Dimensions of distance: International flight connections, historical determinism, and economic relations in Africa

This paper aims to examine how distance manifests in terms of air passenger transport links between countries and focuses on the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It asks to what extent do existing flight connections reflect economic relations between countries, and if so, do they represent past, current or future relations? It asks whether the impact of distance is similar for all countries and at different stages of development.

Passenger flight connection data were extracted to generate map images and flight frequencies to observe interrelationships between different locations and to observe emerging patterns. The paper uses ESRI’s ArcGIS software to visualise all these data into maps.

SSA is poorly connected both intra- and inter-continentally. Cultural and historical ties dominate and elements of historical determinism appear within flight connections in SSA reflecting the biases associated with colonialism. Larger economies in SSA are less dependent on these past ties, and their flight connections reveal a greater level of diversity and interests. SSA has generally been slow to develop flight routings to the new emerging markets.

Its contribution lies not only in examining these flight patterns for an under-researched region but also in aiding future work on SSA and its integration into the global economy and international business networks. It argues that whilst distance matters, how it matters varies.