Emerging Africa-Asia market continues to grow with Korean Air service to Nairobi from Seoul
Connections between Africa and Asia will grow from 21-Jun-2012 with Korean Air's seasonal three-times weekly service between Seoul and Nairobi, Kenya. The hub-to-hub flight will link Korean Air's Asian-focused hub to the extensive and growing African hub of fellow SkyTeam carrier Kenya Airways, which plans to serve every African capital city within five years.
The Africa-Asia market will boom this decade, according to Airbus projections that see Africa having the highest percentage growth of traffic to or from Asia. Korean Air's route follows charter services to Nairobi as well as the signing in Dec-2011 of a trade agreement between South Korea and Kenya.
Korean Air will be the only Asian airline to serve East Africa, which geographically and combined with a partner's hub allows for greater traffic feed across Africa. Asian airlines have predominantly focused on serving South Africa while African carriers serve multiple Asian points.
- Korean Air launches seasonal three-times weekly service between Seoul and Nairobi, Kenya, connecting Asian and African hubs.
- Africa-Asia market projected to boom, with Africa having the highest percentage growth of traffic to or from Asia.
- Korean Air becomes the only Asian airline to serve East Africa, providing greater traffic feed across Africa.
- Ethiopian Airlines is Kenya Airways' largest competitor in the Asia market, with plans to expand further with the arrival of 787s.
- Korean Air's flight schedule allows for convenient connections at both ends, facilitating onward travel for passengers.
- The service aims to strengthen trade between South Korea and Kenya, as well as tap into the potential tourism market from South Korea.
See related article: Ethiopian eyes 787 service to Hong Kong and new Asian services as Africa-Asia market booms
Flight facilitates Seoul and Nairobi hub connections
Korean Air Seoul-Nairobi flight details: 31-Jan-2012
| Flight | Routing | Timing | Equipment | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KE959 | Seoul Incheon-Nairobi | 22:15-05:30+1 | A330-200 | Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday |
| KE960 | Nairobi-Seoul Incheon | 10:30-04:50+1 | A330-200 | Wednesday, Friday and Sunday |
Kenya Airways early morning services to Nairobi from selected African destinations as at 30-Jan-2012
| Departing | Arriving | Arrival time | Frequency | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg OR Tambo | Nairobi | 05:45 | Daily | Southern Africa |
| Entebbe | Nairobi | 06:20 | Daily | Central Africa |
| Addis Ababa | Nairobi | 06:00 | Twice weekly | East Africa |
| Dar es Salaam | Nairobi | 06:25 | Daily | East Africa |
| Brazzaville | Nairobi | 05:35 | Twice weekly | Central Africa |
| Kigali | Nairobi | 05:25 | Three times weekly | Central Africa |
| Accra | Nairobi | 05:30 | Daily | West Africa |
| Mombasa | Nairobi | 06:30 | Daily | East Africa (domestic) |
Korean Air is first Asian carrier to operate to East Africa from Asia
Currently just five carriers operate non-stop between Asia Pacific and East Africa: Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritius, Kenya Airways, Air Austral and Air Madagascar. The routes are dominated by links to China for business travel purposes and a few destinations in Southeast Asia that act as either stop-overs for the China services or as sources of tourism.
Carriers operating between East Africa and Asia Pacific: 30-Jan-2012 to 05-Feb-2012
|
Airline |
Origin |
Destinations (cities) |
Seats per week |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Delhi, Mumbai |
24,488 |
||
|
Port Louis |
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai |
15,784 |
|
|
Nairobi |
12,096 |
||
|
Saint Dennis |
5452 |
||
|
1848 |
Of the five carriers, only three presently operate to North Asia: Air Mauritius, Ethiopian and Kenya Airways. Additional Asian and African carriers link Asia to Southern Africa, and South Africa in particular, but onward connections are limited and can require significant backtracking.
Carriers operating between East Africa and North Asia ranked by seats: 30-Jan-2012 to 05-Feb-2012
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation & Innovata
Korean Air to further strengthen trade between South Korea and Kenya
The service comes after South Korea and Kenya signed an agreement to promote trade, which is heavily weighed toward imports from South Korea into Kenya than exports from Kenya to South Korea. Business leaders entered the agreement on 23-Dec-2011 with the aim of opening up trade markets between the two countries, a culmination of discussions that started in 2010 when South Korea sent a delegation to Kenya to scout for investment opportunities. Kenya's natural resources include limestone, salt, gemstones, zinc and hydropower, and Kenya Airways' strategic plan to serve every capital city in Africa within five years appeals to South Korea, which is seeking other African countries to invest in.
Kenya and South Korea's trade relationship has been sporadically increasing since 1998, when Kenya exported KES179 million (USD2.1 million) worth of goods to South Korea, to 2003 where exports plummeted to KES6.4 million (USD75,000), to 2007 when export levels reached KES318 million (USD3.7 million), then increased again to KES717 million (USD8.4 million) in 2010. In the same years, South Korea's imports were worth KES2.6 billion (USD30.6 million), KES164 million (USD1.9 million), KES8.6 billion (USD101 million) and KES21 billion (USD258 million). In 2010, South Korea became Kenya's 12th largest import partner and 17th largest overall trade partner (the fourth largest Asian trade partner, just ahead of Singapore).
Kenya's trade with main partners: 2010
Source: IMF (DoTS)
Nairobi International Airport is also a major business hub with premium seats accounting for approximately 18% of all available seats, well above the worldwide average of 5.2% (in comparison, 21% of London Heathrow's seats are premium). Korean Air's service will further strengthen Nairobi Airport's position as a business hub.
Nairobi International Airport schedule by class of seats (one-way weekly departing seats): 30-Jan-2012 to 05-Feb-2012
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation & Innovata
South Korea identified as potentially strong source of tourism, with opportunity for services to grow
Korean Air operated the first ad hoc charter service between Seoul and Nairobi on 15-Jan-2012. South Korea has been identified as a potentially strong tourism market but due to the previous lack of non-stop services, the Kenya Tourism Board (KTA) has been unable to tap this possibly lucrative source. Kenya and South Korea are now engaged in talks over a potential open skies agreement.
Tourism is emerging as a strong industry in Kenya with the KTA reporting over 1 million international visitor arrivals for the year to Oct-2011. Of this, 90% of tourist traffic arrives via air. Visitor arrivals have been increasing steadily over the past number of years, increasing from 1 million in 2000 to 1.4 million in 2009. Of the total number of visitors, 778,000 in 2000 and 1 million in 2009 were for leisure purposes. The UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Uganda and the Netherlands are Kenya's largest sources of visitor arrivals, largely reflecting available routes into Kenya. Of Asian countries, China and Japan are the largest sources but only account for between 1% and 2% of the market. Korean Air's service should change the tourism market while providing links for business travellers to further investment and open the number of destinations available to Kenya.
The next steps in this service will be to bring the route to a year-round operation and increase frequency. As Korean Air is largely limited in serving Kenya from South Korea, further SkyTeam growth into Kenya Airways' very promising Nairobi hub can come in due course from other members.
Background information
Five largest carriers within Africa (seats per week): 30-Jan-2012 to 05-Feb-2012
| Rank | Airline | Total Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SA | South African Airways | 444,664 |
| 2 | MS | EgyptAir | 213,889 |
| 3 | KQ | Kenya Airways | 171,292 |
| 4 | ET | Ethiopian Airlines | 170,144 |
| 5 | W3 | Arik Air | 136,022 |
Ten largest carriers within Asia Pacific (seats per week): 30-Jan-2012 to 05-Feb-2012
| Rank | Airline | Total Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CZ | China Southern Airlines | 3,269,963 |
| 2 | MU | China Eastern Airlines | 3,097,793 |
| 3 | NH | All Nippon Airways | 2,521,108 |
| 4 | CA | Air China | 2,377,467 |
| 5 | JL | Japan Airlines | 1,566,302 |
| 6 | QF | Qantas Airways | 1,380,224 |
| 7 | MF | Xiamen Airlines | 1,270,667 |
| 8 | JT | Lion Air | 1,258,652 |
| 9 | HU | Hainan Airlines | 1,166,524 |
| 10 | KE | Korean Air | 1,089,564 |
Kenya Airways Africa route map: Jan-2012
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation & Innovata
Korean Air Asia route map: Jan-2012
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation & Innovata