African Aviation Market goes Boeing Boeing

By Siyabonga Ntshingila ;

Aircraft maker Boeing said that growing passenger and freight traffic in Africa meant that the continents carriers would need to purchase at least 700 new aircraft over the next two decades just to cope.

Citing a strong growth pattern for the continents economy and its resultant impact on exports and imports, Boeing’s senior manager for market analysis Michael Warner said :” As the demand for African commodities grows and foreign development and tourism increase, African carriers will require a modernised fleet to compete on routes historically dominated by foreign carriers. Africa's current fleet is nearly 20 years old on average in a market that demands newer, more efficient planes to help offset the rising cost of fuel”.

Boeing also forecast that the demand for large twin aisle aircraft will rise to 32% of new deliveries in the same time frame as passengers demand more non-stop long-haul flights to key global nodes. This compares with a worldwide average of just 23% in total. The company lauded its new generation Dreamliner jet a being perfectly placed to exploit this demand.

Already over 150 Dreamliner jets had been ordered by over 50 different customers including such airlines as Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Air Seychelles.

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