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8
Routes
DURBAN
Daily
Issue 03
Tuesday
22 September 2015
Produced by:
World Routes
Strategy Summit – Day 2
Debating the merits (or otherwise) of the impact
that the Middle East hub carriers (Emirates, Etihad
Airways and Qatar Airways) have had on the industry’s
route development were: Sabine Reim, Senior VP at
InterVISTAS Consulting; Jared Harckham, VP at ICF
International’s Aviation & Aerospace Group; John
Grant, Executive VP at OAG; George Karamanos, MD
of KPI Aviation Marketing Solutions; and Alan Peaford,
Aerocomm. It was agreed by the panellists that
geography has played a big part in the development
of the Middle East hub carriers, as Abu Dhabi, Doha
and Dubai are well located between Europe, Asia and
Africa. The airlines’ decision to equip their fleet with the
newest, most fuel-efficient, longest range aircraft had
also enabled them to launch routes and connections
that other carriers were not in a position to do. The
general view of the attempt by some US airlines to
curtail the growth of these carriers into the US was
generally seen as sour grapes and a fear of competition.
One suggestion was that Emirates had already become
the first pan-African carrier, while another suggestion
was that Tehran could become another mega-hub
depending on how Iran evolves politically in the coming
years. Another speaker described flydubai as “Emirates’
poisonous little brother”.
The morning’s keynote address
looking at Africa’s Future Travel
Needs was given by David Scowsill,
President & CEO of the World Travel
& Tourism Council. His presentation
revealed that travel and tourism in
Africa accounted for around 8% of
GDP, was worth around $83 billion
and contributed to 20 million jobs.
Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, Tanzania
and Gambia were the countries
where travel and tourism generated
the highest share of GDP in 2014,
between 14% and 18% in each case.
In terms of the countries which are
expected to see the fastest-growth in
the travel and tourism’s contribution
to GDP during the next 10 years, the
leading five countries are Gambia,
Zambia, Namibia, Uganda and
Angola. In terms of what the biggest
impediments to growth are, Scowsill
listed high fuel costs, protectionism,
monopolies and infrastructure.
The second day of the World
Routes Strategy Summit, sponsored
by Oman Airports Management
Company and DiscoverAmerica.com took
place on Monday. Many of the sessions
focussed on Africa with presentations
from representatives of the World Travel
& Tourism Council, ACI Africa and IATA
exploring the issues particular to the
continent and how these may be
addressed in the near future. There was
also a lively session debating the role of
the big Middle East carriers, a look at
trends in air service development and
future technologies in travel.
