ABSTRACT

The African aviation industry, according to aircraft suppliers such as Boeing and the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization, has considerable potential, albeit from a relatively low base. This chapter analyses African airport network configuration in terms of capacity, spatial coverage, and connectivity with a look also at airports' dependency on their main airlines. Analysis is based on Official Airline Guide (OAG) databases for 1997 to 2013; a period starting a few years before the signature of the Yamoussoukro Decision and ending more than ten years later. The study of scheduled direct flights helps to examine the effects that relatively recent events, most notably, economic and demographic growth and partial market liberalization, have had on the structure of the African airport network. The chapter outlines some of the general economic and technical features of airline networks and the forces that drive their pattern and viability.