Africa’s airlines expected to double their fleet

Boeing projects that Africa’s commercial airline fleet will double over the next two decades, from 755 aircraft to over 1,600, to handle a 6 percent annual growth rate in passenger traffic.

“Africa’s young, increasingly urban population, growing middle class and improving infrastructure will drive passenger traffic to grow nearly 6% annually through 2045, one of the fastest rates globally, Boeing said today. The region’s commercial airplane fleet will more than double from 755 to 1,625 over the next 20 years to support this demand, as projected in Boeing’s 2026 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO) for Africa,” reports Market Forecast.

The New York Times reported that “The number of tourists visiting African countries grew by almost 8 percent last year — the fastest growth in the world…It’s being driven in large part by a growing African middle class that is exploring the continent for the first time….Historically, the odds have been stacked against leisure travel here. Most Africans still need visas to visit other African countries. Flights, too, are a challenge. Prices for flights within Africa are some of the highest in the world, and there are few direct ones. But both issues have been improving in recent years. Demand for air travel within Africa has been growing, and the more demand, the more airlines can put in place better routes. New airlines have sprung up across Africa; a journey from Accra, Ghana, to Johannesburg that once had to go through London or Dubai can now connect through, say, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia… And many countries, including Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Ghana and others, have scrapped visas for African passport holders in recent years. That shift has been a game changer.”

Ethiopia is building a major new airport, although much of its traffic is expected to be connecting flights, not people vacationing in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has strikingly beautiful mountains, but it has rebellions and uprisings in many places, making it hazardous to travel in those regions.

Africa is the poorest continent, unlike in 1980, when China was poorer than most African countries. Today, China is richer than every African country.

Still, Africa’s economy has grown. “Average incomes have more than doubled in nine African countries since 1990. Our World in Data highlights this progress in Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda, using GDP per person adjusted for inflation and differences in the cost of living. All nine countries also saw declines in the share of people living in extreme poverty,” notes The Doomslayer.