PODCAST: Opportunities for SA airlines in intra-Africa low-cost air travel

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The opportunity to connect more African cities, thereby pushing up trade, through low-cost travel is the focus of this edition of the Business Day Spotlight. 

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Paul Calvey, partner and market lead for SA at Oliver Wyman.

Oliver Wyman is a management consulting firm with more than 6,000 professionals at offices across 30 countries, specialising in strategy, operations, risk management, and organisation transformation.

According to Calvey, SA’s aviation market is going through big changes relating to intra-continental travel. In recent months, budget carrier FlySafair has announced new routes from Johannesburg to Harare, Zanzibar and Maputo.   

Oliver Wyman’s data shows that Africa has one of the lowest airline seats per capita of any region in the world — just 0.12, compared with Europe’s 1.5, while the US has more than 3.5 seats per capita. 

Calvey says this puts into context how much room for growth exists across the continent. 

He explains that SA low-cost airlines, which make up the majority of low-cost carriers on the continent, are particularly well-suited to focus on intra-African expansion. Growth in intra-continental routes by low-cost carriers will also put pressure on national and group-based airlines to reduce prices to remain competitive.

Topics of discussion include local aviation industry data from Oliver Wyman’s; the state of low-cost travel in Africa; and the opportunity to connect more cities through budget airlines. 

Business Day Spotlight is a TimesLIVE Production.