Addis Ababa,Tuesday, 22 June 2011- Addis Ababa and Nairobi are the best locations for the creation of airline hubs in Africa, the Malaysia-Africa Business Forum reported.Ethiopia's Precise Consult International PLC managing partner Henock Assefa said this was because the best connections to African destinations were actually provided by Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.He pointed out that Ethiopian Airlines, an over-a-billion dollar company, right now flew to about 60 countries, which included more than two dozen flights weekly to India and China."The airlines industry is growing very fast in Africa even when the global aviation industry is falling apart. All African airlines, the one that are run well, happen to earn profits."We need more help and I know for sure, AirAsia, or any airline in Malaysia, would like to make a connection," Assefa said in response to a proposal by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that African countries should come together to set up airline hubs to derive more benefits and increase inter-connectivity.
Dr Mahathir has suggested that low-cost airlines such as AirAsia seriously consider flying to Africa to facilitate travel and increase trade and investment linkages.Currently, Johannesburg in South Africa is the known hub for Africa.
Assefa also emphasised that there were huge business opportunities in Africa for Malaysian businessman to explore, especially in the consumer market, infrastructure, construction and telecommunications sectors."There is so much demand for construction services in Addis Ababa, that when the government opened up applications for a low-cost housing project five years ago, 400,000 households signed up in a matter of two weeks."So, this is an opportunity that cannot be missed by Malaysians," he noted. (source..Malaysia-Africa Business Forum )
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