Ready to fly
Is Africa finally about to liberalise its air services to create much-needed new routes and added competition?
By ROB GILL W
HISPER IT QUIETLY, BUT 2017 COULD BE THE YEAR THAT AFRICA finally takes a big step forward with the opening up of air travel
around the continent. This could help to bring to an end the often tortuous routes that business travellers have to endure when flying within Africa. The Single African Air Transport Market
(SAATM), which is one of the flagship policies of the African Union and African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), is due to be implemented this summer. SAATM is designed to operate in a similar way to the European Commission’s Single European Skies framework and should – in theory – open up more competition and routes across Africa, as well as bringing airfares down. So far, only 17 countries out of the 55
African Union members have signed up to take part in SAATM, but thankfully this
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
does include most of the continent’s biggest economies – Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya. There are also hopes that more African nations will sign up in the near future. There are some high expectations for the
impact of SAATM, with AFCAC claiming it will “bring about enhanced air connectivity, traffic growth within the region, higher rates of utilisation for existing airport facilities, increased employment, and increased socio- economic benefits to the continent”.
OPENING UP AFRICA’S SKIES The potential benefits for Africa of air route liberalisation could be huge for the continent’s economy – a study by Intervistas found that opening up flights between 12 key countries in Africa could provide an extra 155,000 jobs and add US$1.3 billion in annual GDP. The International Air Transport
Association (IATA), which commissioned the report, adds: “A potential five million
passengers a year are being denied the chance to travel between these markets because of unnecessary restrictions on establishing air routes.” IATA predicts that SAATM will have an “immense impact” on African aviation if countries successfully implement it. “For a start, a greater percentage of intra-African air services would be carried by African airlines,” it says. “We will also see more direct connections, which will greatly reduce the long travel times we currently experience when getting around this vast continent. “Furthermore, air services liberalisation
will lead to increased capacity, which will result in lower fares for the benefit of all consumers.” While this all sounds promising, most
aviation analysts and those working in business travel are adopting a “wait and see” approach because developing “open skies” within Africa has seen plenty of false starts over the last couple of decades.
BBT July/August 2017 79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104