AASA Hopeful Of Achieving Faster Passenger Growth And Improved Profitability For Southern African Carriers

Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) CEO Chris Zweigenthal discusses the outlook for African carriers, the issues that have made it difficult for most of the region’s airlines to achieve profitability, the success of LCCs in domestic South Africa and the challenges that have impeded LCC growth in other African markets. AASA represents 20 airlines in 10 southern African countries. Passenger growth in the region has been averaging only 2% to 3% per annum, which is well below the Africa wide and global averages. AASA is hopeful that passenger growth in the region will accelerate following the recent elections in South Africa as it should lead to faster economic growth in South Africa and the southern Africa region overall. AASA is a proponent of the Single Africa Air Transport Market project, which if implemented should help airlines in the region pursue faster growth and build up scale, resolving a major impediment to achieving profitability.