Africa Archives - Page 3 of 8

ValueJet Unveils VIKI – Africa’s First Full-Scale Airline AI Concierge To Transform Passenger Experience

Posted on January 20, 2026January 20, 2026 by Wole Shadare

ValueJet, Nigeria’s innovative airline, has officially launched VIKI, an AI-powered digital concierge designed to transform how passengers access flight services, making it the first airline in Africa to deploy such technology at scale. VIKI is a multilingual, text- and voice-enabled AI assistant that responds verbally to voice commands, offering enhanced accessibility for visually impaired users. Through popular messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, passengers can book and manage flights, modify reservations, check in online,…

AFCAC: Africa’s aviation sector showed resilience in 2025

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Wole Shadare

The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) said that, in a complex and evolving global context, the continent’s aviation industry has demonstrated resilience, cohesion, and steady progress, guided by decisions of AFCAC’s governing organs that align with the African Union (AU) integration agenda. The AFCAC’s Secretary-General, Adeyemi Adefunke, stated this at the agency’s 2025 performance report, highlighting a defining and resilient year for the continent’s aviation sector. Adefunke noted that the commission remained steadfast in its…

Skies of Promise: The Struggle Amid Africa’s Aviation Paradox

Posted on December 23, 2025December 23, 2025 by Wole Shadare

Paradoxically, a continent with some of the world’s lowest per capita incomes also has the highest aviation operating costs, operational inefficiency, and safety concerns, among others, writes WOLE SHADARE With a youth demographic boom, a burgeoning middle class, and economies eager to connect, Africa exhibits the fastest-growing demand for air travel globally. This promising development hints at boundless potential. Yet, scratch beneath the surface, and a stark paradox emerges: for all its soaring ambition, African aviation…

IATA: Africa most expensive region for airline operations in the world

Posted on December 15, 2025December 15, 2025 by Wole Shadare

..Jet fuel, taxes, others, reasons for the high cost of doing business in Africa ..Carriers operate on razor-thin net profit margin of 1.3%—the lowest globally The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has listed jet fuel at 17%, taxes and fees at between 12 and 15%, air navigation charges at 10%, maintenance, insurance and capital at 6-10%, blocked funds at $954 million and high ticket prices as the reasons the cost of doing business in Africa…

Free Route Airspace implementation in West, Central Africa begins

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Wole Shadare

The African Airlines Association (AFRAA) has ushered in a new era of African aviation with the full operational deployment of Free Route Airspace (FRA) in the Western and Central Africa (WACAF) region, effective October 30, 2025. Free Route Airspace (FRA) is a modern airspace design allowing airlines to plan more direct flight paths between entry/exit points, bypassing traditional, fixed airways for greater efficiency, fuel savings, and reduced emissions, by using User Preferred Routes (UPRs) and…

Adede: Nigeria ranks amongst most expensive countries in Africa for air travel

Posted on November 3, 2025November 3, 2025 by Wole Shadare

Senator Musa Adede, an airline owner, ex-lawmaker with tremendous experience in many areas of aviation, in this interview with WOLE SHADARE, speaks on many problems besetting the nation’s aviation sector and proffers solutions to many of the woes What recommendations would you give the government to strengthen the aviation sector? There are key recommendations that will help the aviation industry. These recommendations are reduction of taxes and levies on passengers and airlines to improve profitability,…

Comparative air travel costs analysis in Africa

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Wole Shadare

Flying within Africa is more expensive than just about anywhere else in the world. Travellers pay higher ticket prices and more tax, write, WOLE SHADARE It is no longer news that Nigeria and some African nations possess some of the highest taxes and charges. This situation has led to an astronomical increase in the price of air tickets, one that has made air travel very expensive in these regions. Lost revenue Nigeria is said to be…

Africa’s national airlines spring up from the dead

Posted on September 23, 2025September 23, 2025 by Wole Shadare

Concerns have been raised about the nationalisation of several airlines. Many African countries are beginning to revive their dead airlines amid the springing up of national carriers across Africa under different market arrangements, writes WOLE SHADARE The wave of state-owned airlines is beginning to gain traction. It is an indication of how important aviation is to the governments in driving the economic engines of their different nations. The huge ceremony that accompanied the inaugural flight…

Africa’s empty skies aided by low propensity to fly

Posted on September 9, 2025September 9, 2025 by Wole Shadare

This basic concept of own-price elasticity of air travel in different market segments suggests that if air fares are reduced on Nigeria’s domestic routes, demand for air travel is likely to increase, since these routes are short-haul, and the prohibitive costs of air travel exclude several potential consumers of the service, writes WOLE SHADARE . The disclosure by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week, lamenting the high cost of flying’s disruptive impact on the…

Ethiopian Airlines Group, AfDB Ink Mandate Letter To Provide $500M For Africa’s Largest Aviation Infrastructure Project

Posted on August 12, 2025 by Wole Shadare

Following the signing of the Letter of Intent (LoI) on March 24th, 2025, Ethiopian Airlines Group (EAG) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a landmark mandate letter appointing the Bank as Initial Mandated Lead Arranger (IMLA) for the financing of Ethiopian Airlines’ mega airport, a transformative aviation hub poised to redefine air connectivity across Africa. Under this Mandate Letter, AfDB will provide a loan of $500 million and lead the mobilisation of the remaining…

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