Africa’s aviation future lies in safety and affordability

Safety and security, as well as the high cost of flying, are key obstacles Africa’s aviation space continues to grapple with.  “Airlines are commercial entities, and they will go where the traffic is and where the business is. If you talk to the business people, there are very limited business relations between sub-Saharan Africa and the North African part of the continent. Because there’s limited interaction and business activity, air transport cannot follow suit,” Raphael Kuuchi, vice president for Africa at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told CNBC Africa.

Kuucuhi went on to say, “We have issues that are yet unresolved that have to do with liberalization and market access. These are issues that IATA is at the forefront, trying to drive and get African governments to open up the market so that it is easier for the traffic to flow.”   Kuuchi said that of IATA’s top four priorities in Africa, safety and security on the continent is major, as a number of African countries lack a positive aviation safety track record.

Furthermore, he explained, “Fortunately last year the African Union Commission got [African] heads of state to endorse what we call the Abuja Declaration.”  He then added, “This is meant to make Africa civil aviation autonomous, and to get the various airlines on the continent to adopt the IATA operation safety audit.  It will also allow airlines to register as IATA Operational Safety Audit operated airlines. We believe this will go a very long way to improve our safety on the continent.”

The Abuja Declaration on Aviation Safety also includes the training on prevention of loss control, and the implementation of Safety Management Systems.  The second priority he said, was  in making travel across the continent not feasible and significantly more affordable.  “The cost of air travel in Africa is far more expensive than anywhere else in the world, and the reasons are not far-fetched. We have very high operating costs from the airport ends. We also have high taxes and charges that are imposed by governments and other institutions on passengers and airlines. These are to raise revenue for other sectors other than the air transport development on the continent,” Kuuchi added.

Finally he concluded, “We have already started engaging with some of the African governments, where taxes and charges on air travel are much higher, and where fuel taxes are also very exorbitant, with the view to reviewing these downward. We also have situations at some airports where passengers are levied taxes today for the construction of new airports which will be used by passengers in the future.”

Source: CNBC Africa