On the world's second-most populous continent, it is unsettling that Africa is making the least contribution to the global air transport market and its trillion dollar economy. African countries never talk about opening up spaces for air connections, but many still rely on actions and the integrity of their member governments, Joke Faraj reports.
African countries have several commonalities, including culture, beliefs, values, and traditions. However, despite this shared value, the air connection was Achilles Heal as the aviation industry in Africa faces multiple challenges.
The continent has the second largest population after Asia, with over 1.54 billion people. Unfortunately, African Airlines currently offers relatively small quantities for air traffic around the world, with estimates ranging from 2-3%. Nevertheless, growth potential is important as Africa is home to 18% of the world's population and has an economic growth.
Perennial complaints among passengers were high airfares. For example, a round-trip ticket from Nigeria to the nearby Republic of Niger is $2,268 ($33.4 million). Lagos to Accra in Ghana is around $479 (N718,500), Lagos to Lome and Togo is around N1.1 million, and from Kano is around N2.4 million.
The flight from Lagos to Kotonou, Republic of Benin is around N1.4 million. One-way route from Abuja Airport to Njamena in Chad is around N1.2 million. A round trip to Cameroon from Abuja Airport is around N1.6 million. These are countries that share boundaries with Nigeria and have travel time of around 1-2 hours. Unfortunately, airfares are roughly the same as travelling to European countries. This will take about 6 hours or more.
To tackle the challenges of air connectivity, 11 African heads of states in 2000 supported the Yamoussoukro decision (YD), which aimed to provide for the liberalization of scheduled, non-scheduled air transport services within Africa and to remove restrictions on transportation rights, capacity and frequency between urban pairs.
YD is prioritized over multilateral or bilateral agreements on aviation services between nations and tackles safety, security and environmental challenges with a focus on internal market liberalization and fair competition as key development strategies.
Through the full implementation of Yamoussoukro's decision, liberalising in-African air transport will, among other things, improve air connectivity, lower fares, and ensure the sustainable development of air transport in Africa and its contribution.
YD also provides for the complete liberalization of air transport services in Africa in terms of market access, transportation rights for the first, second, third, fourth, fourth and fifth freedoms, and liberalization of the free acts of aviation services by qualified airlines.
It removes ownership restrictions and provides full liberalization of frequencies, tariffs and capabilities. It also provides eligibility criteria for African community careers, safety and security standards, fair competition and conflict resolution, and consumer protection mechanisms.
SAATM ensures that aviation plays a major role in connecting Africa, promoting its social, economic and political integration and, as a result, boosting intra-African trade and tourism. SAATM was created to facilitate the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro decision
The single air transport market also guarantees the fundamental rights of consumers with dispute resolution mechanisms, with an appeals committee and arbitration court established, through negotiation and arbitration.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a major global airline umbrella, has expressed full support for the initiative to open up African skies and promote aviation value across the continent.
Outdoor arrangements drive traffic, drive the economy and create jobs. A body survey suggests that only 12 African countries open markets, with an increase in connectivity that will create 155,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in GDP per year in these countries.
However, about 25 years after YD was adopted by member states and seven years after SAATM was launched, the implementation of this admirable initiative is still on paper. Many African countries continue to tackle the various challenges facing the industry.
“Challenges facing the African Aviation Industry: Regulatory, Economic and Operational Barriers in an article titled “Challenges facing the African Aviation Industry,” which was published on the airspace economy, market analyst Tewolde Yohannes observed that the regulatory environment has a major impact on the success of African Aviation. Unlike other regions where Open Skies contracts simplified air travel, Africa still operates under complex bilateral agreements that limit competition and access to markets.
She said despite YD, many African countries still impose restrictions on market access, and that most international air travel in Africa is controlled by the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which often limits the ability of airlines to operate freely.
She highlighted other challenges African Airlines faces, such as high taxes and fares on airlines, as it accounts for around 50% of airline tickets. Limited infrastructure and poor airport facilities are another important challenge as 34% of airports in sub-Saharan Africa pave the runways, compared to 87% in East Asia.
African Airlines faces high operating costs caused by expensive jet fuel, expensive aircraft and bureaucratic hurdles. Low load coefficient and limited passenger demand. Low-yield passengers, that is, many African economies, have low per capita GDP, which limits market competition as fewer travelers can provide premium airline services.
To achieve liberalization of the African aviation market, experts stressed the need for governments to prioritize investment in modern airport infrastructure through public-private partnerships, investments in traffic management technologies, and argued that efficient traffic management systems could reduce flight delays.
Establishing a regional fuel supply hub reduces fuel costs, reducing airline efficiency, reducing airline fuel costs, and increasing airline efficiency, allowing airlines to optimize flight routes and use fuel-efficient aircraft to help interline contracts and airline partnerships reduce costs and increase profitability by increasing connectivity.
She called on the government to ease restrictions on airline foreign investment, adding that successful models like Ethiopian Airlines operate as profitable state-run, yet independent airlines, could be replicated across the continent, opening the aviation market to private players will lead to better competition, innovation and improved services.
Similarly, Olumide Ohnayo, general secretary of the Air Roundtable and Safety Initiative, said SAATM has not gained momentum as most African airlines do not have strong flags or domestic airlines.
He says that all other airlines are just struggling, except for Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airlines, Air Morocco, Rwanda Airlines and Egypt Airlines, and need a national airline to implement SAATM.
He added: “If you look at what's going on in this region, the West African routes are very expensive due to taxes. Some African countries charge up to 50% of their ticket fares.
“African countries need to agree on airport fares. They need to cut fares. When more passengers are flying, and when there are more passengers, when the entire profits of the aviation ecosystem exist, it's hilarious.”
Oba said that in order for SAATM to gain traction, members of Banjuru Accord Group Airlines, which consists of five countries, including Nigeria, Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, could launch a regional SAATM, for example, and emphasized that the region would need to coordinate itself. French-speaking countries in the West Africa region can also team up to implement SAATM and more.
He highlighted factors that could lead to delays in implementation, such as a shortage of strong carriers and a lack of unified regional currency.
To address this challenge, aviation experts recommended the need for regional integration, addressing visa issues, improving airport infrastructure and reducing the costs of flight operations.
Group Captain John Ozicz (RTD), an aviation security expert, also said that many African countries have ratified SAATM, but most of them are not ready.
He said: “Are there some airlines in Africa or the African Union over 50? Of the number of fly-to-continents or intercontinental fly-to-flies, as of 2021, when the AU's head ratified SAATM, it was second, not until the age of 20.
He said that while some stakeholders have proposed civil airlines as flagship carriers, they have wondered what the government-defined policy definitions for flagship carriers and what Nigerian civil aviation regulations are saying about the qualifications to be designated as flagship carriers.
“These are what lead us to the SAATM. For me, we are not ready, just like many other AU countries are not ready,” he said.
Oziktu further said he did not support the flag airline, not the national airline that Nigeria does not have. It said that the flag's airlines should not be self-defined, but are defined by government policies and are being guided or monitored by NIG vehicles.
He said: “If you don't have it, you are only for your interests and should not be part of a non-country SAATM. SAATM can take you to an alliance with foreign airlines and IATA. How many people in our civil airlines are prepared by government policy, especially by compliance with economic regulations for NIG vehicles?”
