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Recent analysis by Emirates Airlines has shown the impact that capacity increases can have on the communities served by carriers. Simply by up-sizing the aircraft that serves a city, it can boost jobs and GDP. Two examples below illustrate this phenomenon well. Studies by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi and Deloitte Access Economics in Australia looked at the impacts that shifting to larger aircraft on a route or set of routes can have.
Airbus A330: 237 seats
BOOSTING ECONOMIC IMPACT WITH BIGGER PLANES
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Boeing 777-300ER: 354 seats
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Airbus A380: 489 seats
A 6-EXX
Up-sizing from A330s / A340s to 777-300ERs on all Indian routes (97 weekly services) will bring an $86 million boost to Indian GDP and create 10,528 jobs.
Up-sizing from a 777-300ER to a daily A380 at Sydney Airport has brought $55 million in economic benefits and 700 new jobs. The daily A380 service adds $315 million to Australian GDP.
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KENYA USES FLIGHTS BETWEEN NAIROBI AND ABU DHABI TO INCREASE TRADE
Kenya Airways has started direct flights to Abu Dhabi in a move which has been seized upon by the Kenyan Government as an opportunity to boost trade and investment. Kenya’s cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure, Michael Kamau, said the move, which follows the signing of a codeshare agreement between national carrier Kenya Airways and Etihad Airways, will not only favour Kenyan businessmen sourcing goods in the UAE, but also open doors for tourists wishing to travel to Kenya and the rest of the continent through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. “We are currently at an advanced stage of modernising and expanding the Jomo Kenyatta Airport, which will significantly boost the capacity to handle more travellers. As you know the airport is already a regional hub through which Kenya Airways is able to connect the world to Africa and vice-versa,” he noted during a dinner hosted for customers in Abu Dhabi. Kamau added, “As part of the Vision 2030, we are also constructing the green field terminal, a new state-ofthe-art terminal which will be delinked from the current Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and will be built from scratch. When complete, the new terminal will be the largest single terminal in Africa built on four levels and will be able to handle up to 20 million passengers, annually”. “The inaugural Kenya Airways flight to Abu Dhabi marks the culmination of three years of multilateral discussions and negotiations, to have Kenya Airways and Etihad Airways work together towards the opening of this strategic route”, said the Kenya Airways managing director and chief executive officer, Titus Naikuni. Naikuni added that the introduction of flights to Abu Dhabi fitted in well with Kenya Airways’ plans to fly to each African capital by the year 2016, and complements the 10 year strategic plan — Project Mawingu — through which Kenya Airways intends to grow its destinations to 115 and fleet to 119 aircraft by 2021. He explained, “Abu Dhabi International Airport is a gateway to the Far East and countries such as Australia, which Etihad flies to. We aim to provide the much needed link to customers who intend to travel to African countries through this code share agreement. That’s why this calls for a celebration,” he said. Naikuni added that flights to the new destination have been received warmly, with the first two flights nearly filled to capacity and bookings between now and August looking impressive. Kenya Airways will operate flights to Abu Dhabi, which is the airlines’ 61st destination, three times a week. This will complement the ten flights that Kenya Airways has between its hub in Nairobi and Dubai. F.
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