•The aviation industry has been sluggish since 2014, according to Economic Survey 2019
•Kenya Civil Aviation Authority director general says the sector is highly specialised. "....more people have not applied to do that kind of business"
The growth of the aviation industry in Kenya has been sluggish since 2014, according to Economic Survey 2019.
The report, released on Thursday, shows that approved training organisations were 19 in 2014 and remained so until 2016 when the number rose to 22.
This dropped to 19 in 2017 and increased by three in 2018.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority director general Gilbert Kibe said the sector is highly specialised. "It is a business decision of people....more people have not applied to do that kind of business," he said.
Kibe said their focus was that the aviation industry would grow by four to five per cent per annum until 2030.
The survey shows that class A of International Aerodrome Category has stagnated at just eight in the last four years.
The same case applies to domestic (Regional) Class B that has stagnated at 23.
The number of air traffic controllers was 170 in 2014 and dropped to 165 in 2015 and 159 in 2016 and then 177 in 2017. They were 175 in 2018.
“There were 18 airworthiness inspectors in 2014 before a slight increase to 21 in 2015 and 27 in 2016. This decreased to 24 in 2017 before increasing to 32 last year,” the survey shows.
The total number of aviation personnel licences rose by 4.2 per cent from 9,577 in 2017 to 9,975 in 2018.
The student pilot licence category recorded the highest growth of 7.2 per cent to 2,905 in 2018.
Valid operational licences increased from 1,263 in 2017 to 1,375 in 2018.
The number of aircraft with a valid certificate of airworthiness increased by 7.3 per cent to 804 while flight dispatcher licences increased by 13.4 per cent to 211 in 2018.
Overall, the number of civil aviation authority inspectors and air traffic controllers increased by 5.8 per cent from 257 in 2017 to 272 in 2018.
During the review period, flight operators and airworthiness inspectors increased by 42.9 per cent and 33.3 per cent to 30 and 32, respectively.
In 2014, there were 928 air transport pilot licences before slightly rising to 975 in 2015.
In 2016, the figure rose to 1,062 before it hit 1,116 in 2017.
Last year, there were 1,165 air transport pilot licences.
There were 1,394 commercial pilot licences in 2014 before increasing to 1,517 in 2015.
In 2016, there were 1,563 commercial pilot licences before it slightly increased to 1,607 in 2017.
There were 1,641 commercial pilot licences last year.
There were 1,070 private pilot licences in 2014, compared to 1,276 in 2015.
This slightly increased to 1,255 in 2016 before increasing to 1,316 in 2017. Last year, there were 1,349 private pilot licences.
There were 2,189 student pilot licences in 2014 before increasing to 2,580 in 2015.
In 2016, there were 2,543 student pilot licences, before increasing to 2,710 in 2017.
Last year, this increased to 2,905 licences.
Cabin crew member certificates increased from 1,814 in 2014 before increasing to 1,906 in 2015.
This figure hit 2,090 in 2017 before increasing to 2,140 last year.
There were 705 Aircraft with Valid Certificate of Air Worthiness in 2014 compared to 751 in 2015.
In 2016, the figure 763 Aircraft with Valid Certificate of Air Worthiness as compared to 749 in 2017. In 2018, it rose to 804.
The survey shows aircraft movements in overall increased by 6.6 per cent to 377,584 in 2018.
Total landings increased by 5.2 per cent while total take-offs increased by 6.9 per cent in 2018.
Similarly, the number of over-flights increased by 9.8 per cent to 58,005 in 2018.13.21.
Total domestic aircraft movements increased by 7.5 per cent to 223,479 while international aircraft movements rose by 2.8 per cent to 96,100 in 2018.
The number of domestic landings increased by 6.7 per cent to 110,922 while the number of domestic take-offs increased by 8.3 per cent to 112,557 in 2018.
International landings increased from 47,038 in 2017 to 47,918 in 2018, while international take-offs increased from 46,459 to 48,182 over the same period.
The share of domestic aircraft movements to total movements increased slightly from 58.7 per cent in 2017 to 59.2 per cent in 2018.
The share of over-flights to total aircraft movements increased to 15.4 per cent in 2018 compared to 14.9 per cent recorded in 2017.