Despite its financial challenges, East African carrier, Kenya Airways charges the most for air tickets on routes in the aviation sector in the continent, according to a study by African Competition Forum (ACF).
The African Competition Forum (ACF) is an informal network of African national and multinational competition authorities. The principal objective of the ACF is to promote the adoption of competition principles in the implementation of national and regional economic policies of African countries.
According to simpleflying.com, African aviation is going through a period of notable transition. With this shift, analysts have been looking at the market’s pricing. As a result, a report has shown that in Africa, Kenya Airways charges the most for its tickets.
The top of the crop
The African Competition Forum (ACF) has shared a report that studied the aviation industries of 24 countries in Africa. The study looked at which airlines charged the highest average fares on domestic and international operations.
The conclusion was that Kenya Airways charged the highest on most routes where it has competition. In the vast majority of cases, it charged higher than the likes of South African Airways, Ethiopian Airways, and Air France.
Kenya Airways held the highest average passenger price per kilometer (APPK) for all its national, regional, and international routes. Moreover, Tanzanian routes had higher APPK than services routes, which traveled farther.
Looking at the figures
Taking a route as an example, the average price per kilometer on the Nairobi-Johannesburg route was Sh23.8. Meanwhile, South African Airways (SAA) charged Sh22. (1 Kenyan Shilling is 0.0090 US Dollar).
“Prices charged by two operators on this route are visibly different for both economy and business class categories. Kenya Airways prices are 21 percent higher than SAA prices for economy class tickets,” ACF’s report highlights, as shared by Business Daily.
“The Nairobi-Paris route is served by Air France and Kenya Airways, their prices have a difference of Sh5,000, Kenya Airways price being more. KQ charged Sh15.6 per kilometer on the Nairobi-Addis Ababa route, higher than Ethiopian Airlines’ Sh13.2.”
All eyes on Africa
Kenya Airways has been showing its intention of expanding its presence in fellow African nations in recent months. For instance, Congo Airways has begun wet leasing two Embraer E190 aircraft. Kenya Airways has also been in talks with South African Airways about forming a pan-African carrier.
The likes of British Airways have been ramping up collaborations with the carrier. The flag carrier of the United Kingdom signed a codeshare agreement with the airline last week, in a bid to boost travel and tourism between destinations in Africa and Europe.
Central and East African aviation is heating up across the board, with the likes of Air Congo being launched. This carrier holds a large investment from Ethiopian Airlines. Overall, several key players recognize the potential of African aviation, including big names outside of the continent such as Boeing and Qatar Airways.
There are several prospects in Africa, with a new middle-class growing and new passenger segments emerging. Therefore, carriers could continue to change their ticket prices this decade.
