Still work ahead for ambitious aviators

Despite its proximity to Europe, North Africa is still an undeveloped aviation marketplace, says Stefano Sala, a partner based in Dubai of Oliver Wyman, the global consulting company. "It is a source of passengers for the Gulf carriers and it is a destination market, especially Tunisia and Morocco, for charter carriers for holidays, but its home-grown industry is not yet where it could be," he said. "They have done much, but they still have a good amount of work to do."

The exception to that is the populous state of Egypt. EgyptAir, a member of the Star Alliance, earned US$37.3 million (Dh136.9m) in net profits last year, while its domestic subsidiary, EgyptAir Express, generated a profit of $2.7m. "This is an airline with continental aspirations," said Perry Flint of Air Transport World. Along with Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir "wants to become the airline of Africa", he said.

Air Algerie and Royal Air Maroc had flat traffic growth, carrying 3.5 million and 5.2 million passengers, respectively, but did not disclose financial results. Libya's Afriqiyah Airways reported a 21 per cent jump in passenger numbers, to 672,000. In Tunisia, Tunisair reported profits of $46.41m, an increase of 85.4 per cent from the previous year, while Nouvelair Tunisie reported net income of $26.26m, down 34.7 per cent from 2008.