Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is as far from Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, as Berlin is from Athens. But whereas a round-trip ticket for the three-hour flight from the German capital to the Greek one can be had for around EUR 150 ($173), getting from Lagos to Freetown took your correspondent two flights, a ferry and almost $2,000. The trip included a seven-hour layover in Ghana and required changing from a Nigerian to a Togolese airline. The cheaper option, albeit longer by 20 hours, would have been to fly across the continent to Ethiopia before taking another plane west towards Sierra Leone.

塞拉利昂首都弗里敦与尼日利亚商业枢纽拉各斯之间的距离，相当于柏林到雅典的距离。 但是，虽然从德国首都飞往希腊首都的三小时航班往返机票价格约为150欧元（173美元）， 而笔者从拉各斯前往弗里敦却经历了两次飞行、一次轮渡，花费近2000美元。 这段旅程包括在加纳长达七小时的中转停留，还需要从尼日利亚航空公司换乘多哥航空公司。 另一个更便宜的选择——尽管要多花20小时——是先飞越大洲到埃塞俄比亚，再转乘另一架飞机向西前往塞拉利昂。

The journey is illustrative of much air travel in Africa. In a massive continent that contains 16 landlocked countries, planes should be an obvious way of getting around. Yet flying between African countries is an ordeal. Passengers and non-human cargo alike have to contend with terrible connections, sky-high prices, and hostile visa rules and customs regulations. That hampers the exchange of goods, people and ideas.

这段旅程足以说明非洲航空旅行的普遍状况。 在这个拥有16个内陆国家的广袤大陆上，飞机本应是出行的便捷选择。 然而，非洲国家之间的飞行却堪称一场煎熬。 乘客和非人类货物都必须应对糟糕的交通、天价以及敌对的签证规则和海关法规。 这阻碍了商品、人员和思想的交流。

Much like other African infrastructure, the continent's poor air connections are both a symptom and a cause of its poverty. Few Africans can afford to fly, so for airlines it is not worth offering many connections. Even though nearly a fifth of the world's people live on the continent, it accounts for just 2% of air travellers. Those who can pay for tickets tend to travel outside the continent rather than within it. In 2023 only 28% of flights run by African airlines were to other African countries, whereas 80% of flights by European airlines were within Europe. Even so, flights within Africa operated at just 76% capacity on average, the lowest in any region.

就像非洲其他基础设施一样，非洲大陆糟糕的空中连接既是贫困的症状，也是贫困的原因。 能负担得起机票的非洲人寥寥无几，因此航空公司认为增加航线并不值得。 尽管非洲人口占世界近五分之一，但航空旅客仅占全球的2%。 那些有能力购票的人往往选择跨洲旅行，而非在非洲内部出行。 2023年，非洲航空公司的航班中仅有28%是往返非洲其他国家的，而欧洲航空公司80%的航班都在欧洲内部运营。 即便如此，非洲内部航班的平均上座率仅为76%，是所有地区中最低的。

A lack of competition begets poor service quality. Fusty national carriers dominate the market. Their fleets and their safety records are better than they used to be. But they charge high prices, both because they frequently have a monopoly on a particular route and because they have to hedge against currency movements and compensate for limited access to credit.

缺乏竞争导致服务质量低下。 守旧的国有航空公司主导着市场。 他们的车队和安全记录比以前更好。 但他们要价很高， 一方面是因为它们在特定航线常处于垄断地位，另一方面是因为它们必须对冲货币波动风险，并弥补信贷渠道有限的问题。

Governments are making things more unpleasant. Not all go as far as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which recently banned Air France from serving their countries, making them even harder to reach. But most are cash-strapped and see their travelling citizens as a source of revenue. Average air taxes in Africa are twice those in the richer Middle East. Nigerian travellers pay an average of $180 in tax on every international trip; those in Gabon and Sierra Leone have to fork out around $300. In Freetown, simply leaving the airport costs an additional $25. The African Union's plan for a more liberalised, single air-transport market has not got off the ground.

各国政府让情况变得更糟。 并非所有国家都像马里、布基纳法索和尼日尔那样极端——这几个国家最近禁止法国航空公司为其提供服务，这使得到达这些国家变得更加困难。 但大多数国家都资金短缺，将出行公民视为收入来源。 非洲的平均航空税费是富裕的中东地区的两倍。 尼日利亚旅客每次国际旅行平均要支付180美元税费；加蓬和塞拉利昂的旅客则要支付约300美元。 在弗里敦，仅离开机场就要额外支付25美元。 非洲联盟关于建立更自由的单一航空运输市场的计划尚未起步。

The joy of flying around the continent is further dampened by Byzantine visa rules. Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian entrepreneur and Africa's richest man, has complained about visa requirements that render business travel at short notice all but impossible. Less than a third of trips around the continent are visa-free for Africans; getting the right permit is both expensive and can take weeks, if it comes through at all.

拜占庭式的签证规则进一步削弱了在非洲大陆飞行的便利性。 尼日利亚企业家、非洲首富阿里科·丹格特， 抱怨签证要求使得临时商务旅行几乎不可能实现。 非洲人在非洲大陆内部的旅行中，仅有不到三分之一是免签的；获得合适的签证不仅费用高昂，还可能需要数周时间， 甚至可能根本办不下来。

All this makes it much harder to move goods and people. Africa-themed conferences are frequently held in the Gulf. A Tanzanian and a Senegalese who want to do business can meet more conveniently in Doha than in Dar es Salaam or Dakar. Cargo that might be flown across vast distances instead has to travel for days on terrible roads, crossing many borders.

所有这些都使得货物运输和人员的流动更加困难。 非洲主题的会议常常在海湾地区举行。 坦桑尼亚人和塞内加尔人若想谈生意，在多哈会面比在达累斯萨拉姆或达喀尔更方便。 本可以通过空运跨越遥远距离的货物，反而不得不通过糟糕的公路颠簸数日，穿越多个边境。

There is some hope for African flyers. Thanks to Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways, flying in east Africa is already smoother than getting around the west or across the continent. Yet there is progress even in west Africa. Ivory Coast wants to become a travel hub, with its state airline adding more routes. Happily for your correspondent, Sierra Leone's flag carrier recently started flights to Lagos. Qatar Airways is eyeing a stake in Rwand Air that could help it expand in central Africa. If that helps African countries close the gaps between each other, they may yet make progress on closing the gap between the continent and the rest of the world.

非洲的航空旅客仍有一些希望。 得益于埃塞俄比亚航空公司和肯尼亚航空公司，东非的飞行体验已经比西非或跨洲飞行更顺畅。 不过，在西非也取得了进展。 科特迪瓦希望成为旅游枢纽，其国家航空公司正在增加更多航线。 令记者高兴的是，塞拉利昂的旗舰航空公司最近开通了飞往拉各斯的航班。 卡塔尔航空公司正考虑入股卢旺达航空公司，这可能有助于其在中非地区扩张。 如果这些举措能帮助非洲国家缩小彼此之间的差距， 它们或许终将在缩小非洲大陆与世界其他地区的差距方面取得进展。