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The future for African air transport: Learning from Ethiopian Airlines

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  • Meichsner, Nadine A.
  • O'Connell, John F.
  • Warnock-Smith, David

Abstract

The African air transport market has been a laggard in development, remaining encircled by a plethora of problematic issues that has curtailed its expansion and prosperity for decades. Regulatory restrictions, protectionism, inadequate infrastructure and prolonged loss making periods are regularly correlated with the plights of African carriers. Ethiopian Airlines is disrupting this negative manifestation and is exponentially expanding its African and international network footprint, enshrined in continuous profitability. The research quantifies that it is Africa's most successful airline through a POA analysis by aggregating a series of pertinent airline indices to derive its prominence from among its peers. Three key pillars were deduced that specifically correlated with Ethiopian Airlines continued prosperity and can be used as a template, which included a large intra-African network, a strong hub with multiple wave permutations for onward connecting traffic and forging deep strategic partnerships with regional based African carriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Meichsner, Nadine A. & O'Connell, John F. & Warnock-Smith, David, 2018. "The future for African air transport: Learning from Ethiopian Airlines," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 182-197.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:71:y:2018:i:c:p:182-197
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.06.020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. O'Connell, John F. & Avellana, Raquel Martinez & Warnock-Smith, David & Efthymiou, Marina, 2020. "Evaluating drivers of profitability for airlines in Latin America: A case study of Copa Airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Warnock-Smith, David & Christidis, Panayotis, 2021. "European Union-Latin America/Caribbean air transport connectivity and competitiveness in different air policy contexts," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Foong, Jia Jun & O'Connell, John Francis & Warnock-Smith, David & Efthymiou, Marina, 2023. "A product and organisational architecture analysis of the performance of Southeast Asian airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Lázaro Florido-Benítez, 2024. "Increasing Security Levels in the Tourism and Air-Transport Industries Could Enhance African People’s Quality of Life and Tourism Demand," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-23, August.
    5. Button, Kenneth & Porta, Flavio & Scotti, Davide, 2020. "The role of strategic airline alliances in Africa," MPRA Paper 108265, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tolcha, Tassew Dufera & Bråthen, Svein & Holmgren, Johan, 2020. "Air transport demand and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa: Direction of causality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

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