Report: Bizav Poised for 'Significant' Growth in Africa

The business jet market in Africa is lagging the GDP economic growth in the region, suggesting African business aviation is poised for “significant expansion,” according to a 2015 Africa Business Jet Fleet Report released yesterday by Hong Kong-based aircraft sales, charter and management firm Asian Sky Group. It said that realGDP growth in key African economies exceeded 3 percent last year and is projected to be at least 6 percent for this year.

Asian Sky’s report said the African business jet fleet has grown to 524 aircraft over 50 years, with the most rapid growth occurring during the last 15 years. However, “Growth appears to have slowed in 2014,” it noted.

With 197 business jets, South Africa has the largest such fleet on the continent; it is also the only African country in the top 20 business jet fleets in the world. Second largest is Nigeria, with 97 aircraft, followed by Egypt’s fleet of 41 business jets, according to the report. Sixty-one percent of the fleet is privately operated, while 20 percent is operated for charter.

Notably, the African business jet fleet is the oldest in the world, with an average age of more than 19 years, the report said. In fact, some of the in-service aircraft in the region were manufactured in the late 1950s or early 1960s, according to the report.