The conquest for the African airspace: The movers and shakers – Part I

PART I:
Intercontinental point-to-point air connectivity

This is the first part of a two-part series, where we explore the African airspace market, the movers and the shakers.

Overview of Africa

With an estimated total land area of 30.4 square kilometers (11.7 mi2), including adjoining islands, Africa covers approximately one-fifth (20%) of the planet’s total land area and 6% of its surface area, making it the second-largest continent in terms of size after Asia. To provide some context, the continent measures around 8,000 km (5,000 miles) from its northern extremity at point Al Ghiran in Tunisia to its southern extremity at Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and about 7,400 km (4,600 miles) from its extreme western end, at point Almadi in Senegal, to Raas Xaafuun point on the eastern extremity located in Somalia, with a total coastline length of 30,500 km (18,950 miles). The continent’s highest elevation is at Kibo summit on Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which stands at 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) above sea level (asl), while the continent’s lowest elevation is -509 feet below sea level at Lake Assal in Djibouti.

As of April 2023, the population of Africa stood at 1.4 billion…