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[AASA NEWS RELEASE]

Southern African airlines hindered in supporting economic growth - AASA proposes remedies

6 October. 
 

Luanda - Poor intra-Africa airline connectivity, inadequate infrastructure together with unclear policies, inconsistent regulations and rising aviation taxes and other statutory charges are depriving African economies from reaching their full potential, warns AASA. 

    The trade body, which is holding its annual general assembly in Luanda, Angola, today, called on regional governments to open access to their markets and allow for more routes and more flights where regulatory impediments were blocking growth.
    AASA also cautioned that without a clear coordinated strategy for the development, production and supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and improvements to airspace management to streamline traffic flows, the region’s airline industry would fail to meet the global net-zero 2050 carbon emissions target.
    Africa accounts for two percent of global passenger and air cargo traffic and will need access to at least 15 billion litres of SAF a year by 2050 if it is to continue serving the continent’s economic and social needs by enabling trade, business, tourism and personal travel.  

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"We have an embarrassingly low level of intra-African connectivity and it is depriving Africa, its people and its economies from rising to their full potential. (He called on the SADC governments to remove the obstacles hindering industry expansion and connectivity). By doing so, you will enable the economies and people you serve, to flourish. Never have you held in your grasp a golden opportunity to make inspired decisions with such meaningful positive consequences and impact! Aaron Munetsi, AASA CEO 

As remedies, AASA proposes that authorities:

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• Permit the establishment of at least 200 new intra-Africa city pairs by 2030.

• Ensure airports in the region are operationally fit-for-purpose, cost-efficient, and subject to industry service level agreements.

• Apply user charges, taxes, and other statutory charges on air travel that are realistic, and reflect the services and facilities provided.

• Make intra-Africa travel visa-free for all passport holders.

• Provide a regulatory framework that enables the provision of competitive and affordable intra-Africa travel and air cargo services.

• Standardise training curricula, qualifications, and licenses so that anyone with aviation skills acquired in one African country can work anywhere on the continent.   

The most recent (2019) econometric study of Africa’s air transport sector’s contribution to GDP estimates that regulatory adjustments to liberalise market access between 12 key African markets would provide an extra 155,000 jobs and US$1.3 billion in annual GDP across those countries. It was estimated that a potential five million passengers a year were being denied the chance to travel between these markets due to unnecessary restrictions on establishing air routes. At the time, Africa’s aviation sector supported 6.9 million jobs and more than US$80bn in GDP across the continent. Download the full news release.