afrol News, 23 February - South Africa's airlines will need to invest at least US$23.3 billion by 2028, on 172 new aircraft to satisfy its growing air-travel demand, according to forecasts Airbus.

The company's latest Global Market Forecast adds that larger aircraft in all size categories are required to help ease traffic congestion and to accommodate growth on existing routes, while at the same time catering for higher fuel prices and environmental pressures for the air travel business.

The Airbus' director for market analysis, Andrew Gordon, was reported in the local media yesterday saying South Africa has experienced 27 percent growth in air traffic over the last 10 years, adding that this has been driven in part by increased international traffic which has grown by 41 percent. The figure however, does not reflect the overall decline for all African airlines’ share of the international market, which is said to have decreased by 8 percent due increased competition from international carriers who have entered the regional market.

Airbus said in a report that while expanding relations between South Africa and the emerging markets such as Brazil and India were to influence some of the growth demand, the domestic market was also expanding and estimated to have grown by at least 8 percent.

The Airbus report further stated that aviation was a key component of economic growth, calling for more closer attending to the industry as it could also create more jobs and contribute much to the countries’ GDPs through tourism, direct trade and other sectors such as manufacturing.

Currently, Africa is said to account for about 1.8 percent of the global international travel and only 1.0 percent of the international airfreight. But, the air transport sector is said to currently contribute about $10 billion to continent’s GDP.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories