Africa an exciting place for aviation in 2023, events show

• 2023 year of recovery as traffic, demand levels up over pre-pandemic, Southern Africa lags

• Carriers made significant aircraft orders for growth plans

• Notable route launches and resumptions 

• Airlines expand to North America, Europe, South America

• Saw new intra-Africa flights

A compilation of happenings in Africa’s aviation sector in the outgone year 2023, has shown many exciting and fascinating highlights and developments, including a largely year of recovery for African aviation, per Tatenda Karuwa in Simple Flying.

According to Karuwa, while the year was projected to be one of recovery in terms of airline finances, travel demand, and passenger traffic, it indeed saw traffic and demand surpass pre-pandemic 2019 levels in some regions like Northern and Eastern Africa. However, Karuwa reports that Southern Africa is still lagging behind, with full recovery expected in 2024/25, available data show.

The following are Karuwa’s compilation in Simple Flying of developments in the aviation landscape across the African continent in the outgone year 2023.

Aircraft orders and deliveries 

As we emerged from the pandemic, many African carriers outlined their fleet strategies for the next 10 -15 years and placed significant orders to support their growth plans. While there were one or two orders in the year’s first quarter, Air Algerie kicked off the significant order trend in May, signing an agreement with Boeing for eight 737 MAXs. A month later, the carrier ordered five Airbus A330neos and two A350-100s, to be delivered from 2025.

Another North African carrier, Egyptair, ordered ten A350-900s and signed a lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation for 18 737 MAXs in Dubai in November. Ethiopian Airlines also stole the headlines, making a historic deal to acquire 84 new aircraft, including 11 Dreamliners, 20 MAXs, and 11 additional A350-900s, with 15, 21, and 6 options, respectively. It rounded up its year with a $450 million loan agreement with Citi for five new aircraft.

Earlier in the year, TAAG Angola Airlines placed an order for four Boeing 787s as part of its brand renewal plan. The deal includes two 787-9s and two 787-10s. The carrier also signed lease agreements in Paris with three different lessors for nine Airbus A220s. Before the show, TAAG disclosed its plans to double its fleet over the next four years.

Several airlines also received new aircraft this year. In March, RwandAir received its third Airbus A330 and deployed it on long-haul routes to Europe and the Middle East. In April, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its 20th Airbus A350-900. The delivery flight was operated with a 30 percent blend of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), marking another milestone for Africa’s largest airlines. Cabo Verde Airlines received its first Boeing 737 MAX, previously delivered to South Africa’s Comair.

Route launches and resumptions

As international traffic slowly returned to pre-pandemic levels in several African countries, we saw many airlines launching intercontinental flights to and from Africa, as well as resuming their once-frequent services.

North America

One of the biggest stories involving Africa-North America travel was Ethiopian Airlines launching flights to Atlanta in May, marking the addition of its fifth US destination. The service is now operated via Rome Fiumicino (FCO) after the airline ditched Dublin as its technical stopping point.

Europe

Flights between Africa and Europe remain in high demand, with over 100 airlines flying between the two continents as of December 2023. Currently, 50 percent of Africa’s top 10 intercontinental carriers are European, with Ryanair being the leading European carrier. The Irish LCC recently announced a significant expansion to its only African destination (Morocco), including plans to launch domestic flights in 2024.

The Lufthansa Group also made various efforts to increase its presence in Africa this year. In March, Lufthansa appointed a new general manager for East Africa and increased Frankfurt-Nairobi flights from five to seven weekly. Lufthansa’s subsidiaries Discover Airlines and Brussels Airlines also increased frequencies on East African routes, with plans for more flights in 2024.

Middle East and Asia

Many Middle Eastern and Asian airlines resumed pre-pandemic services to Africa, while others increased frequencies and capacity. Emirates expanded its South Africa service, adding a third daily flight to Johannesburg and reinstating the second daily service to Cape Town. The carrier also resumed Airbus A380 flights to Casablanca, offering additional capacity. Furthermore, December 2023 marked ten years of its A380 flights to Mauritius.

Johannesburg Airport welcomed two carriers from the Middle East and Asia in the last half of the year. In August, Cathay Pacific resumed flights from Hong Kong after a three-year hiatus. The service is operated thrice weekly with the Airbus A350. Saudia relaunched Boeing 787 flights from Jeddah this month, marking a return to one of its only African destinations.

South America

One of the major African headlines regarding route launches was the return of South African Airways to the long-haul market after over three years. The airline launched flights from Cape Town (CPT) and Johannesburg to São Paulo (GRU). This came about a month after LATAM resumed flights from Brazil to South Africa.

Intra-Africa flights

There were also a lot of new routes introduced between African cities. The most notable was Air Algerie’s service between Algiers and Johannesburg. The 4,013 NM (7,433 km) journey became the longest intra-Africa flight. Operated with the Airbus A330, the flight takes nearly nine hours. Airlink launched Johannesburg-Nairobi flights in April. About a month later, Simple Flying was invited on a flight to review the Embraer 190 economy class cabin.

African Firsts!

Many carriers on the continent became known for being the first to operate a particular aircraft or achieve a certain milestone. On Africa Day (May 25), Kenya Airways became the first African airline to operate a SAF-powered regular commercial flight between Africa and Europe. The Nairobi-Amsterdam flight used Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Eni, making it the first African carrier to use fuel from that supplier.

About half a year later, Royal Air Maroc made Africa’s first carbon-neutral flight using a Boeing 787-9. Another North African carrier, Egyptair, had two African firsts this year. In February, the airline took delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A321neo, while in November, it became the first African operator to commit to Panasonic Avionics’ Astrova in-flight entertainment system.

Despite being involved in numerous scandals this year, Air Tanzania also joined the list of African pioneers. The carrier received the continent’s first Boeing 737 MAX 9 in October. In Nigeria, Air Peace recently celebrated a historic milestone as it inaugurated Africa’s first Embraer E195-E2 female captain.

Startups and attempted startups

According to ch-aviation, over 12 airlines started operations in Africa this year despite the numerous impediments to operating an airline on the continent. Among the winners this year is Nigeria’s latest startup, NG Eagle, which successfully launched operations in December with a wet-leased Airbus A320-200. Chad also saw a new airline as Royal Airways successfully took to the skies with an Embraer EMB120.

However, other carriers could not really get things going in 2023. In August, Nigeria’s Azman Air suspended all operations again and sent all staff on mandatory leave after facing operational challenges. Nigeria’s proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, failed to take off for the fifth consecutive year. Ghana’s proposed flag carrier, Ghana Airlines, was also slated to begin operations in 2023, but the program has failed to materialise.

Scandals and incidents

Nigeria Air scandal

African aviation is not complete without drama and bizarre safety incidents. One of the major scandals of the year was the attempted launch of Nigeria Air. The previous Nigerian government, through President Buhari and Hadi Sirika, the country’s aviation minister at the time, attempted to launch a national carrier three days before the end of their term.

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 arrived in Abuja on May 26 with Nigeria Air colours and returned to Addis Ababa less than a week later. Minister Sirika stated that this was ET’s own marketing strategy, while Ethiopian’s CEO claimed that the minister asked them to paint the aircraft and present it to Nigerians.

Aircraft incidents

Strange incidents also occurred in Africa this year. In April, a snake on a pilot’s back prompted an emergency landing in South Africa. While on a regular domestic flight, a Cape Cobra (one of Africa’s deadliest snakes) appeared in the cabin of a Beechcraft Baron and slithered on the pilot’s back, who was courageous enough to remain calm and land at a nearby airfield.

United Nigeria Airlines was back in the headlines in late November when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority suspended its operations. This resulted from a November 26 incident, which saw one of its Airbus A320 flights land at the wrong airport, about 171NM (316 km) from the intended destination.

Two years ago, Ethiopian Airlines came under public scrutiny when two pilots fell asleep and missed a landing. The airline was back under the microscope in 2023. Although not a serious incident, ET pilots shocked the world when they landed a Boeing 787 in the middle of a super typhoon. Rounding up the weird African incidents of the year was Tanzania’s Unity Air. On November 28, two of its Embraer EMB120s crashed at a small airstrip a few hours apart.

Other highlights

There were so many other developments in Africa in 2023. In November, Angola successfully opened the new $3 billion Luanda Airport, set to be the country’s main hub. Another story that undoubtedly spread positivity was the donation of a Boeing 737 from Kenya Airways to a local high school in September. The aircraft will assist students in their preparation for aviation careers.

On the less positive side, we saw a lot of conflicts in Africa, which ultimately affected airline operations. Following military coups and outbreaks of violence, there were three airspace closures and suspension of operations at various airports.

In April, Khartoum Airport was shut down, while Sudan’s airspace was effectively closed for about four months. In August, Niger closed its airspace following a military coup. This had the most severe effects on airline operations, especially between Africa and Europe. A few weeks later, another coup in Gabon forced a temporary closure of the country’s airspace. While the effects were not as severe, it widened the area where airlines could not fly in Africa.

These are some of the stories that made the headlines in Africa in 2023. So many other developments took place, highlighting the potential and excitement of African aviation. However, carriers still face severe challenges, which they hope can be addressed soon to ensure a sustainable operating environment.