Private Aviation traffic between Africa and the Middle East has grown tremendously over the years. Much of this growth happened post COVID, with present day estimations at 30% higher than pre-covid. The growth forecast for the next 5 years is even more interesting, as traffic is expected to accelerate further as the region opens more for business aviation. This blog explores the key routes, the main drivers of traffic, the challenge of adequate investment, and the demand being met.

The key routes

The key routes driving the traffic are mostly the North African destinations of Egypt, Algeria, Morrocco and Tunisia with regional and cultural ties to the Middle East. Also, Southern and Eastern African countries and oceanic Islands destinations like Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, Mauritius, South Africa, Madagascar, Zimbabwe all famous for their tourism, as well as energy and mineral resources hubs like Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia and South Africa.

The main drivers of private aviation traffic

Increased business opportunities in the extractive industry mining, oil and gas, solid minerals, tech start-ups, agriculture, and others where many governments are opening up to foreign investments with attractive incentives, driving traffic across both regions.

The rapid rebound of luxury vacations to destinations in Africa with East and Southern African safaris of Kenya, Tanzania (Kilimanjaro) and popular vacation resorts in Seychelles, Madagascar, Zanzibar are great attractions for HNWIs from the Middle East.

Growth in the ranks of HNWIs seeking alternative investment opportunities across both regions, while those from Africa are fascinated by the finance and real estate sector opportunities, as well as the luxury that the Middle East provides.

Highly advanced Business aviation facilities in the major centers of the Middle East such as UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia makes them natural hubs for business Aviation for traffic from the far East to Africa and beyond, while FBO facilities in Lagos, Morocco, Johannesburg, and Egypt also serve the same purpose for traffic from the Middle East to the Americas and beyond.

With the increased demand for business travel and the flexibilities required for such trips, the African continent doesn’t have such great commercial flight connectivity to support the volume of traffic, especially to remote areas in Africa. Hence, private travel becomes the first option.

The investment challenge

In contrast to the constantly increasing traffic from the Middle East to Africa and vice-versa, there has not been a corresponding increase in the involvement of Middle East investors and operators in Africa in terms physical presence or partnerships with locals in improving facilities. This could be due to perceived risks to such investments and partnerships. While there have been a couple of commercial airport developments, no such participation is noticeable in business/private aviation. This could be for several reasons:

Political instability which sometimes culminates in armed conflicts and general insecurity in some parts of Africa tends to limit traffic.
Airport facilities are generally not as well developed in Africa compared to the Middle East. Facilities are worlds apart. Basic handling equipment is often unavailable and sometimes obsolete when available. Most handlers in Africa are fixated on scheduled commercial airlines and do not even understand the unique needs of Private / Business Aviation and tend to handle them the same way.
Accessing fuel can often be an issue due to poor distribution networks.
Systemic corruption sometimes tends to put off genuine investors.
Regulatory barriers which sometimes hinder fast approvals of required permits.

Meeting demand

In Africa, the demand is mainly for long range, mid-sized jets and most recent acquisitions are tailored along this pattern. The Bombardier Global express series, The Gulfstream G550 – 650 series, Airbus and Boeing Business jets as well as the Embraer Legacy series are the most popular on these routes.

Infrastructure and Trip Support Services in Africa will continue to grow and expand with pressures from increased traffic between these regions. New entrants are coming in with more trained personnel, new FBOs and maintenance facilities especially around the very strong hubs in South Africa, Nigeria, Morrocco Egypt, Seychelles, etc. Even the airports without dedicated facilities for private aviation are beginning to understand and catch up with the importance of this segment of the market and are providing fast track and priority channels for private flights to enhance the travelers’ experience.

For support with your flight operations across Africa, contact UAS