Nigeria

Nigeria and Ghana driving West African aviation development

West Africa’s aviation industry is being led forward by Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, the largest carrier, Arik Air, recently revealed itself as Boeing’s un-named B747-8 customer, while national carrier Air Nigeria is in the process of re-establishing its long-haul network. While the airlines are not without their problems, the market is growing and new entrants are appearing. In Ghana, the country is opening up to international carriers who are eager to increase their frequencies to the gold-producing country. Ghana itself is the site of one of Africa’s newest carrier, Starbow Airlines, and an impending base for pan-African LCC, Fly540.

Airbus predicted cities in these two countries, Accra and Lagos, will become “airline megacities” in the next 20 years, meaning they will handle 10,000 or more long-haul passengers a day. Accra and Lagos are two of just six** African cities tipped to become an “airline megacity”.

Air Nigeria re-establishes long-haul routes

Air Nigeria is resuming long-haul operations after a nearly three-year hiatus, with A340-300 flights to London Gatwick commencing in Sep-2011. The carrier is also aiming to use its newly acquired A340-300 fleet to resume flights to Johannesburg and launch Washington Dulles with the latter designed to supplement its new codeshare service via Delta Air Lines to Atlanta and New York.

LCCs ready for take-off; carriers prepare for Boeing B787 deliveries

LCC start-ups dominated airline news this week. Air Canada revealed it is drawing up a business plan to launch an LCC in response to its fast-growing low-cost rivals such as WestJet, Porter Airlines, Air Transat and Sunwing in the Canadian market, according to reports.

CAPA Q&A: The outlook for BRICs, aircraft production and values with Ascend’s Eddy Pieniazek

Ascend’s Global Head of Consultancy, Eddy Pieniazek, talks exclusively with CAPA about aviation prospects in the emerging BRIC markets and latest insights into aircraft leasing trends and aircraft values.

Russia, Turkey and Sweden the hottest destinations for European travellers this Summer. Egypt down

Russia, Turkey and Sweden are among the fastest growing major destinations for European travellers this summer, latest analysis from CAPA shows. According to Innovata schedule data for Apr-2011 - the first month of the summer scheduling season - Russia and Turkey will enjoy near 20% increases in passenger capacity from other European countries next month.