airport

Available Seats

% Share

% Change v 2012

1

Lagos (LOS)

5,031,477

18.1 %

(-10.5) %

2

Abuja (ABV)

2,843,613

10.2 %

(-6.6) %

3

Accra (ACC)

2,220,495

8.0 %

5.9 %

4

Dakar (DKR)

1,658,096

5.9 %

21.9 %

5

Abidjan (ABJ)

1,204,886

4.3 %

36.2 %

6

Douala (DLA)

1,032,040

3.7 %

(-0.1) %

7

Port Harcourt (PHC)

973,523

3.5 %

(-15.5) %

8

Brazzaville (BZV)

841,737

3.0 %

3.5 %

9

Pointe-Noire (PNR)

675,393

2.4 %

(-2.5) %

10

Cotonou (COO)

671,912

2.4 %

(-10.0) %

11

Libreville (LBV)

654,665

2.3 %

6.3 %

12

Bamako (BKO)

606,658

2.2 %

(-13.7) %

13

Kinshasa (FIH)

576,792

2.1 %

(-20.2) %

14

Ouagadougou (OUA)

573,571

2.1 %

12.0 %

15

Malabo (SSG)

528,717

1.9 %

(-7.9) %

TOTAL

27,874,665

-

(-4.0) %

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…