It has never been easier to fly to Ouagadougou, Juba or Maputo but Africa’s increasingly busy skies are still among the most expensive in the world.

Budget carriers are cropping up in the bigger countries, with South African taxi operators last month becoming the latest to enter the market with the launch of a domestic low-cost carrier.

But across the continent, airlines are dogged by airspace restrictions, high taxes, poor safety records and inadequate airports even as outside competitors muscle into a market to serve a growing middle class wanting to fly more often.

African carriers are tipped to break even this year but will suffer losses of $100 million in 2012, according to industry body the International Air Transport Association (IATA). At one end of the spectrum is bankrupt Air Zimbabwe; at the other, are ever-expanding carriers like Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.

Arik Air stepped into the Nigerian slump in 2006, introducing the country’s first new airplanes in 20 years. It now flies to 29 domestic and international destinations and will open five new African routes by the end of the year.

The market is not competitive enough, spokesman Keelan Morris told AFP. Flights within the continent can be much more expensive than longer flights to Europe.