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Routes and AFRAA sign pact seeking to stimulate the African aviation industry

By Mac Otani January 22nd, 2020 1 min read

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has partnered with Routes to stimulate new air services and push for the development of the African aviation industry.

The Memorandum of Understanding will bring together AFRAA, leading trade Association for African airlines and Routes, which organises leading route development events for the airline industry.

According to AFRAA projections, in the next 20 years, Africa will be one of the fastest-growing aviation markets and the continent will account for 334 million passengers by 2037.

“This MoU is beneficial to support the development of aviation in Africa which is growing at above global average rates but accounts for less than 3% of global traffic,” said Mr Abdérahmane Berthé, AFRAA Secretary General.

Under the partnership signalling the growing importance of African aviation industry, AFRAA and Routes will share data and analytics, promote key issues affecting airlines and airports within Africa, access to media opportunities among other actions of mutual benefit.

“Among our new strategic objectives is to become a hub for data intelligence and expertise on the African Aviation Industry. African airlines have to keep up with the developments through proper information management and data intelligence,” Berthé added.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that over the next two decades, the Kenyan market could double in size, with an additional 11.3 million passenger travels with more than 449,000 more jobs created adding $11.3 billion to the GDP by 2038.

“The synergies in values between our organisations, regarding driving a sustainable air transport industry for the African region, makes this a powerful partnership that we are excited to develop,” indicated Mr Steven Small, brand director for Routes.

Air transport currently supports 6.2 million jobs and about Sh5.6 trillion in Africa which translates to 1.8 per cent of all employment and 2.6 per cent of all GDP in African countries.