AFCON boosts Ivory Coast's air passenger traffic in first quarter

AFRICAN BUSINESS AND ECONOMYJuly 22, 2024 at 9:08 PM UTC

TLDR

Ivorian air transport sees 11.5% rise in passenger traffic, reaching 601,057 in Q1 2024, driven by AFCON travel.
Commercial passengers surge by 13.3% to 553,951 by March 2024, with a notable increase in traffic to various destinations.
Direct transit passengers decrease by 9.9%, while traffic grows across national, European, African, and global routes.

Ivorian air transport saw an 11.5% increase in passenger traffic which reached 601,057 during the first three months of 2024, propelled by increased travel activity during the African Cup of Nations (AFCON or CAN in French) earlier in the year.

Commercial passengers jumped by 13.3% to 553,951 at the end of March 2024, compared to 488,798 at the end of March 2023, per official figures. However, direct transit passengers dropped 9.9% drop to 37,651.

There was an increase in traffic across all destinations; national traffic (+10.9%), Europe (+13.8%), ECOWAS (+2.3%), the rest of Africa (+29.1%), and the rest of the world (+0.7%).

Key Takeaways

AFCON 2023 was held from January 13 to February 11, 2024, and also had a positive impact on the activities of Air Côte d'Ivoire, the national airline designated as the main carrier during the event. Initial figures released by the African Football Confederation (CAF) show that over 1.2 million spectators attended the matches held across six designated stadiums. The impressive turnout translated into a significant surge in ticket sales revenue, marking an 800% increase compared to the previous edition in Cameroon (AFCON 2021). Consequently, commercial revenues for the Ivorian edition soared by 26%, driven by a 70% rise in the number of sponsors, totaling 17.

AFCON

CAF

Nigeria

Ivory Coast

Football

Air Travel

Sports

Economic

Aviaition

CAN