Emerging from hard times African airports now need sustainable operations; but even with the on-going economic recovery they must strive beyond low-hanging fruits to make a meaningful impact on their operations

Airports Should Get Proactive

If there is anything African airports need to achieve in 2011, it is making a profound business overhaul attuned to emerging needs of the aviation business environment. This would help establish or consolidate the airports as choice destinations in their various regions. The current state of several airports in Africa puts a question mark on the sustainability of these airports. African airports must shed the pall of flaccid existence, where they occur, and adopt rigorous business re-invention that creates attention and increasing airports utilization. Airports should not 'sit-and-watch' the gradual 'trickling-in' (or none) of airport users, especially where much more can be achieved on both the aeronautical and non-aeronautical sides. Now is the time to convert potential airport users within and outside Africa, riding on the back of the largely favourable economy.

While earning sustainable financial autonomy may seem a remote possibility for many airports in Africa, such autonomy can be achievable even in the shorter-term with auto-renewable growth and development systems, where airports take hard decisions on aggressive and appropriate investments and marketing strategies as seen, for instance, in the Cairo International Airport or the airports in South Africa under the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) management, among few others.

Beyond Low-Hanging Fruits?

Clearly, some airports barely exist, with the least attention to advantageous future strategies. And their operations are largely sustained on government hand-outs or remnants of internally-generated but oft mismanaged resources, making the sustenance of their operations, therefore, uncertain. Another distinguishable group of airports may just be cutting through the thick morass associated with formative years, though they run sound future-based auto-renewable business structures.

Examples of these are usually among so-called 'small airports' (erroneously called unviable airports) located in regions with strong potentials for aviation growth. Such airports require perseverance and continued vigorous investments. The other class of airports in Africa is the exemplary award-winning performers that are already reaping the benefits of effective and auto-renewable business structures, and merely adjusting to changes in industry and the economy. These are largely seen among large hub airports and some regional or local airports in air transport-inclined locations. For all three categories, African airports must now go beyond the low-hanging fruits and painstakingly foray further afield to harness potential airport businesses.

A number of existing threats are still capable of impeding airports development and sustainability. Therefore, African airports should adapt the solutions that have worked for successful airports. Already, to ensure that airports achieve improved performance and sustainable operations, international partners have called for increased action in the areas of safety, security, environment, operational efficiency, regulatory framework flexibility, economic regulation and business viability.

Trends In African Traffic

Air traffic is projected to grow at about 4-6% in Africa in the short-, medium- and longer terms. With the continent holding about 2% of global traffic, African airports are said to manage an average of one million passengers per annum. Only few airports attract over 5 million passengers annually, and the traffic distribution tends to be concentrated within certain major airports in the South, East, North and West Africa, even though other airports have the (remote?) potential to build-up traffic. According to Mr. Ken Kaunda, Chairman, HR Working Group, ACI-Africa, and General Manager HR Development, Kenya Airports Authority, "Africa's air transport industry has grown at a healthy 5.76% per year between 2001 and 2007. Traffic rose 10.68% between 2004 and 2007 to a figure of 123 million seats annually.

The aggregated figures for Africa show growth in all types of scheduled air travel: intercontinental traffic, international traffic within Africa and domestic travel." He says intercontinental traffic in Africa relies heavily on the three major hubs of Johannesburg, Nairobi and Addis Ababa with an annual average rate of 6.2%. North African intercontinental traffic grew by 8.3% with routes between France and Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia being the dominant. Nigeria's Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) experiences strong double digit growth in international traffic; and about 99% of passengers are reportedly mostly origin and destination traffic. While Nigeria's 22 airports feed from stable domestic traffic, MMIA receives 6.5 million passengers.

In several African airports, growth and expansion efforts, besides traffic, have been remarkable. The traffic is driven both by the state of facilities and the strengthening economy. In the last two years, JKIA has recorded about 29 new airlines or request for additional frequencies from regional and intercontinental carriers. And generally there has been a consistent growth in aircraft and passenger movement there in the past two years; and the dip in freight caused by the lurch of 2009 recession is reversing. This growth trend is fairly representative of those in other parts of Africa, as seen in the statistics from Durban International Airport, Cape Town Airport and OR Tambo International Airport.

To achieve sustainability among African airports requires effective management of threats, and judicious utilization of growth opportunities.

Tightened Safety & Security

Given recent botched terrorist attacks with bombs concealed in cargo and passenger on board, passengers and airport users are apprehensive of aviation facilities associated with poor level of safety and security. The deployment of full-body pat-down and 3D body scanners at some airports, especially in Nigeria, creates a feeling of attractive protection among travellers.

Airports in East and North Africa are also strengthening safety and security, given the perceived and actual threats in the regions, while the security and safety system at South African airports were put to successful test during the recent World Cup event. And in Ghana, following the failed bombing of an American airline on Christmas Day 2009, and the suspect having been said to have passed through Ghana airport, the Ghana airports authority has raised security response in the area. The ring of safety and security should be tightened in Africa, going forward.

Operational Efficiency

Nothing distresses a passenger as clumsy execution of airport activities: from ineffective groundhandling and self-service operations on the landside, inconvenient movement for travellers or other airport users around the airport facilities due to poor architecture, and inefficient bussing services, to shoddily configured aprons, taxiways and runways.

These essentially limit airport traffic. Considering additional time needed to complete security checks at most international airports, airports can improve on operational efficiency to add some comfort and convenience for travelers; and technology proves helpful in this connection. However, considering the slow permeation of technology among African travellers, airports should provide continued training to personnel to assist travellers on the use of self-service facilities.

Personnel Build-Up

Investments in human know-how contribute to sustainable airport operations. Africa's airport training capacity is less than its training needs, and Mr. Maamoune Chakira who is part of ICAO-backed training research team for Africa, says African airports should key to new efforts to harmonize aviation training in Africa. Successful airports in Africa have prioritized customer-focused training for their personnel. Tebello Mokhema, Group Manager, Training & Development at ACSA, noted last year that in readiness for 2010 World Cup activities, the human resource at ACSA's airports was repositioned in harmony with innovated facilities, and airport users' expected needs.

Airports Cooperation

ACI-Africa should coordinate and propagate global standards in Africa. And accordingly, airports must learn to work together in creating infectious airports development across Africa leading to what could be termed 'airports conurbation', whereby functional airports are established where they are needed and easily linkable in parts of the continent. Airports must learn from the shortcomings and successes of others through sharing of experiences and information. African airports should, however, be circumspect over the pursuit of a 'hub status' especially where this could divert attention from immediate customer-strategic revenue generating investments. Airports should also work with airlines, governments and tourism organizations to drive the market.

Sustained Investments

In Africa currently, a groundswell of investments clearly exists among airports, from Dakar to Cairo and from Casablanca to Cape Town. Airports must develop sustainable sources of resources for their investments. Alexander Herring, Adviser, Financing Division, CBL-ACP, says "Airports must evaluate the amount of foreign capital needed to finance the capital costs from public or private sources, or a combination of both."

In South Africa, for instance, the airports under ACSA executed FIFA World Cup-induced billion Rand investments that includes an underground Gautrain linking the OR Tambo. Due to the re-invention, Johannesburg is yet the only airport capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa serving the A380. The Cairo Terminal 3 is another exemplar for other African airports and it serves as hub for EgyptAir and its Star Alliance partners. All airport investments must be customer-focused; and investment in ancillary services also helps airports grow revenue. Most airports in Africa are fertile investment grounds.

Sustainable Future Airports

Airports in Africa need sustainable operations whether large, small or private. Airports must remain visible and invest in sustainable and customer-strategic projects. Airports are long-term investments and require perseverance. They need to sustain investors' interests while creating multiple sustainable sources of resources. The rise in traffic can help African airports expand capacity and provide sustainable operations, if well harnessed.