New airlines debut as Green Africa Airways orders $4.05B A220-300 planes

• Competition beckons amid glut

A start-up airline, Green Africa Airways that has concluded plans to begin domestic and international routes has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 50 A220-300 aircraft with aircraft giant, Airbus. Each of the state-of-the-art airplane cost $81 million.

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This is coming as the country country may witness very stiff competition in the airline industry as five new airlines are set to debut. It is not yet clear the stages they have gone in the acquisition of very important Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

The new entrants are said to be Green Africa Airways, Value Jet, United Nigeria Airlines, Rahma Air Nigeria and Jet Airways.

The order according to Airbus is one of the major orders to be placed globally for the A220 programme and the largest ever from the African continent.

Founder & CEO of Green Africa Airways Babawande Afolabi, said, “Together with Airbus, we are incredibly proud to announce the largest order ever for the A220 from the African continent. The Green Africa story is a story of entrepreneurial boldness, strategic foresight and an unwavering commitment to using the power of air travel to create a better future”.

Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, Christian Scherer, speaking from the Singapore Airshow, added, “We are excited about the Green Africa project, its legitimate ambition and its professionalism, evidenced by their most discerning choice for their operating assets.

The unique characteristics of the A220 will allow the airline to unlock destinations and route pairs that previously would have been considered non-viable.

We look forward to our partnership with Green Africa and to accompany their development with the most efficient aircraft in its class”.

The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and widebody passenger comfort in a single-aisle aircraft.

The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, along with significantly lower emissions and a reduced noise footprint.

The A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft. At the end of January 2020, the A220 had accumulated 658 orders.

Amid the gloom, there are still start-ups.  The West African nation of Nigeria has had a number of start- up –and failures, Green Africa, United Nigeria Airways and few others seem to have bold vision.

It remains to be seen how these new airlines cope in a tough airline environment considering the low number of flying public.

Not a few had suggested and raised concern that with Nigeria’s relatively low numbers for the flying public, it may quickly descend into a dog fight with no winners.

With a glut on the route, this could engender competition and help to force down fares. Competition is a natural result of many players in an industry. However, as profit oriented actors, airlines will not venture into an industry where there is low propensity to fly.

The lack of airline competition and the absence of regional airport hubs are some of the constraints identified in Africa’s aviation.

Hopefully, competitive prices and better quality will result and trigger increased demand for air travel.

Wole Shadare