Comeback African airlines will need more than shiny new planes to thrive

From Lagos to Lusaka, African governments have in recent weeks laid out ambitious plans to revive their flagship carriers.

At last month’s Farnborough International Air Show — a biennial trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries — Uganda and Nigeria placed orders for aircraft to jumpstart their national airlines while in Zambia, the government has teamed up with Ethiopian Airlines to revive a limping Zambia Airways.