Published on : Thursday, May 2, 2019
The rise of aviation sector is inextricably associated with the idea of an integrated and wealthy continent as espoused by the African Union.
At present, the air transport sector supports 6.9 million jobs and $80 billion (about Ksh8tn) GDP all over Africa. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) explains that there is a major expectation of growth in these numbers.
The promising story of Africa further highlights the urgency for enhanced air connectivity linking African countries to the rest of the world.
With the encouraging business climate and drive toward financial integration of the continent, demand for air transport is hoped to increase.
Aviation will consequently play more and more a significant role in the economic growth of Africa in the future. Certainly, aviation can be the prime catalyst of Africa’s economic growth.
By now, the continent has become quite attractive to the prime global airlines. New routes are being introduced linking Africa to key destinations across the world.
For example, Kenya Airways in 2018 introduced direct flights between Nairobi and New York. Air France started again their flight services to Kenya a year ago following a long break.
From this April, Air France increased weekly flights on the Nairobi-Paris route from three to five in affiliation with Kenya Airways.
The progress was timely as it overlapped with the official visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Kenya.
With such positive aid and endorsement from the global aviation industry, and the international community, this is the most perfect time to boost up air links between Africa and the rest of the world.
The African aviation market will keep on growing as the continent turns out to be even more integrated into the global economy. The target should be on creating many gains made so as to achieve sustained growth into the future.
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