Although African carriers are pushing ahead with expansion in China, they face several hurdles.

The biggest challenge is finding suitable slots at airports. Most of the major airports in China are too crowded and hence unable to offer new slots to newcomers, says Mbuvi Ngunze, chief operating officer of Kenya Airways.

"We have realized that the real challenge is not about building more airports in China, although the existing ones are really busy, but more about how to solve the bottlenecks and make the slot allocation more efficient in Chinese airports," he says.

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There are also no suitable mechanisms to connect domestic flights efficiently with international ones and simplify the overall processing procedures, experts say.

"We (African carriers) need to be careful about leveraging our regional hub status and do this in such a manner that it ensures adequate returns for Chinese investors," he says.

Chinese carriers, on the other hand, after making a strong start, seem to have slowed their pace in Africa.

In December, a notice from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said that Hainan Airlines had submitted an application for expansion of operations in Africa.

If the application is approved, it will mark the return of a major Chinese carrier to Africa after several years of absence.

HNA Group, China's fourth-largest aviation group and the parent company of Hainan Airlines, recently indicated that it had shifted its focus from Europe and North America to emerging markets like Africa.

Chen Feng, chairman of HNA Group, said recently that the company was focusing more on lesser-known routes, especially in Africa, and would make the necessary investment to grow the business in these areas.

In its application HNA said it sought permission to operate flights on the Beijing-Mumbai-Nairobi route. It used to have three routes to Africa - Beijing-Cairo, Beijing-Abu Dhabi-Khartoum and Beijing-Dubai-Luanda. The routes were stopped, many for security reasons.

"Interaction and communication between China and Africa is growing rapidly and it is important for a Chinese airline to be a part of the African market," says Liu Jichun, deputy manger of the marketing department at HNA.

"We expect the Beijing-Mumbai-Nairobi route to closely connect people in China, India and Kenya and also add to passenger flows."

 

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