Attempts to constrain liberalization in Africa will wipe more than 50 million passengers off the continent’s forecast market size by 2038.
This is the warning the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has given to delegates who were attending the just-concluded routes Africa conference in Mombasa.
Raphael Kuuchi, Vice President of Africa at IATA, said that it is estimated that more than 350 million people will be traveling from, to, and within Africa by 2038 if current regional and global economic trends continue.
Kuuchi said Africa is forecast to be the second-fastest-growing region in the world over the next two decades, with the growth of 4.5% per year.
He said African Airlines are going to add an additional 208 million passengers to the current total of about 140 million.Conversely, if there is an acceleration of growth, driven by policies including the single African air transport market, the African market in 20 years will be more than 400 million passengers in size, according to IATA.
