USEFUL STATISTICS SHOW STATE OF KENYA’S AVIATION INDUSTRY
(Posted 30th November 2019)
A set of statistics released by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has met with both interest as well as complaints.
Interest was shown from the aviation fraternity across the East African region and complaints were received by ATCNews from aviators in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, disputing the claim of KCAA that Kenya represented some 80 percent of market share within the East African Community.
‘While the claim by KCAA about 80 percent may fit when one talks about the sheer number of aircraft registered as 5Y, does the figure definitely not represent a correct reflection when it comes to passenger numbers. Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, while none reaches the Kenyan figure they published of over 12 million, combine in such a way that the suggested percentage share of 80 percent surely must drop considerably. We just can’t let that stand, they ought to be smarter how they present their data‘ wrote one regular aviation source from Dar es Salaam with several others from Rwanda and Uganda echoing this sentiment.
Regardless, the other aviation regulators should take a leaf from KCAA and also publish their data in a similar format to allow comparison and be informed about the state of aviation in the EAC member states.
It also goes to show the growing importance of the aviation sector for the tourism industries across the region, especially the landlocked countries although the main traffic streams into the region from abroad largely come by air, apart from cross border vehicular traffic.
