THE concept of having a single unified airspace is not one that is new. But this is when Africa is getting into it.
The concept has been and is in the process of being implemented in numerous parts of the globe.
Currently, the most famous of these is the Single European Sky (SES), where the national airspace of multiple states is designed, managed and regulated through a central body and decisions are made collaboratively to enhance the overall safety, efficiency and equity of the total aviation system without affecting the sovereignty of states.
This, too, is an objective of the African continent, where high levels of disparity exist in the deployment of communication, navigation and surveillance equipment, and the provision of air traffic management (ATM), which has an undesirable effect on safety, efficiency and equitable service delivery to a growing aviation community.
To live this dream, the year 2018 will go down in history as a landmark for opening up of airline routes within the African continent.
The specific date is January 28, 2018. This is so because on this day, aspirations to create a single African sky became a reality.
At the 30th heads of State summit in Addis Ababa, the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) was launched.
SAATM is the first Agenda 2063 flagship project.
The agenda is a continental strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years.
It builds on, and seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development.
At the launch, Boeing International managing director for Sub-Sahara Africa and director of international sales - Africa, Boeing commercial airplanes João Miguel Santos said air transport is a catalyst for Africa’s economic growth.
Mr Santos says now that African governments have agreed to implement liberalisation of African skies, the decision to liberalise air transport will deliver improved safety, lower fares, and increase traffic in Africa.
“An open sky policy in Africa will lead to the weeding out of uncompetitive carriers, greater competition between airlines, the opening up of new routes and revitalising the aviation industry across the board and a much lower fare cost structure available to customers that will also contribute to stimulate travel growth,” Mr Santos said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“It will bring new opportunities for aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing to introduce its newest and most fuel-efficient, economical and technologically advanced aircraft.”
The World Bank statistics show that Africa is home to 12 percent of the world’s people, but it accounts for less than one percent of the global air service market.
Part of the reason for Africa’s under-served status, according to the World Bank study, is that many African countries restrict their air services markets to protect the share held by state-owned air carriers.
This practice originated in the early 1960s when many newly-independent African states created national airlines, in part, to assert their status as nations.
Now, however, most of them have recognised that the strict regulatory protection that sustains such carriers, has detrimental effects of air safety records, while also inflating air fares and dampening air traffic growth.
Indeed, African ministers responsible for civil aviation themselves acknowledged this in 1999, when they adopted the Yamoussoukro Decision, named after the Ivorian city in which it was agreed.
The Yamoussoukro Decision commits its 44 signatory countries to deregulate air services, and promote regional air markets open to transnational competition.
The ministers of aviation council followed up on the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1988, in which many of the same countries agreed to principles of air services liberalisation.
In 2000, the decision was endorsed by head of States and governments at the Organisation for African Unity (OAU), the forerunner to the African Union (AU) and became fully binding in 2002.
Now, the implementation is a reality.
Now, a historic opportunity has been actualised. So far, more than the 23 countries have signed on to the ratification of this decision.
Speaking in an interview in Addis Ababa, Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, who is the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the AU Commission, said SAATM will spur more opportunities to promote trade, crossborder investments in the production and service industries, including tourism.
This will result in the creation of an additional 300,000 direct and two million indirect jobs contributing immensely to the integration and socio-economic growth of the continent.
She said the aviation industry currently supports eight million jobs in Africa and hence SAATM was created with the aim of enhancing connectivity, facilitating trade and tourism, creating employment, and ensuring that the industry plays a more prominent role in the global economy and significantly contributing to the AU’s Agenda 2063.
“The AU Summit will also see the adoption of the regulatory text of the Yamoussoukro Decision, that is, the competition and consumer protection regulations that safeguards the efficient operation of the market,” she said.
So far, 23 African countries out of 55 have subscribed to the Single African Air Transport Market whereas 44 African countries signed the Yamoussoukro Decision.
“The African Union Commission, under the leadership and personal commitment of Moussa Faki Mahamat, has been playing a key coordinating role in the establishment of the Single African Air Transport Market and advocacy to AU Member States, who have not yet committed to the solemn commitment, to do so,” Dr Amani says.
Transport in general, and aviation in particular are key economic drivers.
One of the keys to maintaining the vitality of civil aviation is to ensure that a safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally sustainable air navigation system is available, at the global, regional and national levels.
But this can only be achieved through the liberalisation of the various African skies, merging different sectors into one seamless unit.
African governments and various stakeholders have welcomed the move single sky initiative with Ethiopian Minister of Transport Ahmed Shide saying the initiative will pave the way for other flagship projects such as the free trade area and the free movement of people.
“Ethiopia has always been one of the pioneers in promoting the free skies in Africa and it is also one of the 11 champion countries that declared their commitment to establishing a single African air transport market,” Mr Shide said.
“The realisation of SAATM is vital to the achievement of the long term vision of an integrated prosperous and peaceful Africa, which is AU’s Agenda 2063.”
Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief executive officer Tewolde Gebremariam says the initiative is a “huge milestone for the continent”. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON JANUARY 30, 2018. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/africa-goes-for-single-sky/
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