SA shows potential despite constraints
AIR access from South Africa
into Africa and the rest of the
world is improving steadily,
despite continued lack of intraregional connectivity and visa
constraints.
The latest available airline
schedule analysis from the Official
Aviation Guide (OAG), a leading
provider of air travel intelligence,
shows that seats and flights from
South Africa have increased by
2%, compounded annually over the
last three years ending December
2019 (capacity is published two
seasons ahead), says Board of
Airline Representatives of South
Africa gm, Ndiphiwe Ntuli.
Airlines Association of Southern
Africa ceo, Chris Zweigenthal,
says there should be no obstacles
to increasing capacity from South
Africa, which has unlimited Third
and Fourth Freedom frequency
arrangements (basic international
services) with most African states
and reciprocal bilateral frequency
regimes intercontinentally where
there is spare capacity. “However,
SAA is the only South African
airline that operates long-haul
flights and, with its current focus
on turnaround and a consolidation
of its network, a significant
expansion of its
operations is not
expected in the
short term,” says
Chris. “Other South
African airlines
may look to expand
services into Africa.
It is important to
ensure that there
is a receptive
welcome from
other African states
for South African
airlines wishing
to expand their
services into Africa.”
Chris says passenger
growth in Africa is
expected to grow 5,6%
per year through to
2035, compared with
a global growth
projection of 4,4% per
year. “The growth rate
projections for Africa
are on a businessas-usual basis and
I believe that from
a current low base,
we should be able to
achieve double-digit
growth for African
aviation.”
Obstacles to greater African air access
Lack of intra-regional connectivity
remains a key constraint. “Lack
of domestic flights, stopovers
lengthening travel time, and other
economic factors such as ticket
prices, all influence how likely
a passenger is to travel,” says
Barsa’s Ndiphiwe Ntuli. “Not only
is it expensive to travel to and
from Africa, but it is also expensive
to travel within Africa. Business
travellers find themselves in
situations where they are forced to
take connecting flights through global
hubs, adding costs and time to their
flights.”
All this is supposed to be solved
with the implementation of the
African Union’s Single African
Air Transport Market (SAATM), in
terms of which African countries
are supposed to grant each other
reciprocal Fifth Freedom rights that
will allow their respective carriers to
fly unrestricted between them.
However, some African countries
continue to resist this. Since the
launch of SAATM last year, 28
states have committed to it, but
only 18 have signed a memorandum
of implementation, says Iata dg,
Alexandre de Juniac. He says
the slow pace can be attributed
to sovereignty concerns among
countries seeking to protect their
national carriers and markets.
AASA’s Chris Zweigenthal says
Fifth Freedom rights will only be
successfully achieved if there is
reciprocity in granting them from both
a frequency and value perspective.
“AASA has offered its assistance to
Iata, the African Airlines Association
and African Civil Aviation Commission
to help with the SAATM process.”
Visa constraints also continue to
be an obstacle for South Africans
to visit other states, both in Africa
and internationally. Partnerships
are needed between relevant
governments, tourism authorities,
airlines and airports to ensure the
streamlining of visa requirements,
says Ndiphiwe. “African citizens,
who drive most of the volumes to
and from South Africa, require a
visa to enter and leave South Africa.
According to Iata studies, Africans
generally require visas to travel to
over 50% of other countries on the
continent, while they can get visas
on arrival in only 24% of other African
countries,” he says. “For the past
two years, we have convened an
annual aviation summit to nurture
and improve collaboration between
aviation and tourism industry
role players to achieve greater
alignment,” says Ndiphiwe.
Adds Chris: “Immigration
regulations specific to South Africa,
such as the requirements for minors
to carry birth certificates, have been
an inhibitor for travel to and from
South Africa and, whilst there have
been improvements, more needs to
be done to review and amend, or
eliminate this requirement.”
South African network developments
Ndiphiwe Ntuli says Barsa member
airlines, throughout 2018 and
2019, have been establishing new
routes into South Africa’s three main
international gateway airports, with
some existing operators increasing
their seat capacity to grow their
passenger volumes and expand
their overall presence in the market.
He says air access varies for
each region, depending on the
market drivers. “Most of Europe
is well served, but seasonality
plays a key role on the Cape Town
route. East Asia, North America
and Latin America are getting
better connected, with recent
announcements of new entrants and
expansions on routes.
“Access to West and East Africa
is much better than to Central
Africa, where market sizes are
not substantial enough to support
regular flights because of volatile
commodity markets, which is the
primary driver of travel into this
region,” he says.
African links with Cape Town have
improved substantially, says Cape
Town Air Access project manager,
Paul van den Brink. “Since 2015.
AIRLINE NETWORKS & HUBS
four African airlines
started operating to Cape
Town and nine African
destinations were added,
including St Helena from
December 2019. It is now
easier to have an African
highlights itinerary starting
or ending in Cape Town,
including Victoria Falls
and a bush experience.
For companies based in
Cape Town it is easier to
do business in Africa and
internationally.
“We see substantial
market stimulation on new
routes between African
cities and Cape Town.
When RwandAir extended
its Kigali-Harare route to
include Cape Town, the
number of passengers
on the Harare-Cape Town
route improved by 50%
during the first six months
of operation. Passengers
want to travel point-topoint at reasonable ticket
prices,” says Paul.
He says Cape Town still
lacks air access to West
and North Africa.
“The main obstacles are
that SAA only operates
international flights from
Johannesburg, and WestAfrica does not have many
carriers that are able to
operate the distance.”
With United Airlines
starting three weekly
seasonal non-stop
services between Cape
Town and Newark Liberty
International Airport on
December 15, Delta Air
Lines says it is keeping a
close watch on demand
from South Africa, “but
we are satisfied with our
current offering out of
the country,” says Jimmy
Eichelgruen, director sales:
Africa, Middle East and
India. “We’ve established a
good network of connecting
flight options operated by
partner airlines that feed
the Johannesburg route,
including from Cape Town,”
he says.
Did you know?
Air France has improved its customer experience at Charles de Gaulle Airport by adding new features to its app, including a guided airport tour that maps a customer’s route to the boarding gate; and real-time baggage tracking that keeps passengers informed of the location of their baggage throughout their trip.
Air France resumes Cape Town services
AIR France resumed
operations on the Cape TownParis route after its millennialfocused subsidiary, Joon,
was absorbed into the parent
company on June 28, says
Wouter Vermeulen, gm of Air
France KLM Southern Africa.
Joon had taken over the Cape
Town route from Air France on
April 1 last year.
“All routes that were
operated by Joon, both on
the long- and medium-haul
network, will be operated by
Air France aircraft, cockpit
and cabin crew. There will
be no change to our pricing
structure and the service
offering will be the networkwide service that is currently
offered on all Air France
flights,” he says.
This European summer, Air
France and KLM are adding a
number of new destinations
that will be attractive to South
African travellers. “Air France
will add Heraklion, Split,
Belgrade and Dallas; and KLM
will operate flights to Naples,
Wroclaw and Las Vegas, in
addition to Boston, which KLM
started at the end of March.
Our transatlantic partner,
Delta, is also adding new
routes from Europe to the
US, which Air France and KLM
customers can make use of.”
Air France, KLM and Delta
celebrated 10 years of
partnership on June 4.
“This partnership has helped
us enormously to expand
our network in the US.”
says Wouter.
ORTIA regroups to cushion SAA blow
THE position of OR Tambo
International Airport as South
Africa’s primary hub remains
stable, thanks to foreign and
domestic airlines having filled
the gap left as its struggling
hub anchor, SAA, cut seat
capacity (gradually over the
past decade).
Airports Company South
Africa group manager: traffic
development, Matome
Ramokgobedi, says seat
capacity at ORTIA has
grown 4% year-on-year since
2018 as foreign operators
added capacity, following flat
cumulative growth of 1% over
the last three years. He says
SAA has cut 2,6 million seats
across its network, but
850 000 seats were moved
to Mango and 2,8 million
seats were added by FlySafair
when SAA returned aircraft
leased from Safair.
ORTIA remains Acsa’s
primary hub because it
is high-yield year-round,
and handles 60% of all
South African scheduled
air traffic (80% of which
is domestic traffic on the
‘Golden Triangle’ between
Johannesburg, Cape Town
and Durban). However,
to date, its position has
depended on the support
of SAA. “We remain stable,
but as a hub, we need
a strong anchor carrier,”
Matome says.
Hub strategy review
Matome is responding to a
call by the Board of Airline
Representatives of South
Africa (Barsa) for Acsa to
review its Johannesburg hub
strategy with greater input from
airlines, and travel and tourism
stakeholders.
Barsa’s Ndiphiwe Ntuli says:
“It is important for ORTIA
to retain its strong position
as a dominant hub in subSaharan Africa. South Africa
cannot afford to lose key
global players in this market,
especially to other regional
African hubs over which we
have a competitive advantage.
It is possible that, as airlines
in Europe, the US and
elsewhere consolidate, they
will consider new destinations
or hubs, resulting in us losing
capacity, as we have seen with
a few operators pulling out of
Johannesburg and preferring
to fly to Kenya or Angola.” He
adds: “South Africa has to
develop a deliberate strategy
to build ORTIA as a hub,
facilitating the movement of
people and goods; improving
the networks and connectivity
into the region – Southern,
East and Central Africa – and
by bringing in new airlines,
especially from South-east
Asia and other long-haul
markets.”
Growth plans
Acsa is working on a new air
link to Lisbon following Iberia
Airlines’ decision to pull out
of the Johannesburg route on
August 31.
Matome says other air
routes being sought include
Scandinavia (Copenhagen or
Helsinki); Buenos Aires, to
connect to other destinations
in South America and for
ORTIA to become the anchor in
a ‘key south corridor’ between
South America and Asia
Pacific; North America (nonstop Miami or Philadelphia, or
Chicago via West-Africa); and
Equatorial Africa.
TNW sums up some of the
major capacity additions to
have been announced this
year:
Singapore Airlines upped its
Johannesburg frequencies
from seven to 10 a week on
March 31;
On April 1, Alitalia increased
its Rome-Johannesburg
service to five weekly;
LATAM flies daily between
São Paulo and Johannesburg
since April 5;
Ethiopian Airlines partnered
with ASKY on June 15 and
commenced daily flights from
Johannesburg to Lagos (via
Douala and Libreville);
Air Madagascar resumed
twice-weekly flights
between Antananarivo and
Johannesburg on June 17;
Air Tanzania restarted four
weekly services between
Dar es Salaam and
Johannesburg on June 28;
SAA moved three of its
Hong Kong flights to
Guangzhou on September
18 creating connecting
opportunities to Guangzhou’s
top routes in South-east Asia
(Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur,
Seoul, Vietnam and Manila);
Qatar is phasing in 21
weekly Johannesburg
frequencies by the end of
October.
Meanwhile, British Airways
reduced its Johannesburg
frequencies from 18 to 14
a week.
However, Barsa says the
plan to bring more capacity
to ORTIA has to be more
focused, accompanied
by requisite operational
efficiencies, services and
infrastructure. “It is for this
reason that we say Acsa
needs to engage with all
stakeholders on this and
develop a strategy that all
stakeholders can buy into,”
Ndiphiwe says.
Acsa’s airlift strategy
ACSA group executive:
business development,
Charles Shilowa, says
Acsa’s airlift strategy
encompasses its
three gateway airports
(Johannesburg, Cape
Town and Durban) and
its six regional airports
(Bloemfontein, Port
Elizabeth, East London,
Kimberley, Upington and
George). He says Acsa
is involved in air access
initiatives at all three
gateways: Durban Connect
(formerly Durban Direct) a
project of Dube Trade Port;
Cape Town Air Access;
and Gauteng Air Access.
In addition, Acsa has
concluded Memorandums
of Understanding for
regional air access
initiatives with:
Nelson Mandela Bay
Airlift – founded in June
2018 and fully funded
by Nelson Mandela Bay
municipality – which is
finalising an incentive
framework;
Mangaung Metropolitan
Municipality, which
aims to connect
Bloemfontein’s Bram
Fischer International
Airport with coastal and
inland cities; and the
Garden Route District
Municipality for air
access to George.
Mauritius’ hub strategy pays off
MAURITIUS is positioning
itself as a hub connecting
Africa to Asia/India and
Australia, says Carla da
Silva, Air Mauritius regional
gm: Southern Africa and
Latin America.
“Our pricing is competitive
with the Gulf carriers and we
have gained market share to
some destinations, India in
particular. We have designed
leisure, corporate and MICE
value propositions from
Africa to Asia via Mauritius
and also from Africa to
Australia via Mauritius.” She
says with direct flights from
Cape Town, Durban and
Johannesburg to Mauritius
and beyond, Air Mauritius
offers shorter flying times,
e.g. to India the flying time
from Mauritius is only six
hours and 30 minutes and to
Perth only seven hours.
Air Mauritius launched
twice-weekly A319 services
to the Seychelles on
July 2, with 16 seats in
business class and 108 in
economy class. The airline
also increased its Durban
schedule from three to
four frequencies a week
on July 1.
Delta expands African offering
DELTA Air Lines has expanded
its offering in Africa through
interline and codeshare
agreements, providing one-stop
connections to the US from
Johannesburg, says Jimmy
Eichelgruen.
“Our interline agreement
with kulula means customers
flying on Delta’s JohannesburgAtlanta route can connect on
to kulula-operated flights to/
from key South African cities,
including Cape Town, Durban,
East London and George. The
new agreement is in addition to
existing interline partnerships
with Comair and SAA that offer
flights to/from destinations
including Port Elizabeth, Harare,
Victoria Falls, Livingstone and
Windhoek,” he says.
Elsewhere in Africa, Delta
has codeshares with Kenya
Airways on flights between
Nairobi, Amsterdam, Paris
and London, offering greater
connectivity and more onestop travel options to the US.
Delta passengers can also
travel from South Africa and
other cities across Africa via
Paris and Amsterdam on Delta
codeshares with Air France and
KLM.
Jimmy says Delta offers
same-airline connections to
more than 200 destinations
via Atlanta. “Our Johannesburg
flight is timed to make
connecting extremely easy and
convenient via Atlanta, with
customers able to reach cities
like Los Angeles and Dallas in
time for lunch the next day.
Photocap: More KQ flights to Europe
Kenya Airways launched four weekly flights from Nairobi to
Rome and Geneva on June 12, adding to codeshares already
in place with Alitalia and Air France KLM, offering South
Africans flexibility and seamless connectivity to Europe and
beyond, says marketing manager Southern Africa, Tracey
King. The airline also recently joined Bluebiz, offering SMEs
the opportunity to maximise their travel budgets; and
introduced Standard, Flex and Full Flex branded fares in
economy class across its network.
Atlanta boasts first fully biometric terminal in US
DELTA Air Lines has launched
the first biometric terminal
in the US by deploying facial
recognition at multiple points
in the international terminal
at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport.
Passengers flying from
Terminal F can now use kerbto-gate facial recognition
technology at points along the
airport journey to:
Check-in and drop bags in
the international lobby
Identify themselves at
Transportation Security
Administration checkpoints
Board a flight at any gate in
Terminal F
Proceed through Customs
and Border Processing for
international arrivals into the
US.
“If they prefer, customers
can still check in and proceed
through the airport as normal,
but we are seeing huge
benefits to the technology in
terms of saving customers
time and cutting the time
it takes to board flights,”
explains Delta’s Jimmy
Eichelgruen. “In addition,
we’ve been trialling biometric
boarding at our Detroit hub for
a while and we plan to roll out
the full biometric experience
there over the course of this
year.”
Delta invests in hubs
Jimmy says Delta has
invested more than US$7bn
(R102bn) in its hubs since
2006 and will undertake
more than US$12bn
(R176bn) in facilities projects
in the coming years. Major
ones will include:
Los Angeles International
Airport: Delta is investing
US$1,86bn (R27bn) to
modernise, upgrade and
connect Terminals 2
and 3 and Tom Bradley
International Terminal
(Terminal B).
Seattle: Delta is working
with the Port of Seattle
on the construction of a
new US$968m (R13bn)
international arrivals facility
to boost capacity.
Salt Lake City: Delta has
partnered with the airport
to construct a US$4bn
(R58bn) state-of-theart terminal and linear
concourses, similar to the
Atlanta airport design.
The terminal building and
first sections of the north
and south concourses
are scheduled for
completion in the second
half of 2020.
Boston Logan International
Airport is turning into
another Delta hub. By the
end of 2019, the airline will
serve 150 daily flights from
Boston, including to the top
20 US business markets.
Delta will fly from all gates
at Logan's Terminal A by
the third quarter of 2019
and will expand one of
the Delta Sky Clubs at the
airport.
Bole International Airport – a new gateway hub
ADDIS Ababa’s expanded
US$363m (R5,36bn)
Bole International Airport,
Ethiopian Airlines’ main
hub, positions the Ethiopian
capital as Africa’s leading
aviation hub.
With a capacity of 22m
passengers annually,
Addis Ababa last year
overtook Dubai as the
leading transfer hub for
long-haul travel to subSaharan Africa, according to
travel intelligence agency,
ForwardKeys.
Ethiopian Airlines Cape
Town traffic & sales manager,
Mekdes Abera, says the
growth is mainly driven by
Addis Ababa’s increasing
significance in the diplomatic
field, its strategic location
and connectivity options
offered by Ethiopian Airlines.
He says the expansion
includes upgraded runways
and navigation systems; a
new terminal with automated
bag drop, e-gates, selfcheck-in kiosks, baggage
handling and the latest
airport security technologies;
a check-in hall with an
elevated motorway; more
international gates, check-in
and immigration counters;
duty-free shops, restaurants,
auto-walks, escalators,
panoramic lifts and the fivestar Ethiopian Skylight Hotel
with 373 rooms.
Ethiopian Airlines continues expansion
ETHIOPIAN Airlines will
launch thrice-weekly flights
to Amman, Jordan, on July
16 following the July 2 start
of a thrice-weekly service
to Marseille, its second
destination in France. This
follows the launch of daily
services to Lagos from
Johannesburg with its equity
partner ASKY on June 15
and thrice weekly services
to Istanbul on April 1.
Ethiopian’s Cape Townbased traffic and sales
manager, Mekdes Abera,
says the expansions are in
line with the airline’s 15-year
strategic plan to become
Africa’s leading airline group.
Its thrice-weekly flights from
Johannesburg and daily
service from Cape Town to
Addis Ababa connect to 120
destinations, of which 61
are in Africa.
Did you know?
Singapore Airlines has increased Johannesburg flights from seven to 10 a week with a night service
on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight departs from Johannesburg at 22h30 and arrives in
Singapore at 14h55 + 1, allowing travellers to get a full day’s work in before heading to the airport.
