This archive report was first published on 23 September 2019.
Kenya's air transport sector is on the cusp of a major boom, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicting a 249% growth in the next 20 years.
According to the IATA's Value of Aviation Report for Kenya, launched during the Regional Aviation Forum hosted by Kenya Airways on September 17, 2019, the sector is expected to contribute $11.3 billion annually to Kenya's GDP and support an estimated 859,000 jobs by 2037.
The report highlights the significant economic benefits of air transport, including the creation of productive assets that generate long-term GDP flows.
Kenya received 4.8 million foreign passengers in 2017, supporting 410,000 jobs and generating $0.9 billion in direct spending by passengers, which supported 15,000 jobs.
The country's air transport sector also contributed $3.2 billion to the economy in 2017, amounting to 4.6% of the country's GDP.
Measuring by number of seats deployed to a particular region, the Middle East experienced the fastest growth in connectivity with Kenya over the past five years, increasing by 49%, followed by African countries at 23%.
However, capacity to Asia-Pacific and Europe shrunk by 15% and 2% respectively over the same period.
Kenya's air transport sector has been partly helped by good scores on ease of travel and trade facilitation, with the country ranking 12th globally on visa openness and 93rd out of 136 countries surveyed for cost competitiveness.
