COVER STORY
other players. We already have a strong partnership with Ethiopian Airlines. We were very instrumental in supporting their bid to become a Star Alliance member in December last year. We have a partnership with Egypt Air who are also a Star Alliance member.. We are very keen to cooperate with as many African airlines as possible, because we believe others can complement our business. And besides, not one of us can stand alone and forstall the onlslaught of competition which is now focusing on Africa as the next frontier for expansion of the aviation industry. Do you have any worry that the economic crisis in Europe could hamper your growth ambitions in Africa? Let’s look back at the global financial crisis of 2008/09. Long after the Western and Asian economies had felt the negative impact of the meltdown, Africa was still resilient. The main reason being that most of our economies are cash based with very little formal borrowing taking place. The numbers of African passengers did not immediately decline, but in some instances they even increased instead. Africa took much longer to
be affected by the financial crisis. The reason is simple: Our people don’t borrow to travel. Africans travel for a specific reason. If they travel for leisure,they also use the opportunity for business. Africans are usually dual purpose visitors. So we don’t see the financial crisis as negative. We see it from the positive side. As the continent opens up there is more reason for Africans to travel within Africa or even beyond our continent.
… you are also spoiling. At the end of the day,everyone plays a big role in this business. The big airlines can’t fly to all the regional destinations. Our planes are deployed according to what we call performance memorandums issued by the manufacturers. We ask questions like, how does this aircraft relate businesswise with a particular route or destination. If my aircraft can’t fly to Juba, Southern Sudan, I can rely on smaller airliners to bring customers to a central position from where I can uplift the same passengers to their final destination. We feed and defeed onto each other’s schedules..
Don’t you think small airliners are spoilers? Every airline, whether big or small as long it operates up in the skies is relevant in this business. As long as you have an empty seat … whether big or small
AS THE CONTINENT OPENS UP THERE IS MORE REASON FOR AFRICANS TO TRAVEL WITHIN AND BEYOND... PHOTO: Timothy Kisambira
There is a perception that SAA concentrates more on European destinations and neglects Africa. What is your take on this? I totally disagree. Way back in 1992, the South African government gave SAA a mandate to concentrate on growing on the African continent. The year 1992 is very significant because it was way before the democratization of South Africa. The ANC was unbanned and Madiba (Nelson Mandela) was just out of prison. So it was like a government in waiting. But we couldn’t wait because we needed to open up. So government said, “you have to grow on the African continent.” Since 1992, we have added at least 13 destinations on the African continent. Because of our history we were not allowed to fly to certain destinations and some parts of Africa. I think this is where this perception was conceived. Today we want to demystify that perception. Our growth on the African continent is bigger than on any other continent. I know that not until recently one travelling to Ouagadougou or Algiers from Johannesburg would have to first fly to Paris. Not anymore because we are here to reclaim and create routes. Other players are beginning to feel the pinch. Why? Because we are taking Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa! TSM david@theservicemag.com
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