What are the opportunities in Africa that could favor the establishment of a Low Cost Carrier?

Africa is renowned for being the world’s second biggest and most populous continent, as well as one of the fastest developing areas for commercial aviation. However, Africa is equally the least developed market in regards to air traffic.

This market could therefore potentially offer several opportunities and challenges.

Having a population of above one billion, research undertaken by Boeing asserted that the African air traffic is predicted to grow at 5.7% per year, which is significantly faster than the world average of 4.9%. Likewise, as a result of economic growth which led to an upsurge in wealth of African citizens, it could be hypothesised that launching a LCC in Africa will enable people to benefit from aviation as, there are approximately 68 million people journeying by air within the continent and Airbus predicted that by 2030, it will rise to 130 million. 

It is undeniable that air transport has the ability to generate growth and economic development by promoting and encouraging trade and foreign investment. However, up until now, the aviation industry in Africa has been designed to business traffic, high network individuals, and tourists, due to the fact that an “average” person in the street does not think about travelling by air as it is still perceived as a luxury that is solely accessible to certain members of society.

Growth in air transportation has directly maps into economic growth due to spillover effects through creation of direct and indirect jobs in the industry and other auxiliary sectors such as tourism. Expansion in air transportation creates market opportunities for local entrepreneurs by creating regional and global economic centers.
In 2010, the aviation industry in Africa supported about 7 million jobs (including 257,000 direct jobs) through the impact on travel and tourism which translated into USD67.8 billion of the continent's GDP.

Africa can maintain the growth of its aviation industry if more and more people can afford to pay for the cost of air travel. However, in a research conducted by Prabu, he studied the tendency of flying and noticed that in Europe, it is 2 seats per head while, it is only 0.02 in Africa. In percentage it is 32% per seat kilometre in Africa, in comparison to 8% per seat kilometre in Europe. This subsequently supports the fact that air travel is significantly expensive and this is one of the several factors that does not permit an average individual in Africa to travel. Thus, democratizing air travel within the continent is aviation's next boundary.

Air travel is essential to the prosperity of Africa as it opens up opportunities that did not exist before. Fostering the African aviation industry may be one of the driving forces of regional integration on the continent. Better connected African countries and regions through a viable air transport industry could be the catalyst that can boost intra-African business, trade, tourism as well as cultural exchange. Developing the aviation industry may also represent an opportunity to mitigate chronic transport problems faced by the 16 landlocked African countries.  

What are other potential opportunities within Africa that could favor the establishment of a Low Cost Carrier within the continent?